Freedom from Despair

When faced with trials, the temptation to despair is always lurking around the corner. Troubles tend to come one after another. Our prayers seem to disappear into the air as soon as they’re spoken, met only with silence. We sink low in the mire and muck of life in a sin-filled world, losing sight of the light. On our own, we are helpless.

Freedom from despair can only be found when we meditate on God’s past, present, and future faithfulness, and allow that knowledge to permeate our hearts.

In Psalm 40, David’s reflection on God’s goodness and past mercies leads him to repentance, while also reassuring him that God will faithfully continue to deliver him from present and future sins and persecution.

God Is Faithful

Psalm 40
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the Lord.

In verses 1-3, David remembers how God has brought him out of past affliction. He was trapped in a “pit of destruction” and a “miry bog.” In his trouble, he cried out to God for rescue. The Lord heard him and brought him to safety. Afterward, God inspired David to sing a song of praise to the people, declaring God’s faithfulness and goodness. Those who heard it would see God’s mighty power and be led to humble repentance, knowing they were unworthy of his holiness. Then they would trust him because of his mercy. His gracious goodness gave them hope for the future.

This portion of the text previews its main idea: worship should lead to repentance, even while God’s mercy and past faithfulness inspire our trust and further worship.

The Psalm continues:

4 Blessed is the man who makes
   the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
   to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
   none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
   yet they are more than can be told.

In verses 4-5, David proclaims God’s blessings to those who trust Him. They resist the temptation to go astray on a prideful path of self-reliance, and instead wait for God to act. Just as He has done in David’s case, God hears them and lavishes them with his protection and care. His blessings are so numerous, “they are more than can be told.”

As we wait on God to deliver us from trials, we must not neglect to remember how God has blessed us in the past and the present. Remembering His many mercies allows the Holy Spirit to bolster our faith so that we can resist the urge to “take matters into our own hands” and try to fix our problems our own way. God will meet us in the waiting and lavish us with abundant provision for our needs.

God’s Faithfulness Inspires Worship Through Obedience and Praise

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
   but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
   you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
   in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
   your law is within my heart.”

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
   in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
   as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
   I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   from the great congregation.

God’s goodness inspires David to worship through obedience and praise. He wants to please God, but recognizes that offerings and sacrifices are not enough. What, then, does God require? David sees that God desires a heart that delights in knowing His Word and obeying Him: “‘I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.’” God also wants a servant who worships by joyfully proclaiming His goodness to others: “I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.”

Remembering all that God has done for us in the past should give us a heart to joyfully serve Him in our homes and communities. His faithful mercy should inspire our love for knowing and obeying His Word. The time we spend reading the Bible should be refreshing and encouraging, not a drudgery. God’s abundant grace should also inspire us to worship Him and declare His goodness to the world. Our praise and gratitude should not be hidden away, but should overflow into our interactions with everyone.

If, like me, you’re feeling a little unqualified for perfect obedience and worship, read on! Verse 11 marks the beginning of a huge shift in the tone of this psalm as David is once again moved to cry out to God for salvation.

God’s Standard of Perfection Demands Repentance

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
   your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
   ever preserve me!
12 For evils have encompassed me
   beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
   and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
   my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
   O Lord, make haste to help me!
14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
   who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
   who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
   who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

The sudden change in the tone of this psalm is a little jarring at first. Why does David abruptly move from praise to penance and desperation? It’s possible that David’s circumstances changed as he was writing. Perhaps his enemies renewed their attack on him at that time. However, I think it more likely that meditating on God’s standard of perfection brought David to his knees in repentance. Although he desired to obey and glorify God in his life, even David, the “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:!4), was unable to do so blamelessly. He knew that, once again, only God’s unchanging mercy could save him. He was humbled in his distress, yet confidently declared that the God who had saved him in the past would do so again: “your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!”  

This pattern of worship and repentance should resonate in the heart of every believer. Meditating on God’s past mercies and on His standard of holiness should be humbling. Our worship should continually remind us of our need for his mercy in our sinful hearts and in our circumstances. God’s pattern of faithfulness should inspire our faith that he will always forgive and deliver us. In fact, we should have even more reassurance of our hope in God’s mercy than David had. While King David only had a brief glimpse of his offspring whose throne would be established by God forever (2 Samuel 7:13), we know Him as our Savior.

