Singing Psalm 40 you are firmly grounded in the One who makes your steps secure
“Watch your step!”
“Try not to trip!”
“Watch out for those geese droppings!”
Despite the warnings, somehow you have lost your step.
“Evils too great to count Have taken hold of me.My sins close in on me So that I cannot see.
“They are more numerous Than hairs upon my head.My heart now fails in me; My courage melts away.” ~ Psalm 40:12
God sees you separated from your surfboard of choice, desperately flailing in the middle of a tempest-driven ocean in each storm of life. He rescues you, plants you on a solid rock to safety, and makes your steps secure.
You had no means to make your steps secure. It was all a matter of receiving Jesus and his help that was freely and lovingly offered to you.
“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” ~ John 1:11-13
Singing Psalm 40 gets through to even those of you who can recall your Italian grandmother often saying “capo tosto” under her breath within your earshot!
Though you lose track when you attempt to count your sins, even more numerous are God’s thoughts and works that nullify those sins. He rescues you in Jesus so that though your sins the the sins of those around you are evil, they are rendered impotent.
Singing Psalm 40 penetrates through stubborn resistance. Nothing and no one compares to God. He woos you by his irresistible love that makes your steps secure. He rejoices to hear your faith within your soul unspoken. He heals your unspoken doubts with indescribable mercy and grace.
The Lord draws you to do his will one word, one note, one step at a time. He quickens your steps building on small character successes in the direction toward smooth sailing where he is taking you to be with him. You are grounded in him who makes your steps secure.
Enoch and Elijah were taken in such a way as to bypass death, but since you are following Jesus, you get to go through death and resurrection like he did, that is, unless he comes to meet you in the clouds first!
God often has you on the transport vehicle called ‘suffering’ and helps you endure the bumpy ride along the way to paradise where peace, joy, and love never cease. His unfailing love will keep you safe along the way as he makes your steps secure. Can you imagine life when you won’t need faith or hope or to wait anymore?
He often connects you with loved ones who come along for the ride. Though you might still feel alone, even with that, you are not alone. Whether they support you or taunt and jeer, the Lord your God will surprise you with strength to imitate his unfailing love and mercy to those around you.
God delights to set his law deep within your heart. He thrills you with his presence as peace, joy, and love follow you as you follow him.
When you begin to veer off his path, tempted to overindulge yourself or look sideways at someone else, God makes you sensitive to reset your thoughts, words, and steps secure in his closeness.
God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, attend to you moment by-moment making your steps secure. He is holy and shares his holiness with you, never far off but always near.
“He brought me from a pit, Out of the dungeon mire,My feet set on a rock, My footsteps made secure.” ~ Psalm 40:2
Singing Psalm 40 God makes your steps secure so you can deny yourself
“I waited for the LORD; He stooped and heard my cry.” ~ Psalm 40:1
You forgo your natural inclination toward independence from God and instead are supernaturally dependent on the Lord waiting for him to make your steps secure as you watch your step to stay on his path for you.
“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” ~ James 3:7-8
Wait for the Lord to instruct you to think, speak, and act in ways that profess your faith in him. He delivers you from restless evil as you trust him and wait for him to make your steps secure.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.” ~ Matthew 16:24-27
“Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” ~ John 6:28-29
“Yet we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” ~ Galatians 2:16
When you, who were willing to lose your life for God the Father, Son, and Spirit, see how he planned all along to make every wrong thing right, there will be no words for the joy you will have when he hands you your life and you find it better than you could have ever imagined it.
You will find the only times you really ever denied yourself are when you failed to trust him and chose to sin instead.
“Blessed he who trusts the LORD, And turns not to false men.” ~ Psalm 40:4
Singing Psalm 40 God faithfully makes your steps secure for he cannot deny himself
God is merciful. He is true.
He will never ever forsake those upon whom he chose to set his mercy and make their steps secure. You can count on it.
What wonderful news that the Lord cannot deny himself that!
“The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:13
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:24
“I hid not in my heart Your truth and saving help;In the assembly great I preached your faithfulness.
“You’ll not withhold from me Your tender mercies, LORD;And your unfailing love Will ever keep me safe.” ~ Psalm 40:10-11
“Let all those seeking You Gladly rejoice in You,Who Your salvation love Say, ‘Glory to the LORD! ‘
“May the LORD think of me; I suffer pain and want.My Help, my Savior, come! My God, do not delay!” ~ Psalm 40:16-17
June 16-23, 2023
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