He Knows
“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” (Psalm 40:12).
David is in trouble – again!
He is surrounded by countless evils and hated by many enemies (12, 14-15).
But why?
God had already heard his cry for help, brought him up out a horrible pit, set his feet upon a rock, established his steps, and given him a new song of praise to God (1-3). He trusts in God and remembers the many wonderful works of the Lord on his behalf (4-5). He seeks above all to do God’s will, in which he delights, and constantly ponders the Word of God (6). He has told everyone of God’s greatness and goodness (9-10).
Why has God allowed these new trials?
Well, on one level, David knows he has sinned often and badly (12). That’s why he cries out for “tender mercies, lovingkindness, and truth” (11). You will remember that the phrase “lovingkindness and truth” shows up as “grace and truth” in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 18). Prophetically, he is asking for Jesus.
And, prophetically, he is describing the experience of Jesus, as we learn from Hebrews (6-8; Hebrews 10:5-9). In fact, Jesus is speaking of himself through David.
Here we have it: Jesus suffered just as terribly as David did, and more, not for his sins, but for ours. He knows how we feel, and he has come to save us in every way. Someday, he will bring us out of the horrible pit of death (or decay) and take us to be with himself in a new heaven and new earth.
Meanwhile, he is with us, and he knows.
Thank you for praying last week. The story on Absalom Sydenstricker, Pearl Buck’s father, can now be found at Absalom Sydenstricker | BDCC. I resumed writing notes on 1 John and my work on a review of an older book on missionaries to China called Chinese Kaleidoscope. Why? Because it contains short biographies of important missionaries from a mostly critical stance, reflecting a strong current of modern scholarship. I want to assess these fairly and accurately.
“Blessed is that man [strong man, warrior] who makes the LORD his trust” (Psalm 40:4). NOTE: If even David, the mighty warrior, needed to trust in God, how much more do we! And we can, for we, too, are “poor and needy” (17)!
Yours in his lovingkindness and truth (that is, in Christ),
Wright