Whether David knew it or not, the words that the Holy Spirit inspired him to write in Psalm 40:6-8 would actually find their fulfillment in Jesus. Hebrews 10:1-18 explains that the sacrificial system of the Law was never enough to permanently wash away sin. Using just the blood of animals, more sacrifices would always be required. When Jesus came, all of that changed:

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
   but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
   you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
   as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

In the incarnation, God prepared a body for Christ so that he, as fully God and fully man, could live the perfectly obedient life that you and I (and even King David) cannot. He shed his blood as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He met the need for sacrifice forever: “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10) and “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). Through Christ, our sins are permanently forgiven and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who enables us to be sanctified: slowly becoming more like Christ. When sins or other trials drag us down into despair, we can have hope in God’s past, present, and future mercy because of Jesus. Like David, the hope of that mercy should ultimately inspire us to praise God again.

God’s Mercy Inspires Praise

16 But may all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
   say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
   but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
   do not delay, O my God!

David has been brought low. He is “poor and needy”, yet confident that God will raise him up again. He proclaims: “the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer.” David anticipates God’s future provision, and it leads him back to worship, even in the midst of distress. He says, “may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, ‘Great is the Lord!’”

Suddenly, it’s like we have returned to the beginning of this psalm. For David, and for modern believers, faith amidst trials is like a cycle. We begin by remembering God’s past faithfulness, which frees us from despair and inspires our trust and worship. That worship then leads to humble repentance; we must recognize our need for Jesus. Finally, repentance is met with faithful mercy, so we are again inspired to trust and worship without fear, even in the midst of suffering: 

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me

"Before the Throne of God Above", written by Charitie Lees Smith

Resources

John Piper on Desiring God: “In the Pits with a King.”
David Mathis on Desiring God: “Psalm 40: Obedience Better than David’s.”

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Respond

How is God’s past faithfulness to you encouraging your faith, and the faith of others? How is it inspiring you to worship? How is worship leading you to repentance? How does true repentance renew your trust in God, and your worship of Him?

Prayers for the Wait

Waiting on God is never easy. It requires believers to trust God deeply and rely on his strength in our weakness. Still, God can use our struggles in difficult circumstances as the impetus for prodigious spiritual growth. This happens when we surrender our waiting to the Lord and ask Him to use it to produce spiritual fruit in our lives.

In dark times, pray that God would work in your heart as you also ask him to be at work in your circumstances. Use Scripture as a framework to guide your prayers. What better way to converse with God and know that you are praying in his will than to pray using His Word? Scripture is filled with passages on waiting for the Lord. Transform these passages into your prayers.

Pray for Strength

“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31

God Almighty, in this time when I feel so weak and helpless, be my strength. Help me to run this race that you’ve set before me with perseverance. When I feel faint and weary, teach me to press into you for everything I need to endure.

Pray for Belief

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 27:13-14

Lord Jesus, please give my heart courage when I feel afraid. Help me to believe in your goodness when Satan tempts me to despair. Give me hope in the Cross, which is all I need to be sure of your love for me.

Pray for Desire

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”
Lamentations 3:25

Holy Spirit, give my soul an unquenchable desire for more of you. Take my heart captive and make me delight in you more than anything. Help me to desire your will above my own, and give me the faith to trust your plan for my life.

Pray for Hope

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”
Psalm 130:5-6

Precious Father, use your Word in my heart to give me hope when life feels hopeless. Speak Truth in my heart and allow your Holy Spirit to use to produce fruit in my life. Use this time of waiting to make me more like Christ, and give my soul patience as I eagerly anticipate your answers to my prayers.

Amen.

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Respond

How do you incorporate scripture into prayer? What passages do you turn to for encouragement during times of waiting?

When God Says, “No.”

During this phase of the domestic adoption process, my husband and I are in limbo as we wait to be matched with a child to adopt. Sometimes we are waiting to find the right situation to have our family profile presented to. Those are the times of quiet discouragement, when I feel like we’re making no progress toward parenthood, and wonder how long it will be until we present our profile again.

