Psalm 40:11-17 – Being honest with God

In Psalm 40:1-10, we saw how David reminisced over his past. He saw the delivering hands of God helping him to overcome his enemies so many times. Those wonderful thoughts led him to offer his praise to God, and willingly commit himself to God in utter surrender. Now in verses 11-17, we can tell that David was currently facing yet another situation. And because God had been his help in time past, he could now look with confidence to Him in prayer. He requested for His intervention.

The way David expressed his condition, we can see that he felt the impact of his sin and concluded that it’s because of it that he now had to face his enemies. He saw those harassment and persecution of his enemies as God’s granted experiences to discipline him. So he prayed for help. As he honestly appraised his situation, he saw how his action had contributed to what he was encountering now. Notice that David was open with his own flaws before God. He was aware that nothing could be hidden from God. So he honestly face his situation and sought help in prayer.

He first asked for divine preservation. He was assured of God’s mercy and truth, and asked that he be dealt with according to them. From this we know that God will deal with our flaws mercifully. That is provided we dare to trust Him and openly admit our wrong and in need of His mercy. Then he asked God to make haste to help and deliver him. He asked for his enemies to be put to shame and dishonour, and be destroyed. David knew that when the righteous recognized God’s hand in the deliverance, they would rejoice and praise Him. With that he asked God not to prolong in coming to his rescue.           

Without a doubt, we are besieged by troubles in life’s journey. That’s because we live in a fallen world that will not willingly accept God’s decree. We ourselves also have to struggle with our imperfection and propensity because of our fallen nature. We need to realize that every experience we have, positive or negative is a God granted experience. Each of them comes not to crush us but to develop trust and build our dependence on God. The quicker we can see God’s hand behind it and abandon ourselves to Him, the sooner will be our deliverance. We should not be afraid to commit ourselves, and our struggles with our flaws, before God. He knows us perfectly. If we humble ourselves before Him, we can be assured of His merciful dealing and to be open before Him. Let’s trust Him explicitly!