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. Psalm 40:1-3 (NLT)
Dear heavenly Father, your beauty is beyond compare; your love is better than life; your faithfulness is without question; your grace is without limits; and your mercies are new every single day. We praise, bless, and adore you. There is no god like you; there is no God but you.
We rejoice in your pit-rescuing goodness today. Father, I don’t know what “pit of despair” King David was writing about in this Psalm, but I can name a great number of “pits” from which you have been faithful to rescue us, and others for which we now trust you for rescue.
We worship you for plucking us out of the pit of graceless religion and gospel-less spirituality. Father, thank you, thank you, thank you for opening the eyes of our hearts to see the greatness of our need and your even greater provision for us in Jesus. There is no life apart from Christ and no hope without the gospel of your grace. That we are now in Christ means we will one Day be out of every conceivable pit.
We trust you to rescue us from pits we’ve been pushed into, fallen into, and those we’ve jumped into. Father, rescue us from the pits of self-pity and vain-regrets. You have forgiven our past. There’s no need to beat ourselves up with “if-only’s”. Rescue us from the pits of unforgiveness and bitterness—perhaps the most daily and deadly of pits. You can be trusted with our pain and with putting things right—in your time and in your way.
Father, rescue us from the pits of hopelessness and melancholy. A vacant cross and empty tomb are all the evidence we need that you can be trusted—no matter our story, no matter the issues, no matter the mess. From these, and every other “pit”, we wait upon you for rescue. So very Amen we Pray, in Jesus’ bold and beautiful name.
