Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19960901.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm Forty: When It Is Right To Ask God To Hurry To Our Aid
(Psalm 40:1-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. It is never right to be impatient with God, for impatience with Him puts Him at our service, and is a subtle form of insubordination. Rather, God delights in our being patient which is a fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22.
    2. Yet, when crises turn so bad that waiting becomes logistically ruinous, are we right to ask God to hurry?!
    3. Psalm forty answers this question as follows:
  2. When It Is Right To Ask God To Hurry To Our Aid, Psalm 40:1-17.
    1. Psalm forty records a circumstance when David needed a quick answer from the Lord, Ps. 40:12-13,17b.
      1. David expressed his request for God to help him quickly three times in the psalm:
        1. In verse 13a, David asked God to "snatch me away" as one would quickly rescue a party in trouble.
        2. In verse 13b, he asked God to "come quickly to save me!"
        3. Again, in verse 17b, David beseeches God, saying, "O Elohim, do not delay!"
      2. The reason David asked for hurried help was that his limited resources required speedy help, Ps. 40:12:
        1. David articulated that troubles too numerous for him even to perceive had surrounded him like an innumerable army of opponents so that he was incapable of even addressing them, Ps. 40:12a.
        2. On top of it, David's own sins, or effects of his sins had caught up with him so that he was not able to feel confident to face the troubles they had caused, Ps. 40:12b.
        3. Additionally, these effects of his past iniquities were so numerous that he couldn't even address them, or perceive them, making David vulnerable to human collapse, Ps. 40:12c.
        4. Finally, due to the sheer numbers of these challenges and his limited human resources to handle them, David's courage had left him, making him even more vulnerable to failure, Ps. 40:12d.
    2. However, David had the RIGHT to ask God for a hurried response for several reasons as follows:
      1. In times past David had expressed great patience and seen God reward that patient faith, Ps. 40:1-5.
        1. David reported how his waiting for past divine deliverances had resulted in great deliverances: he had been released as a prisoner in a dungeon and as a traveler in distress on the road, 40:1-3a.
        2. This deliverance produced encouragement for fellow believers witnessing the deliverance, 40:3b.
        3. David noted that this deliverance meant that other heads of households (the word geber used in verse 4 translated "man" (KJV and NIV) refers only to adult male heads of households) who also trusted in God instead of other false resources could rely upon similar deliverances from the Lord, Ps. 40:4.
        4. David praised God for His many deliverances of this sort, Ps. 40:5,3a.
      2. Additionally, David had chosen to do the will of God in his life from the heart, not artificially, 40:6-8.
      3. With a candid heart, he had also testified to the people of Israel of God's rich goodnesses, Ps. 40:9-10.
      4. Thus, David's request for God to HURRY was not due to insubordinance or impatience, for David had previously exhibited a subordinate and godly attitude with God and others. Rather, his request for God's quick help was due to the logistical need for survival alone!
    3. Accordingly, since David qualified to make his request for God's immediate help, he did so, Ps. 40:11-17.
      1. He asked for God's mercy to be at work in his case, Ps. 40:11.
      2. He asked for deliverance from all of his enemies by having their attacks backfire upon themselves, v. 14f
      3. He asked for his supporters to rejoice and praise God for delivering David, Ps. 40:16.
      4. He asked for God's rapid deployment of this divine help, Ps. 40:13,17.
Lesson: (1) We are sinning by asking God to "hurry" if we (a) never wait for His answers, (b) if we are not concerned about the welfare of other believers besides ourselves, (c) if we do not perform God's will from the heart or ( d) if we have failed to be thankful for God's past blessings to us. (2) Conversely, if (a) we have succeeded in waiting patiently for God on other matters, in being concerned about the needs of others, in doing God's will from the heart and being tha nkful for God's past blessings to us and (b) the simple logistics of the current crisis makes speed of deliverance necessary for survival due to our limited human resources, we can properly ask God to hurry!