Less frequently, we’re waiting to hear back about whether a potential birth family has picked us to parent their child. Those days are torn between hope and fear. I feel hopeful because of little similarities I noticed between myself and the birth mom, or how closely I think we fit her description of an ideal family for her child. Maybe this is it! Maybe we’ll finally be chosen! I check my phone and email obsessively, ready to receive “the call” if it comes. Still, a large part of me is very afraid, because I know there’s a good chance I’ll be let down again. Fear whispers in the back of my mind: What if we never get picked at all? 

Our profile has been presented eight different times without being picked, and right now we’re waiting to hear back on a situation we presented to last week, knowing that the answer may again be “no.” We’ve been praying to become parents for so many years, at the worst times, it feels like the only answer we ever get from God is "no."

In those times, I am tempted to feel discouraged about prayer. Knowing that God is fully sovereign, prayer may seem futile because I know that God’s will always prevails, even without my prayers. Still, the Word makes it clear that God delights in hearing and responding to our prayers, just as loving parents care for their children:

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit* to those who ask him!” 
Luke 11:8-9

If God really enjoys giving good gifts to his children, why does he so often say no to our requests? 

There are different kinds of no's, and while they may initially make us feel the same sense of disappointment, they are all signs of God’s love and care for his children: 

The Loving No: "I love you too much.”

The things we ask God for aren’t as good as we’d like to think they are. If you are anything like me, you can think of several occasions when God has saved you from your own foolish desires. In retrospect, we are grateful, but at the time, we were overcome. We are like little kids who cry and throw tantrums because their parents won’t let them play with light sockets and hot stoves. We’re like the child in Jesus’ parable, but we’re accidentally asking for scorpions, not realizing the danger they pose to us. Unknowingly, we may be praying for something that would be unhealthy for us, and God is graciously denying our request for our own good.

“He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Psalm 121:3-4

The Waiting No: “Not yet.”

God’s timing is often different from what we hope or expect. When we pray, he may require us to wait because the circumstances are not yet right: the job we need is not open, or we have not even met the person we are supposed to marry. We may also need to wait because he is preparing our hearts for the next step in his plan.

When it comes to our long road to parenthood, I think God has been preparing my heart to become a godly mother, even as he is lovingly orchestrating the circumstances of our adoption. The waiting is hard, but I believe that the waiting is shaping me into the kind of mother our future children will need: a mom who hopes in the Lord 

As I reflect on our journey to parenthood thus far, I see God at work in my heart. Particularly in the past year, God has been using this period of waiting to teach me how to trust him. Through heartache and tears, he’s shown me that, ultimately, I have always relied on everything and anything other than Him for my happiness. I have looked for satisfaction in my circumstances, putting my hope in deep friendships, happy marriage, financial security, and becoming a mother. Pastor Colin Smith sums up my problem perfectly: “If God is not enough for you, nothing will ever be enough for you.” Nothing has ever been enough, because I have never allowed God to be enough.

I want to be the kind of woman, and the kind of mother, who can truly say:

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:26

“‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”
Lamentation 3:24

The Hard No: “Trust me.”

Sometimes God’s answer really is “No,” not because what we request is bad for us, or because the timing is wrong, but because he has a different plan. We may have to give up on a long-cherished dream, suffer with disease, or lose loved ones. These no's from God hurt; they may cause our faith to waver when disillusionment creeps in where God's comfort should be. Still, he seeks to reassure us. The consolation he provides is the reminder of his benevolent, perfect wisdom:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9

Really, isn't this our comfort regardless of how God answers ours prayers? When we pray, we can be sure that God hears us, and that his response will always be loving and gracious. When we come to him with specific requests, we can be sure that his  "yes", "no", or "not yet" will always be the best answer, because God's wisdom and understanding so greatly surpass our own. 
 

Related Resources:
John Piper for Desiring God: “Prevailing Prayer for the Spirit’s Power” and “When God Says Not Now.” 

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Respond

How do you remind yourself of God's goodness when your prayers are answered differently than you'd hoped? What passages most reassure you of God's unending love and provision as you wait on Him in faith?