Many people enjoy hiking in forest preserves and state or national parks. Some more heartier folks might select more rugged paths. It is important, though, to make sure you’re careful, as one false step can send you slipping off the path, which can mean an injury, disaster, or worse. What about the path of life that all of us are on? What happens when we take a spill while going down that path, and find ourselves in trouble? King David, who wrote today’s psalm, certainly had several occasions where life events knocked him off the path.
As our psalm opens, David had found himself in some type of trouble, one that he described as like being in a pit of miry clay (vs. 1-2). During his many years of living on the run for his life in the wilderness, he knew how dangerous it was to slip off the path, maybe going careening down an embankment or cliff. It may be very difficult or impossible to get back up on the path by oneself, especially if one got injured. You need to call for help, and hopefully someone is there to hear. David knew that the best help came from the Lord, and that is who he turned to whenever he found himself in some trouble, when life’s events found him landing in a miry pit. David gave testimony of how the Lord came to his aid when he called out to Him.
When we find ourselves in any sort of trouble, be it financial, legal, or with some other people, if we try to extricate ourselves by our own means, we more than likely will only sink deeper into the miry clay. Our own efforts are no good, and we need help, just like that hiker who slipped off the path and down the embankment of a cliff. This is when we need to turn to the Lord God, and call out to Him for help. He is there to help us get back up out of the pit, even if it was due to our sin that we found ourselves down there to begin with. He is there to set our feet upon a rock, and regain our sure footing.
David also instructs us that we need to wait patiently for the Lord (vs. 1). Sometimes when a hiker falls off the path, and cries out for help, he might have to wait awhile before that help comes. They don’t just cry for help once, and then give up hope. No, they keep on calling. David tells us to wait patiently for God, and He will hear our cry. When we wait for God, He will lift us out of despair. We may have felt that we would never get out of that pit, but here the Lord comes to rescue us! God not only pulls us out, He sets us on a good, solid rock, giving us a firm place to stand. God’s help never leaves us floundering around in a more slippery place. Once the Lord rescues us from our troubles, He gives us a new song of praise to sing! (vs. 3).
When someone finds themselves sinking in sin, and in danger of slipping into the eternal clutches of Satan, they need to cry out to God, and trust in Him. When anyone turns to Him, He will reach down and pull them out of the pit of sin and Satan, and set them upon the Rock, and that Rock is the Lord Jesus. As David said in another psalm, Jesus is our Rock and our Salvation (Psalm 62:1-2). God’s grace takes us from no footing to sure footing when He sets us upon the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David also warns us about who we are putting our trust in (vs. 4). When the hiker slips off the cliff, and is dangling in a precarious spot, he would be wise to trust in a seasoned rescuer and not an amateur, however well-meaning. This certainly is the case when it comes to our salvation. We may have some well-meaning friends or relatives who would like us to follow them in believing in some false religion or philosophy. We may listen to some preachers who seem sincere, but their message is not holding Biblical truth. They are like the amateur rescuer whose faulty attempts only send the hiker plummeting to their death. We need to trust the real Rescuer! We need to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible, not in the lies from false religions and false preachers. Trust placed in anything other than Jesus Christ is trust placed in a lie.
Whenever you find yourself fallen into a pit of any type, whether real or figurative, who will you call out to? The only sure One is the Lord Jesus. Trust in Him, and He will bring you up out of that pit, and set your feet upon the Rock.
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