I sat on the edge of the pool, carefully heeding the instructions, “Do not get in the water without your teacher.”

Without warning, I tumbled headfirst into the deep end. Unable to swim, I flailed, completely immersed, panicking with no ability to bring myself to the top. I could feel water searching for a way into my lungs.

In an instant, strong arms encircled me, and drew me up out of many waters. Coughing, sputtering, and crying, I was ok. I clung to the one who held me. I was afraid, but I was safe. I was five, and I vividly recall wanting no further part in swimming lessons that day.

It’s realistic that I could have drowned were it not for someone who was my help and my deliverer. It wasn’t the only time I thought I might drown, though.

I fell across the lifeless form of my 30-year-old husband with a tube in his mouth, his skin cold to the touch, and torrential waves sucked me under. Yet another day, I watched helplessly as my toddler seized for 30 minutes, and nothing could stop it. Much later, pregnant with my fourth child (whose siblings were ages five and under), a box of macaroni dumped across the kitchen floor brought me to the place where all I could do was collapse and scream. (Did you know women can experience prenatal depression!?) It seemed the waves threatened to drag me down.

I could have drowned several times.

And I’d wager that I’m not the only one. Perhaps it’s more likely for adults to drown than children? We struggle at work and feel like impostors. We struggle with parenting, and feel as though we are not enough. It often seems as if there are 10,000 needs to meet, endless squabbles to break up, behavior we’re not sure how to handle, and everyone crying “Mommy” at the same time.

Sometimes many “small” things join forces to make a “big” thing.

He Heard My Cry

I’ve cried to the Lord, “Help me! I’m drowning!” more than I’d care to admit. Perhaps you have too. Thankfully, the Psalmist has must have had similar feelings. “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice and my cry reached his ears.” (Psalm 18:6)

A quick read though the Psalms, and it’s easy to see that David was no stranger to overwhelming circumstances. He records his season of distress in Psalm 40, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”

When I thought I was drowning physically, I can emphatically tell you that I was not waiting patiently (rightfully so). When I was drowning spiritually, waiting patiently was often far from my mind. Yet The Psalmist describes a time when he cried out to God and waited patiently for him. In his spiritual distress, he was given grace to wait.

David did two things: He waited. And he cried out. So simple, yet so hard!

Waiting underscores David’s trust in the character of God, his belief that God was sovereign, and his belief that God would do good to him. Crying out displays his honest heart before God.

Throughout the Psalms, David boldly speaks his heart to God! Clearly, he’s not afraid to voice his complaints. In response, to David’s strong emotions God does so much more!

Think through the action words:

He inclined to me.


He heard my cry.


He drew me up from the pit of destruction.


He set my feet upon a rock.


He made my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise.

As the Psalmist recalls past mercies, he remembers that God moved toward him. Don’t miss this! God was not aloof. At the cry of his own, he leaned in, full of compassion, ready to act.

God was the one who could save and did save. He was the Deliverer. In the immediate context, David reminds us that God hears our prayers and responds. The response may not be in our timing, or in the way we think he will act, but he does hear. He does draw our fearful, anxious hearts from the miry bog.

He is Faithful

When we’re barely treading water, or even in the moments we’re pulled under, we can remember what God has done before. Recalling specific instances of God’s past faithfulness bolsters present strength.

“Lord I’ve seen you provide in thousands of tangible ways. You have met our needs countless times.”

“You are faithful when I am not.”


“You promise never to leave me nor forsake me.”

“You have restored the joy of my salvation many times.

“You give strength to the weary.”


“You give grace for the hard nights.”


“You are good. And you are doing good.”

These are beautiful, life-giving thoughts, but there are still infinitely more radical implications of this Psalm. Ultimately, Psalm 40 points to Jesus.

First, Jesus drew me up from the pit of destruction. He set me on a rock, which is himself. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, he made my steps secure. The pit of destruction is sin. And Jesus is the Rock!. How my soul magnifies the rock of my salvation!

Second, we can view this Psalm as if Jesus was the one who prayed it!  Because Hebrews 10:5-7 quotes Psalm 40:6-8 as the words of Christ. “In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will O God…’”

Jesus came as the humble, obedient servant. God himself became the sacrifice.

Jesus knew destruction. The cross was the miry bog. He faced death to save those his Father loved. Furthermore, Psalm 40:12-13 foreshadows the garden of Gethsemane. “For evils have encompassed me beyond number... Be pleased O Lord to deliver me! O Lord make haste to help me!”

But there in the garden, Jesus said perhaps the most extravagant words ever spoken. “Nevertheless, not my will but yours.” The priest became the sacrifice. The perfect one was cursed, so we could be blessed. He took destruction so we could be whole. He went down in the miry bog of death, but he was raised again to life! Jesus reigns as Risen King.

The deepest riches of Psalm 40 lie in the unshakeable reality that we have a Savior who prayed it perfectly. We have a Savior who lived it perfectly. Therefore, we have grace when we are weak. When life’s circumstances leave us gasping for air we recall the one who went to the miry bog so we don’t have to.

As a result, believers must actively remind ourselves that God has set us upon the Rock. Physical circumstances don’t change spiritual reality—your soul is secure in Christ. He has drawn you from the pit of destruction, and with the psalmist we sing praise to our help and our deliverer.

Help will always come.