Up, Out, & Upon
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:1-3 (KJV)
As we wait on God- and all of us will wait on God- let us do so patiently rather than anxiously. Rest in the Lord. He will not fail you. He hears your cries. He knows your voice- just as a mother knows her child’s voice.
God brought us up. He won’t let us stay down. By His mighty hand, He will lift us up as we humble ourselves before Him. A pit won’t be able to keep you, and the miry, sticky clay cannot hold you when God Himself pulls you out. With God we are never stuck because God can “unstick” us from any situation. God will deliver us and move us on.
He sets our feet upon a rock, which represents Jesus. Jesus is the Rock and as we stand on Him, we are on solid ground. God establishes our goings and moves us on in the right direction and at the right time.
In this passage, we see that God brings us up and out, and sets us upon. God is working for us. The last part of this passage is a response of praise to God’s working. God does a new thing and puts a new song in our mouths. He gives us a new song for a new season. We don’t sing an old song because it was for the old season we were in previously. We receive a new song of praise to sing to our God.
As God does good things for us and we glorify Him with our praise, many will see and will fear, or reverence God. They will respect Him, stand in awe of Him, and turn to Him, putting their trust in Him. Our deliverance, and the gratitude we display to God for it, leads people to salvation.
This shows us that our waiting is never in vain when we wait on the Lord. He hears our cries and responds, bringing us up and out of a bad place and setting us upon a solid foundation, then taking us into what He has for us. Then, as we walk a steady and stable course with Him, God establishes our goings. We’ll go from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and from glory to glory.
