Steady Me — Psalms 40:1-2

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.

This verse really grounds me when I feel unsteady.

In an earlier post, entitled, In the Heights & Depths, I spoke about really understanding the depths and what that looked like for me. (I journeyed through Psalms 139:8, and I encourage you to go read it if you’re feeling out of control and can’t seem to find the door out of darkness.)

Psalms 40:1-2 was a set of verses I held on to once I was out of the depths to keep myself from going back. I had experienced freedom, and would feel tripped up sometimes and this helped me keep moving forward instead of being pulled back into the depths.*

The Verses

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry”.

Psalms 40:1-2 is so lovely because first it answers the cry of our hearts, “He inclined to me and heard my cry”.

This means he leans over and hears your cry. He hears you. He is pursuing you right now, flying down with all intensity to provide what you need. He is not sitting in the background. Psalms 18:3-19 gives a stunning picture of this.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
    and the foundations of the mountains shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
    the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
    with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
    and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
    at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Meditate on this.

The verse starts out by saying, “I waited patiently for the Lord—” and to me this is a disposition. I wait patiently for the Lord because I know who He is. I know He hears me. I know He is coming. I know He loves me. I know He is working for my good. I know He is good. Like a Father listening for his child’s cry, He’s listening. Ears tuned from the next room. He loves you. He wants to help you. He’s there with you.

“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”

Pt. 1 — The word miry means muddy, or mucky. A bog is like a marsh or a swamp. A miry bog indicates a degree of “instability, of feet that are slipping and in danger of falling”. I cannot tell you how often I’ve felt unsteady over these past few months. Unsteady in joy, unsteady in peace, and so on.

But one thing God reminded me of was this—He steadies us. We don’t steady ourselves.

The last part of this verse highlights this.

Pt. 2 — The next part of the verse literally says, “—and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” The Bible refers to Christ Jesus as our rock and firm foundation over and over again throughout the Bible (Matthew 24:24-27). He sets our feet on something steady, unmoving, unchanging—himself, and as we walk in Him, our feet are made secure. As I read the word secure, I literally let out a sigh of relief. I had been trying for so long to find my balance again, to be rooted, and felt myself constantly slipping. But in these words, God says that He will set my feet on the Rock and make my feet secure. It wasn’t up to me. In the heights or in the depths, even in the miry bog, God would always come to rescue me. Always. He will always do the same for you. No matter where you are, He is there (Psalm 139).

So to anyone who feels like they’ve been unable to get their footing, be encouraged. Jesus can, will, and wants to steady you. He can take that instability and give you stability. I am a living testimony.

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Lord, we exalt you. Lord you are worthy of all praise, all adoration! Lord we thank you for raining down your goodness and justice on us! Lord your word declares over and over again, that you are a refuge, our defender, our Savior. You are for us! If you are for us, then who could be against us! Your love is astounding. I pray for every that is reading this blog that they would know the breadth, depth, and width of your love. Lord you are a tender loving attentive Father, and you care where we are, how we feel. Lord, I silence all lies that say otherwise. Lord let your hand stretch across your people, your daughter, your son, and lift them from the pit, lift their eyes, lift their heads, and let them feel your outstretched arm leading them into freedom, fresh air, relief again. Lord set there feet on the steady ground of your love, of your nature, of your character. Lord we declare that those that read this will be secure in joy, secure in peace, secure in faith, secure in hope, secure in love, secure in You, Jesus Christ. We worship you and praise you for it in advance!

Thank you Jesus, our Friend—

In Jesus name Amen!

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* I share this because it’s not always easy walking in freedom. We can be free and delivered from something or a place, but when we feel tripped up, we may get discouraged and question where we really are. I see it like holding a big rope, you are trekking along, pulling yourself forward. When something from your past comes up, an old thought pattern, a situation, it’s tempting to just let the rope go and be pulled all the way back. Hold on. Grit your teeth and know that you are not where you use to be, that has no power over you. It’s just a façade set up to shake you. Keep going. Read Virtual Reality, to hear my epiphany on this and gain some clarity.