The Bible records the faith-journeys that God’s people take—some on cloud nine in joy, and others down in the “depths” where they are in despair and long for death (cf. Psalm 130).
There’s nothing we need to say to encourage those on cloud nine; they’ve already attained; fellowship with Christ there is very nice if you’ve already arrived.
But Christ Himself is not yet on cloud nine; He is still fellowshipping with the others: “To this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite heart, and trembles at My word” (Isa. 66:2). “Thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him [also, KJV] who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble [thank God for that!] and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made’” (57:15, 16).
When we look to the Lord and we see the slightest frown on His face toward us, we feel like lying down and dying. Moses said, “We have been consumed by your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set our iniquities before You. ... All our days are passed away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh” (Psalm 90:7-9). That’s as far as Moses can go.
But Isaiah has that gleam of immense comfort for us: the dear Lord knows how frail we are, how easily we slide into those “depths” when we “cry to you, O Lord” (Psalm 130:1). To “revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” is to save them from even wanting to die.
Our Lord and Savior went through that experience, for Psalm 40 is a Messianic psalm: this therefore is Jesus speaking: “I waited patiently (Heb, waited and waited and waited) for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay [the mud hole!] and set My feet upon a rock, and established My steps. He has put a new song in My mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord” (vss.1-3).
Think how marvelously the Father fulfilled that promise to young Jesus: “many,” yes, the “multitudes” at the Sermon on the Mount, the world itself, has “seen it and ... will trust in the Lord.”
Not one tear you have shed is wasted; not one heartache was in vain. The Father regards you as being as precious to Him as His own Son; “many” will find the pure gospel of truth in your experience!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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