Out of the Pit

I love the way that the writers of the Bible, inspired by God through his Holy Spirit, paint such powerful pictures with their words, pictures that speak right into the circumstances of our lives. Our verses for today from Psalm 40 paint such a picture. They portray so clearly a person who had been trapped in a dark and deep pit sinking in the mud around their feet, perhaps trying to climb out, but always finding that they slid back to the bottom again. It’s easy to imagine such a person, cut off and alone, crying out in the hope that someone would hear them and come to their rescue.

In the Bible, when the word pit is used, it often describes a place of death or punishment. That’s the pit we were all in before Jesus came into the darkness of our lives as our Lord and Saviour, and rescued us from our sin. But there can be times, even after we come to know Him, when we feel as though we’re trapped in a pit from which there’s no escape. Such pits can be different things for each of us - sinful patterns and lifestyles that we seem to keep falling back into, rejection and broken relationships, situations or circumstances that never change, a lingering illness or depression that hangs like a cloud over our lives.

When Jesus died in our place on the cross, descending into the darkest and lowest pit imaginable, He paid the full price to redeem us from any pit we may find ourselves in. He rose from the grave victorious, and in Him we have a high priest who’s able to sympathise with our weaknesses, who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin, and who’s able to ‘save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them’ (Hebrews 4:15; and 7:25). He promises that, even in the darkest place, we can know His presence with us, His rod and His staff protecting and comforting us.

I lift my eyes up to the mountains
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from You, Maker of heaven
Creator of the earth
O how I need You, Lord
You are my only hope
You’re my only prayer
So I will wait for You
To come and rescue me
Come and give me life
(Brian Doerksen)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that no pit is too deep for You to rescue me from. Thank You that when I cry out to You, You hear my cry. I bring to You every situation in my life where I feel trapped – please lift me up and set my feet on solid ground. In your name, I pray. Amen.