If I go up to the heavens,…you are there;…if I make my bed in the depths,…you are there…If I rise on the wings of the dawn,…if I settle on the far side of the sea,…even there…your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:8-10.

Sometimes it helps to read Scripture verses slowly…and read them again. To linger and to ask God to help you understand. So it was with our chapter today, Psalm 40. The psalms use words so beautiful to convey the wonder of our Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. They also convey the opposite of God’s love and help us to see the difference. How can we not love words that are so personal? I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. v. 1. 14 words and yet they say so much. I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry…He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. v. 2. When I sit with God in prayer, I am at home. I know comfort, healing, understanding. This broken world tries to stand on sand that is unstable and shifting and the problems we cannot resolve are huge and unending. Shifting, unstable sand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. v. 3, 4. Blessed. When we turn to God and receive all the good He has for us, we are blessed. How do we do that? We trust that He who created us knows us personally. He knows our need for His good and He is patient with us in great Love. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; where I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. v. 5. What has He planned for us? One is that our ears may be opened to His truth. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire – but my ears you have opened – burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. v. 6. And then this…Then I said, “Here I am, I have come – it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” v. 7, 8. Lets go deeper…First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” – though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:8-10. It was already written in the scroll! And David goes on…I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know…I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help…I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly…But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!”…You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay…v. 9, 10, 16, 17.

Everything God does is for our good and we are blessed when we trust Him to know what that Good is. When I come to Him in prayer, what is true comes back into focus for me. So I keep coming back to Him. He fortifies me with His Truth and it is so Good! Like the clearest, cleanest sunshine – His Truth dispels the darkness of this world’s sins. In God we see Light. In God we know hope. Please, please…don’t accept any imitation. God is right here with us always! We just need to open our hearts to His Love and believe He loves us. All of us. It’s written in the Scroll.