For me, the psalms in general and psalm 40 in particular have been incredibly incredibly encouraging to me. I struggle a lot with doubt. Questions can rise very easily in my mind, attacking my faith in Christ. Out of these questions, and the subsequent doubt and disbelief of the Gospel, I often turn to porn or some other form of self-indulgence in order to fill the whole that only Jesus can ever really fill. The reason this relates to the Psalms is that, in my recent readings of them, I have come to see, more and more, just how much I, and you as well, can connect with David. He was a lieing, murdering, adulterer, and also went through intense times of doubt and disbelief in the God that had been so good to him. How we know this is by how often it is chronicled in his writings. There are psalms of despair, of gaps where he feels as if God has left him high and dry, without any reason to rejoice or sing praises. There are also psalms of immense joy and praise. He shouts, he dances, he sings, he runs, for the joy that he has found in Christ, his only true Savior. But so often these times of feeling the presence of God the most are proceeded by feeling God the least. We find ourselves, like David, quickly plummeting from an absolute peace and total joy in the love of Christ, to the truly hellish pits of doubt, self-gratification, and deceit. I have felt this so many times, as I'm sure you have as well. And just to make this clear, I am not here to 'instruct' or 'teach' you anything new, but am rather here to remind of what God has previously revealed to us in the Scriptures. That being said, God knows wego through season of doubting Him. And this is the part that is the most encouraging to me. Why else would God have had David put these struggles into words on the Bible if He hadn't known we would go through the exact same kinds of things? God knows our hearts, our fickle, self-seeking hearts. He has inspired these writings so that we know He is always there for us, even through our times of deepest despair and doubt. He is always there. He has heard our cries for help, and He has given us His hand. David states it beautifully when he writes in Psalm 40:17.
Psalm 40:17
'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'
We are all poor and needy. In our times of deepest need, in our times of both physical and spiritual poor-ness, Jesus is there, crying out for us to come to Him. Will you answer the call?
