Snow and a new Meal Kit ⛄ Do not delay...

 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!"

Our scripture happens to be the last verse of Psalm 40 and it closes with a personal urgency. 

“DO NOT DELAY, O MY GOD!”

In the first 3 verses of this Psalm, he praises God for past deliverances.

Then in verses 4 & 5, he praises Him for more wonderful works than he can count and that God thinks about us!

In verses 6 - 10, he is reminding God how devoted he has been to Him, and how he never passed up opportunities to praise the Lord in public.

Then he continues by pouring out his heart that’s full of troubles, holding nothing back.

If you were to read this entire Psalm, you’d notice that he ends with the abiding awareness he began with: that He is "poor and needy." He couldn't get himself out of his troubles in verse 2 and he can't do it now.

This is not false modesty but a sober realization of his inabilities and his need of God.

He has declared the wonders that the Lord has done, and points out how God’s thoughts are toward us. Think about that, God has thoughts toward us, much more then we’ll ever realize and that is amazing.

Because, we can forget about God for our entire day and even for days at a time. But He is thinking about us, all the while. If only we would rest in that kind of love and trust His plans for us.

The palmist began by saying Lord, I waited patiently for you, you inclined to me and heard my cry and drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon the rock, making my steps secure, and you put a new song in my mouth.

And here, he’s asking, will you do it again Lord? I need you to do it again! I’ve gotten myself in trouble but I’m trusting that you will work things out. But, O my God, do not delay!

You see, When we’re in a difficult place… a place of heartbreak, or hardships, we must wait intently on the Lord and proclaim His goodness while we wait for His answers.

Remembering that God’s timing often does not coincide with our timing.

We want it done instantly, but God has other purposes.

So, when you’re in that hard place, take note…

A telescope takes what looks like a tiny object in the night sky and magnifies it so that we get some idea of how grand it really is. With a telescope, astronomers know that many of those stars are anything but little!

While many in the world either ignore God or think of Him is small and distant with regard to their lives. As Christians, we cry out to the Lord to save us from the hardships of life.

Remembering how we were mired in our sins with no way out.

And He sent His Son to offer Himself obediently on the cross on our behalf (as verse 6-8 of today’s Psalm predicts).

And since He has delivered us, we are to be like telescopes. Magnifying the Lord and His great salvation to a world that shrugs Him off.

We should also tell others about how the Lord rescued us from other trials, so that they will join us in saying continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

God Bless and stay warm!