I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord. Psalm 40:1-4 (NLT)
Heavenly Father, we so look forward to the day when our cries of “How long, O Lord?” become exuberant declarations of, “Today is the Day of all things new, faithful Lord!” Thank you for loving us, even when our sighs outnumber our songs. We’re grateful for King David’s story recorded in this Psalm. Though our “muddy, miry pits” differ from his, we too are familiar with feelings of weariness and exhaustion.
Some of us are in the pit of strained, messy, or disconnected relationships. Father, you are the God who raises the dead and renews the cold. Bring the transforming power of Jesus’ love to our friendships and workplace, marriages and parenting. Grant us grace and hope, courage and gentleness, wisdom and healing.
Others of us are in pits of fragile health or financial stress, church challenges or vocational vexation, new heartaches or old wounds. Father, turn our slumped shoulders into raised hands, our orphan-like fears into the peace of our sonship. Grant us a measure of joy even before you grant us stories of redemption.
Some of us are covered in the mud of bad choices—the consequence of unguarded hearts and soul drift. Like prodigals in a distant land, we remember home with you, but aren’t certain we’ll be welcomed again. Father, bring us home—even if our change of address has only been spiritual. We grieve our foolishness, blame no one, and make no excuses. We collapse on Jesus—the only rock and our only righteousness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ trustworthy and worship-worthy name.