Psalm 40:2, "He
brought me up also out of an
horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my
goings."
This morning, there are
differences of opinion about
interpretations of verses of
Scripture. Many claim
that a verse has a timely
application, others say
eternal, some say both, and
others say, "What is the
difference between timely and
eternal?" (Thankfully,
these people are not Primitive
Baptists in my encounters).
Sometimes, both applications are
valid, and I do not
make a big to-do about it.
However, there are times
when a transition or remark is
made in a passage that
is different from the other
verses within that
passage. I believe that this
verse is such a case.
Both of the verses surrounding
this one are timely
texts. The Lord most definitely
inclines His ear
to our cry (verse 1), and He
does indeed put a new song in our
heart (verse 3). These are
things that bring us together in
fellowship, and they give the
child of God assurance
that they are His. However, I do
not believe that our
verse under consideration is
timely. The verse starts
out by saying the Lord "also"
does something. I must
have read over that word many
times before I saw it.
The Lord ALSO does this very
thing. The Lord has
saved us, and He did it in a
magnanimous way. The
Psalmist is most concerned with
his fellowship with
the Almighty, but He does not
want to be neglectful to
put in remembrance the fact that
the Lord has redeemed
His people.
Notice that the
Lord does all of the
work. HE brought us up, HE set
us on a Rock, and HE
established our goings. This
morning, I am so very
thankful that He did bring us up
out of the pit and
miry clay. But, I am just as
thankful that He did not
leave us in a state to fall
again. Had the Lord just
brought us back up to ground
zero, we would have
fallen into the horrible pit
again and been dead in
trespasses and in sins all over
again. However, the Lord set us on
Christ (the Rock). With Him as
our foundation and
root, we can never again be in a
state of deadness in
sins. Forever have our sins been
removed from us, and
the Lord Himself
remembers them no more.
The Lord
also established our goings.
That phrase does not
mean that He foreordains every
step that we take.
Rather, it means that He has set
our bounds, and He
has anchored our final
destination. That word “established” is from the same word as “set.” That
means that as secure as our being set on Christ is, that is just as sure as our
destination is. Paul tells us in Hebrews 6 that our hope is sure and steadfast
and anchored in heaven. That is the establishment of our goings. May we ever
be thankful this morning that
when He passed by it was a time
of love, and He
commanded us to
LIVE! (Ezekiel 16)
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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