Wait on the Lord: From Pit to Praise

By Deb Marsalisi

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly. Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me! Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, “Aha, aha!” Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!” But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.”—Psalm 40 (NKJV)

This psalm hit me hard and held up a mirror to my heart. Every honest believer in Christ will struggle to trust in the Lord from time to time. Patience and trust walk hand and hand in this journey of life. We need patience in the trials of our lives—and when we're in our deepest pit, it doesn’t always come easy.

It took faith for David, in the pit of despair, to wait patiently on the Lord to act on his behalf. When reading this Scripture written over 2,000 years ago, I have to remind myself not to rush past the first sentence; to slowly peel away at it, like layers of an onion. What does it really mean to patiently wait?

Wanting instant relief in trials is just in our blood. As flawed humans, we all have the same tendencies. We sometimes wait impatiently, with a bad attitude, letting the desire to control the situation overwhelm us. How do we wait patiently when things consistently don’t go our way, when things totally don’t make sense, when our circumstances don’t look like they’ll ever get better? How does David go from the pit to praise? David’s action plan is remembrance and help. He reminds himself of the God he serves and praises, and then he wisely asks for help.

David says God leans down from heaven, cups His ear, and hears the cries of His children. That’s comforting! David remembers how God brought him out of a horrible pit before and set his feet upon a rock. In other words, David was brought from chaos to stability. We all share this similarity in our salvation stories. David goes on to write how God enabled him to praise so all will see and reverence the Lord. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. David invites us into the same deep abiding trust he has in the Lord, whose wonderful works and thoughts towards us are innumerable.

David goes on to declare how God doesn’t require sacrificial offerings of the Levitical system, but delights in doing the will of the Father. Here, David’s reminded of the power of God’s love and freely proclaims the good news of the Lord’s righteousness, salvation, lovingkindness, and truth in the great assembly.

David finishes this psalm with lament and “an ask” (verses 11–17). In the grief of his circumstances, he openly laments. A lament is an appeal to God based on the belief in His loving nature, which is different from a complaint, which is accusatory and slanderous towards God’s character. He expresses evil has surrounded him and acknowledges his own sin in the circumstance. He wants his enemies to be driven backwards with confusion and shame. May I say I appreciate David’s honesty? He doesn’t hold back with the Lord—and neither should we. At times when pain washes over me like a tidal wave, I can lean towards anxiety instead of quiet confidence in the Lord. Do you struggle with this?

Finally, David pleads with God for mercy and deliverance from the pit. What an excellent model of patience he gives us to follow, so we, too, can move from the pit to a place of praise.

Pause: Are you waiting patiently for deliverance? Do you trust the Lord’s plan for your life?

Practice: Jot down David’s action plan and post it in your prayer closet. Be sure to utilize these steps when you find yourself in a pit: Remind yourself of the God you serve and praise. Then, lament and wisely ask for help. See if you can find this pattern in other psalms this week.

Pray: Dear Lord, I want to be like David and praise You in the storms of life. I know I’m not in control, You are. When I remember Your character and how Your wonderful works and thoughts towards me are innumerable, I can rest. Thank You for being my Father, my protector, my Savior, my refuge, and my friend. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.