Horrible Pits
Notes
Transcript
Read Psalm 40:1-3
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
The late Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, is reported to have said to his frustrated, impatient daughter, “My dear, if you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.”
I really think this could be a lesson for all of us to learn quickly in life
Life comes with many joys and triumphs, but life is hard
Job summed it up well when he said:
1 Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble.
Jesus told his disciples:
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
and again
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Peter no doubt remembering Jesus telling them this and having experienced some hard places in life tells us in:
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
Troubles and trials and heartaches we’ll bear
Sometimes when we’re in them we think they’re unfair
But if a Christian you will be
Don’t you know there’s no questions
These times must come
Blessed is the Christian who walks in this way
Following Jesus we strive to obey
Live by the Bible say Thy will be done
For if we follow Jesus
These times must come (Doris Akers)
Our Psalmist talks about a time when he was in a horrible pit -
Sometimes we put ourselves in pits like the lady in South Africa -
DURBAN, South Africa, July 30, 1980 (UPI)—A 19-year-old woman, out to “show men how it is done,” has shattered the world snake-sitting record of 61 days—the first woman to win the snake sitting crown.
Leigh Van Den sat in a snake cage a little over 61 days and promptly declared it a victory for feminists around the world.
The perky student had spent the last two months of her life locked inside a tiny 8-by-10 foot (2.4-by-3M) glass cage in the Durban snake park with 35 of the deadliest snake known to man and-as she is quick is to remind people-woman.
In the cage is a collection of puff adders, mambas, cobras and boomslangs (tree snakes) better known as “two-steppers” because, according to legend, their victims can usually walk two steps before collapsing from the venom.
Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 136). Bible Communications, Inc.
There are pits of conviction -
Can I just tell you this morning there is a difference between conviction and shame
Shame says, “You’re stupid”
Conviction says, “You did a stupid thing”
Shame traps us
Conviction says there is a way out
But the pits I want to talk to you about today are not for heroic endeavors, but rather horrible experiences
Even when all around your soul gives way, Jesus is your hope and stay. Even in the mud, you can rest in Him.
We want to see everything clearly - but sometimes all we see is only clear as mud as was the case with Jeremiah.
If everything was clear and the answers all made sense, we wouldn’t need to live by faith.
1. Pits are real (Have you ever been in the pits?)
Its interesting that some translations call it the “pit of destruction” - that was its intended purpose - real pits are intended by the one who came to steal, kill, and destroy, to end you to bring destruction.
The KJV uses the word “horrible” to describe the pit - others use terms like “destruction” NASB, “despair” NLT,
While these words do all mean a place of demise the Hebrew words are used elsewhere to describe a roaring or tumult, like stormy waves.
When you consider that the usual meaning of "pit" is a well or a cistern, the image you get is striking.
It is as if David had fallen into a deep, dark well and plunged not into a clean placid pool but a roaring storm like a hurricane, only all dark and underground.
Horrible - real, felt, darkness, despair, painful-
2. Pits are rough (It was empty)
A. Joseph was to die there
B. Job had a pit experience
1. There are Pits of Persecution
1. There are Pits of Persecution
This is what happened to Jeremiah
6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
This was a pit of persecution because they didn’t like Jeremiah telling them what God said.
I’ve had people shun me, put me down in the mud - turn the other direction when they saw me in the store -
These pits are no fun - but you must stay true to God’s word and your convictions
Pits of Imperfection or Perfectionism
Pits of Imperfection or Perfectionism
Being unprepared can cause you trouble
In Genesis 14 we find a fascinating story where several kings and nations came against Sodom and Gomorrah - as they ran - they either didn’t know the area well enough or they were too afraid to think clearly
10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
Being unprepared for the ground we are walking on can cause us to fall into a pit
(failure - Failure can be from not being academically, or athletically fit or trained, but can also come about because of perfectionism. )
Pits of Oppression (discouragement)
Pits of Oppression (discouragement)
Not only was it a horrible pit stormy and dark - but it seemed endless and hopeless
There was miry clay - Now I don’t notice it as much around here - but up in MO when the ground gets wet that mud will nearly suck you under
You can feel your feet sinking
This is sometimes how our pits are - we just feel ourselves going down instead of up
It looks hopeless and that we are going under
But one beautiful point this Psalm makes and in reality is about
Pits don’t have to be the end -
Pits don’t have to be the end -
A man was traveling by foot to a far-off town. As the sun was setting, the man had some trouble seeing the things on the road ahead of him and he fell into a pit that he was not able to get out of. Many people came a long and saw him struggling in that pit, and they all had their own thoughts about it.
The sensitive person said, “I feel for you down there in the pit.”
The reflective person said, “It’s logical that someone would’ve fallen into that pit.”
The aesthetic person said, “I can give you some ideas on how to decorate your pit.”
The judgmental person said, “Only bad people fall into the pit.”
The analytical person said, “Help me measure the depth of your pit.”
The curious person said, “Tell me how you ended up falling into this pit.”
The perfectionist said, “I believe you deserve your pit.”
The evaluator said, “Tell me, are you paying takes on this pit?”
The self-pitying person said, “You should have seen my pit.”
The specialist in meditation said, “Just relax and don’t think about your pit.”
The optimist said, “Cheer up! Things could be worse.”
The pessimist said, “Get ready! Things will get worse.”
But I’m thankful for the (sorry for lack of a better word) de-pitters those who come along and help you out of your pit
Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of that miserable pit.
David says “I’m in a pit”
but you know what - being in the pit isn’t the problem - its what we do in the pit
David says “I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry”
It was this waiting and praying that caused the Lord to get him out of that horrible pit and the miry clay -
Psalm 40 is a song about the pits.
It falls into (no pun intended) two sections.
In the first half (40:1-10), David tells how God got him out of one pit and he sings God’s praise for doing so.
But he did not then live happily ever after.
Rather, it is evident from the second half of the psalm (40:11-17) that he is in another pit, crying out to the Lord to deliver him from this one.
Because David waited intently on the Lord to rescue him from the first pit, he knew how to wait on the Lord to get him out of the second pit. So it’s a psalm about what to do when you’re in the pit.
SO it’s not about being in a pit - its about the pits of life
This morning I feel like as a church we are in a pit
Some of it I take blame for - because I can’t be here in town as much as I have been -
Some of it I can’t take blame for - some of it is spiritual attack -
Some of it is lack of interest and engagement
Some of it is lack of outreach
We could go on and on with the blame game
But I want us to do like David is -
Waited patiently for the Lord
That doesn’t mean he sat down in the pit and did nothing
He prayed (because it says so in verse 1)
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He praised God in the pit -
Those two together will go along way to lifting us out of our pit
Prayer will put our focus on God and God alone for help - If he doesn’t build anything we do is in vain
Praise will put our focus on God and God alone as worthy and able and mighty and victorious
He has helped us in the past - he alone can help us now
