“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me… He lifted me out of the pit of despair and set my feet on solid ground… He gave me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God… Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-4
Heavenly Father, this Psalm tells the story of how you rescued King David from the pit of despair, placed him onto solid ground, and then filled his heart and mouth with robust singing. Our pits may differ from David’s, but we praise you for being the every-pit-Abba and for giving us grace shaped just like our most current, deepest pits.
Some of us are in messy-relationship–pits with only a faint hint of resolution insight. These pits can be deeper than the Grand Canyon and just as dry and overwhelming. Abba, if you’d rather teach us to sing in those pits than rescue us from them, then grant us supernatural grace to do so.
Others of us wake up today in fear-pits—health, financial, aging parents, or some other hard providence crisis. We don’t know what to do, but we do know who to trust. Your perfect love for us drives out fear (1Jn.4:18)—even before the way forward is clear and circumstances change. Grant us a palpable sense of your love and your presence as we wait upon you.
And some of us have fallen, jumped, or have been pushed back into pits of regret, shame, and disconnect from the Gospel. The devil has successfully condemned us, and our unbelief has successfully taken the song from our hearts. Remind us Abba that the way home to you is 100% paved with grace and that you are always on it. Let us hear your feet running towards us and see your hand reaching with kindness for us. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.
