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START WITH 7
Praying Through Psalms // PSALM 40:2b
Thank you for joining us with Start With Seven. We start every weekday with seven minutes alone with God. We hope you'll find a place in a time where you can be alone and still and focused. If you're able, we hope you have a Bible in your hand. And we want to spend a few minutes fixing our thoughts on the greatness of God. So the next seven minutes, we'll have some guided time through a verse of scripture, some prayer time, and then some opportunities to follow up with next steps in your devotional pursuit of the Lord. So let's begin Start With Seven today. - We meditate on the scriptures. We consider slowly what God was saying to us then and what he's saying to us now. And then we pray these things back into our life back to the Lord. We're walking through the Psalms verse by verse together, continuing today in Psalm chapter 40 at the end of verse two. If you have a Bible in your hands, that's ideal, if not, I'll read it for you. David writes, he lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. David's been going through a trial. We've read about it in previous Psalms. He's telling us about it here. He said he'd been waiting on God for a while, waiting patiently. He couldn't force God, couldn't push God, couldn't demand from God. He was forced to wait. And in that waiting, God did something in his soul. God formed something in his spirit. And then David said, finally God turned to him and heart his cry and he lifted him out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. David climbed mountains and cliffs, ran through valleys and fought battles. But now he's in the mud and mire and a slimy pit. The walls are high. He does not have a foothold. He cannot help himself. And David was somebody who knew how to help himself. It got all out, David, to be in a place that David, by his own words, created this imagery, a slimy pit and mud and mire, I am stuck. Maybe you would express that to God. Maybe there's something in your life. Maybe you've been through it before and you're remembering how God brought you through it or maybe you're in it now. God, I was stuck and you helped me or I am stuck and I need your help. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. And David got out of the pit. He got out of the mud and mire and he was standing on a rock. And he gave the credit to God. David wasn't a pit and now he's on a rock, but he's given all the glory to God. And this is part of the process of waiting patiently that we realize at the end of the day, I got out of this because the Lord helped me because he did it. David said he set my feet on a rock. God, I wouldn't be where I am today without you. If you had not helped me, I wouldn't be here. You did this. You helped my marriage. You helped this relationship. You helped this job. You did all of this for me. You did these things. You opened these doors, you closed these doors. You protected this. You helped me walk through it. You gave me the strength to endure. You God are the one who gets all the glory and the credit. Thank you. Maybe today you would give God glory for what he's done in your life that you're still standing to this day. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Jesus talked about this in a parable. He talked about building our house on sand or our house on the rock. He said, you lifted me out of the pit, out of the mire. You set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. This is what God does. He gives us a firm place, a rock. We can build our life on him. We can trust what he says. Everything else going our own way, doing it outside of his will, not following his word, is not firm. It's not sure. But if we build our life on Jesus, who is the rock, on his word, on his way, it's a firm place. Maybe today would say, God, I do trust your way. Is the most sure way. I have confidence in your way as my foundation. (gentle music) He said, my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. God gave me a place to stand. David wasn't defeated. This imagery is, I'm okay. I'm strong, I'm able, I'm confident. I'm here. In fact, the New Testament tells us to stand firm and after we've done everything else, just stand. It's a sign of strength, it's a sign of resilience. We've endured. I made it through this trial. God, thank you that I made it through and I'm standing here today. Let's pray this verse together now. God, thank you for all that you've done in our life. You've walked us through so many things and I pray that we would be grateful and give you glory. You set our feet. You took care of us. Thank you that you allow us to do things with you, but we give you the glory. We wouldn't make it without you. We trust that your way is the way. It's our foundation. It's firm and thank you that we're standing, that we've made it this far and you'll continue to be our foundation and we'll continue to stand. We trust this, we trust you. We pray this Jesus in your great name. Amen. Thanks for joining us for "Start With Seven." My name is Jason Shepherd and I enjoy spending time with people as we're pursuing loving Jesus more, knowing his word, living our life for him. We hope this "Start With Seven" is a start that you will spend even more time with God throughout your day. There's a link attached here where you can find more resources for reading your Bible, growing in your faith, understanding who God is more and sharing him with other people. We look forward to joining this journey with you together. Have a great day. (dramatic music)