Yesterday, we talked about how sobering it is to have a real look at the finite aspects of our existence – Thank God for Jesus Christ, because it’s only because of His finished work that we can view our frailty with humility, and not with distress.
When more than just our minds, but the rest of our senses see just how finite we are, and just how fragile we are, it is not a ticket for us to fear, but it is rather an opportunity for us to see the absolute goodness and greatness of our infinite God. It is as the writer of Hillsong’s Heart Like Heaven composed; Indeed, when we feel just how frail we are, we would do very will to sing, ‘I throw my weakness into Your greatness.’
Speaking of, that really is a nice song. Very underrated.
But yeah, as we ponder on our weakness and behold His greatness, and as we see the limit of our days and realize just how small we are compared to our infinite Creator, we would truly say something similar to what the Psalmist wrote:
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.”
Psalms 39:7
So you could imagine my shock – okay, not really shock, let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised – when I read the following verses in the Psalm immediately following Psalm 39:
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
Psalms 40:1-2
In our beholding the goodness and greatness of our God from a reference point which is more than likely lower than where we normally operate, we would also do good to remember that not only is our God infinite in power and eternal in wisdom, but He certainly abounds in faithfulness. He truly is faithful to us when we are lacking the faith – or, in the case of those of us in the body of Christ, when it’s hard for us to feel the faith that has been authored in us.
So we may cry out to the Lord again and again. As the pain refuses to subside, so we also cry out to the Lord, sometimes mightily, sometimes in whimpers when we’re just so tired. On the other hand, we may just shout out to Him once, and try to handle the rest of the pain on our own, in silence. But here, even here in the Old Testament, even here in this Psalm, we ought to have the same confidence the Psalmist had when he says – ‘He inclined to me and heard my cry.’
That’s one thing I’m pretty sure I told my congregation more than once – You can be sure that the Lord hears you each and every time you cry. The writer of the epistle to the Romans even says that the Holy Spirit alive in us prays in groanings we couldn’t utter for ourselves – that may be interpreted as glossolalia, but I just like what Joseph Prince said: ‘Just a groan reaches the throne’ (okay maybe he didn’t say that first but I heard it from him first).
And here’s the thing – He’s not only faithful to hear us each and every time, not only faithful to read between the lines – No, He is so good not only to react, but to respond to each and every little thing we experience, down to the smallest of details. And He is that great to respond, not just with mere promises, but in complete and decisive actions, within the realm of time and beyond it… all of this, that we would not only stand upright, but our steps truly would be secure.
So at times we may remain in abject humility, speechless just as Moses was speechless when he was talking to God, and then the topic of His greatness was mentioned. It doesn’t matter what we see first – we may be seeing His infinite and eternal glory, and/or we may see just how frail and fragile our finite beings are, but we will always be led by the Holy Spirit, one way or the other, to focus on the former…
And apparently, in our focusing, it’s not as if our God is passive – No, we have a good, great, and faithful God who responds to each and every one of us as if we were the only ones with a problem at one time… And no matter if we do see His response or not, either way, we are upright, and we are secure.
In fact, we’re THAT secure that not only do we step forth, but we may very well be dancing, and singing! For great is the faithfulness of our good and glorious God, so great that we respond, not merely feeling secure, but singing out loud, as if to overflow the confidence that has overtaken our fears, and as if to exude the relief that takes the place of the pain!
And, sure, we may be singing out of our own overflow… and sure, we may not necessarily be singing at all times, but behold – even if we do keep our mouths silent, the rest of our being just continues to sing by way of movement or what we do, apart from singing. We wouldn’t need to feel this overflow for ourselves, because it’ll be the people around us, the people who observe us who would see the great peace we have that goes beyond understanding.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.
Psalms 40:3
Isn’t it just nice to know that Christ paid such a great price for us to be reconciled to a God who is not only infinitely good and eternally great, but absolutely faithful? As we continue down the road of living our lives in celebration of Christ’s finished work, I just pray that we would continue to see new revelations of His great love to us. In this process of being living vessels of celebration, no doubt more and more people will see revelations for themselves, and come to the knowledge of the salvation that comes only through Christ.
Indeed, even in our afflictions, may God’s will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
God bless us all.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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