psalm forty

 Psalm 40

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.

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. 

Blessed is the man who makes

the LORD his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who go astray after a lie!

You have multiplied, O LORD my God,

your wondrous deeds and your

thoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are more than can be told.

Sacrifice and offering you have not

desired,

but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said, "Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written

of me:

I desire to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart."

I have told the glad news of deliverance

in the great congregation;

behold, I have not restrained my lips,

as you know, O LORD.

I have not hidden your deliverance

within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and

your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love

and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain

your mercy from me;

your steadfast love and your faithfulness

will

every preserve me!

For evils have encompassed me

beyond number;

my iniquities have overtaken me,

and I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head;

my heart fails me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!

O LORD, make haste to help me!

Let those be put to shame and

disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be turned back and brought to

dishonor

who desire my hurt!

Let those be appalled because of their shame

who say to me "Aha, Aha!"

But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

say continually, "Great is the LORD!"

As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

just wait

 Don't miss my post that's directly below this one! :)

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 I wrote this awhile ago, but hesitated to post it because it's such a daunting subject. But I feel like I have explained it as clearly as I can, so here goes. A little something about strength to start your week off with. :)

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   Lately I have been struggling with feeling the need to do things for God. I have felt like God needs my works in order to accept me. It's a frightening feeling, because all my life I have been taught and have believed that salvation and God's acceptance is based on faith alone, not anything that we do to try to earn it. But now I'm struggling with that. 

     I know that if God wants me to glorify him through my actions, but I also know that I have to rely on his strength. So do I just sit back and wait for God to move my body to do these actions that glorify him?

     That's a question I asked my dad last night. I was worried and frightened and terribly confused about all of this, and he helped me sort it out with an excellent metaphor (my dad always has great metaphors). 

     He said that it's okay – and right – to wait for God's strength to flow into you. I always thought that I had to pray for God's strength, and then go out and do things right away, hoping that God had sent strength quickly enough. I usually started relying on my own strength, which at that point had me feeling like a failure. It isn't a fun way to live life. My dad's metaphor for waiting for God to come to you went like this:

     You're at the beach, and you want to swim, but you don't want to walk into the water and start swimming yourself. So, while the tide is out, you go and sit near the water and wait for when you start to swim. Suddenly, a tsunami comes and you are swimming whether you wanted to or not. 

     The tsunami is God's strength, filling us and enabling us to do his will whether we feel like we can or not. When we ask for his strength, we aren't asking for the ability to do things by ourselves. This may seem obvious to some people, but I think what I have been doing is asking for God's strength, and then forgetting about that and expecting to be able to do things my myself. All I have to do is just sit there and wait for God, and he'll come. 

     To be sure, when he opens a door of opportunity, it's my responsibility to take a step through that door, but if you pray for his power to carry you, it doesn't start with you taking a step. It starts with a prayer for strength and the faith that God will move your feet. 

-Sarah