We continue looking at Psalm 40, now moving to verse 2. "He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along." We need to always remember from where we have come. The literal meaning of this passage indicates "a pit of noise". The noise of our doubts and fears about our eternal state boiled up within us before we were rescued by the Lord. Another rendering is "a pit of tumult or uproar". At the bottom of the pit there was nothing for us to stand on. In the pit we were facing desperation and danger without the Lord. This is also a picture of our Lord Jesus bearing the terrible curse in His own person because of our sin. We, like our Lord, were cast into the lowest pit of shame and sorrow, only to be rescued by faith - rising to stand on the same elevation of the sure and everlasting rock of divine favor, just as our Lord Jesus.
This was our position by nature and we are rescued by grace. We find three things in verse 2. First is the act of God in resurrection as He brings us up. Second, our feet are set upon a rock, alive from the dead, upon the basis of accomplished truth. Third, we are set on the path of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are given the feet of hope and faith. His goodness establishes our goings. Our goings refer both to our past and future.
We are rescued from the pit so that we can proclaim His goodness. David is making sure that God gets all the praise as we remember from whence we came - out of the pit, the mud, and the mire. From the pit to the rock. From the mire to the choir. We are placed on the solid rock of Jesus Christ so that we can sing the new song of praise to Him! Having gone from victim to victory in Christ Jesus...we sing - Hallelujah! mjm
