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START WITH 7
Praying Through Psalms // PSALM 40:1b-2
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 Psalms chapter 40, verse one. If you have a Bible in hand, that's ideal if not, I'll read it for you. David writes many of the Psalms. He writes this one. He says, I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He turned to me and heard my cry. Our previous Start With Seven was on the beginning of this verse. We continue at the end of it. David said, he turned to me after I waited for him, after I waited patiently for him, after I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me. David waited for a while, just for God to turn to him. This immediate sense of expectation we have as if God should owe us something and speak and move when we decide he should. David wasn't living in that kind of demanding position of God, he waited patiently for the Lord to just turn to him. He turned to me, David said. Maybe part of our prayer at times should be God, I will wait patiently for you until you turn to me. I'll wait as long as you would have me, whatever you're forming in me, whatever you're doing deep in my spirit, I will continue waiting patiently for you, discipline me so that I will learn how to wait on you. David said, he turned to me, what a gift, what a grace of God that he would turn to us. David said in other places, what is man that you're mindful of him, the son of man that you care, who are we God that you would think of us. And David said, wow, I waited for the Lord and he turned to me and he heard my cry. David spent a lot of time crying out to the Lord. He had a beautiful life and a very difficult life. He turned to me and heard my cry. God heard me, God heard my deepest cries. I was waiting for a long time, crying out to him and he heard me. God actually is very interested in hearing our cries that we would be so honest with God, that our relationship with him would be so pure, so real that he would know everything about us, even the depths of our soul. David said he turned to me and heard my cry. Maybe that's what God is waiting on from us, that we would be so open with him. We would hold nothing back from him. Maybe today you would just say that God, I want to get to a place in my life where I hold nothing back from you. You know everything about me. Verse two, David said, he lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. God is really good to tell us incredible things about David's life and it's a gift to us, to see other people who loved God and God loved them and God used them in big ways and they were in a pit. He lifted me out of a slimy pit. The imagery here would be that David would be in a pit and it was slimy, he could not get a foothold. Other places in scripture, this guy climbed the edge of cliffs to go fight people. But not here, he couldn't get a foothold. However he tried, whatever he tried to do, he couldn't get himself out. Maybe you've been in that place before in your life, maybe you are now, God, I cannot move. I can't climb out of this thing, I am helpless. I am stuck. I don't know how to move forward. I don't know what decision to make. I don't know where to go. I don't know who to talk to. I don't have the resources to help myself here. I'm in a slimy pit. I'm in a place where I can't get a foothold and I need your help. (peaceful music) I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit. David was about to experience God helping him when he couldn't help himself. God rescuing him, God stepping into his life. This is what God does for us in his time. Let's pray these verses together now. God, thank you that you would turn to us, that you see us and care about us. And I pray that we would cry out to you and wait for you as long as you want us to wait. God, thank you that you see us and you know that we're in circumstances sometimes that we cannot move forward, we can't get a foothold. And you care about us. And at the right time, you'll help us. Thank you that David went through this and you loved him and you love us. 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. [MUSIC PLAYING]