Be pleased to deliver me

Psalm 40:11-17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;                                                   ^]Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
¹² For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
¹⁴ Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
¹⁶ Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
¹⁷ Since I am afflicted and needy,
^[Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

Again as we look at another Psalm of David, I think it is important that we view it from the perspective of Acts 13:32 which says:  But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’   So, the heart of David the psalmist, reveals the heart of God to us and for us.

The psalmist says:  You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.  In Deuteronomy 31:6 God says:  "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."  In Jeremiah 30:22 God says:  “You shall be My people, And I will be your God."  Hebrews 4:16 says:  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Because of God’s mercy and grace; because of His compassion and loving kindness, we can come boldly to Him. We can be confident that He will preserve us and not fail us.

The psalmist says:  For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; Make haste, O Lord, to help me.  Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  In Genesis 3:14-15, we see that God’s plan was to not only forgive, but to overcome our iniquity.   The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”  Even before we were born, at the first sin, God planned to redeem us from our sin. In John 16:33 Jesus says: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

The psalmist says:  Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; Make haste, O Lord, to help me.  Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to destroy it; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt.  Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”   Isaiah 53 speaks prophetically of God’s plan to deliver us. Verse 10 says:   But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.  God was pleased to deliver us through the sacrifice of Christ His Son, who was pleased to offer His life for us.  John 3:16 says: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  I love what David says about those who scheme against God’s people in Psalm 37:12-15:  The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth.  The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.  The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct.  Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken.   God knows the end of things. He knows the outcome for both those who believe and those who do evil. In Luke 9:26 Jesus says:  Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.   If we don’t want to know the shame of the wicked, let us not be ashamed of our Lord and His word.

The psalmist says:  Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!” Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God. 

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, that You have not delayed, but You have delivered me because of Your love and compassion, according to Your grace and mercy. I will rejoice and be glad. I will continually say the Lord be magnified! You are my help and my deliverer.  Amen.