Psalm 40 Part 2

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, I really thought I’d be further along by now? Like there’s something you’ve been asking God for, something you feel called to, but it just hasn’t taken shape yet. In today’s message, Dr. Timothy Brown reminds us that the hard seasons, the ones that don’t make sense, aren’t wasted. That’s where the growth is happening. Because what God is growing in our lives doesn’t just start small; it starts hidden, beneath the surface.

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Welcome to Truth for Transformation with Dr. Timothy Brown. You're about to hear a message from God's Word filled with biblical wisdom, practical insights, and life-changing truths. A message designed to inspire your faith and give encouragement. God has put a dream inside of your heart, right? Just like Joseph had this vision, God has put a dream. There's something you're waiting for. There's something you're praying about. But just to like a dream, it comes in a seed form. It's not yet developed. For most seeds to grow, they need what? They need to be planted in soil, right? So what if the mud you're in is actually the soil for the seed of your dream? And that it looks bad, but you know what? God has you in this situation for a reason. Have you ever looked at your life and thought, I really thought I'd be further along by now? Like, there's something you've been asking God for, something you feel called to, but it just hasn't taken shape yet. In today's message, Dr. Timothy Brown reminds us that the hard seasons, the ones that don't make sense, aren't wasted. That's where the growth is happening. Because what God is growing in our lives doesn't just start small, it starts hidden beneath the surface. Prepare your heart, open your mind, and get ready to embark on a journey of faith with Dr. Timothy Brown in the book of Psalm, chapter 40, with today's edition of Truth for Transformation. So the story is Jeremy Lynn was so poor and so broke that he was asleep on someone's couch in New York. I mean, New York's so expensive you can't afford rent, right? So he's sleeping on someone's couch, and all of a sudden, all that waiting, they have all these injuries during the New York Knicks season. And they go to Jeremy Lynn and say, Hey, can you can you play? Can you start? And he's like, Boy, can I. So he gets out in the court and he starts shooting the ball and nailing all these shots. He steals, he hustles, and all of a sudden, the New York Knicks that were not good that season, they went on a seven-game winning streak. And all through the nation, this broke out called Lynn Sanity. How many of you remember that? Lin Sanity. It was about Jeremy Lynn. And what we know from Jeremy Lynn and his Christian faith is for Jeremy, the wait was, it was worth it, right? So what are you waiting on God for? What is something in your life that has you very uncomfortable? You're like, I don't know why. And so I just want to encourage you for the Christian, if you wait on the right thing, if you wait on the right one, if you wait on the Lord, the wait will always be worth it. The second comforting truth in this uncomfortableness of waiting is the weight is worth it if you believe God still answers prayer. How many of you believe in answered prayer? So put yourself in the wait. If you believe that God is hearing you in such a way to answer you, could that reframe the weight? Could that help you understand the why behind the weight? Look at the last part of verse one. And he inclined to me and he heard my cry. So here's the idea that the creator of the universe, I want you to pick picture this. David is in this pit, and things aren't going well for him. We know from history, from his story, that he had to wait some 15 years before he became king of Israel. And he says, as I was praying, the creator of the universe stooped over. I mean, think about that. The savior leaning into you. The next time you think that God doesn't hear your prayer, we have a savior who stoops. He leans over, he leans into you to listen, to listen to your prayers. And he's going to answer it in his time and his ways. But you got to realize you're waiting. You're waiting. Think about the magnitude of this. You serve a God so intimate and so caring that he can listen to all eight billion prayers at once for those who pray to him. We know that not all eight billion people pray to God, but he can listen to all the prayers at the same time and he leans over. This is the creator who breathed and stars were made. This is the one that holds the galaxies in motion. This is the one that speaks and dead people are raised. This is the one that has the power to speak peace to the storm, and all of a sudden there's stillness. He can speak peace to your storm. No matter what you're going through. I just want to give you this truth. If you don't forget everything else, the weight is worth it. So David said he leaned into me. The creator of the universe came and heard my prayer. And this is the if we if we take a beeline to the gospel, and by the way, every passage in the Bible, it all points to Christ. Jesus said, All scripture speaks of me. So where does this point us to Jesus? Well, the Old Testament, who were they waiting on? They were waiting on Jesus, right? And was the wait worth it when he finally came? In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a virgin, born under the law, so that he might redeem those from the law, so that we could be saved, so that we could walk in this new covenant, so that we could walk in the grace of God. The wait was worth it. So he waited. We waited, we called upon him, and he came. He came to our time, he came to her space. The wait is worth it if you're waiting on God. The wait is worth it if you believe that God answers prayer. So I want to give you, before we go to our third truth, I want to give you three benefits of waiting. These will help you with the why behind the wait. Sometimes God encourages you and sometimes He makes you wait because you need renewal. You need renewal. How many of you have ever felt broken down before? Just like you feel all broken to pieces. And so what we see is in Isaiah 40, 31, those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. So what's the why behind the wait? God's doing some renewal in you because if He gave you what you wanted, right, you're not ready for it. You're not ready. You need renewal. And so I remember in seminary class they had this saying, it never sat well with me. They talked about even in ministry, you're often broken, and it's the wounded healer healing others. And I was like, I don't think that's very biblical. I think you got to get healed by God and get back out there and help others. But it's what they were trying to say is that we're all broken, and that's true. It's okay not to be okay, but it's not okay to stay that way, right? God wants to heal you, He wants to restore you. It's hard for me to help you if I'm constantly broken down, right? It's like, so God wants to renew and He wants to restore. So not only restoration, but the renewal part. What does it mean to renew? Renewal means to make new again. It's like refresh, it's like hitting the reset button on your computer, rebooting it. In Psalm 23, the same author, David, says, the Lord restores my soul. So what does it mean to restore? It means that things are not the way they should be. So God wants to remake it. It's the creator who wants to breathe new life into you. And so, like I said, it's okay not to be okay. But we're a place where we show grace, but we also show truth. And so sometimes in church it's all about grace, and that's that sounds good, but if nobody's getting changed, where's the truth at? Does that make sense? So, like we come at the foot of the cross broken, and God begins to restore us. He's a God of restoration. But there's another purpose in waiting, and that's retooling. Retooling. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, verse 6 and 7, he says, Timothy, stir up the gift that's in you. And you're like, what does that mean? Paul talked about the gift of God that was in the young Timothy, the young pastor. And he said, You've got to stir it up, fan into flames, as some translations say. So what happens when a person becomes a believer is God gives you the Holy Spirit to live in you. You have eternal life the moment you believe, but he also gives you at least one spiritual gift. And what happens if you sit on your gift in the South, as we like to say, if you sit on your blessed assurance, you know, it's comfortable, but you're not stirring up the gift. So, what what gift has God given you? Sometimes in the waiting room, God's gonna ask you to stir it back up. Maybe you served in the kids' ministry and got burned out. Now it's time to get re-engaged. Maybe you were helping out the senior adult ministry and you've not been engaged, and it's like, all right, it's time to get back. In the waiting of the promise of God, God is doing something. So those are some whys behind the wait. So our third major truth to comfort you in the uncomfortableness of waiting is this the way is worth it if there's something greater on the other side of your struggle. So we're finally in verse two. Notice what happens in verse two. It says that I was waiting on the Lord, verse one, and verse two, he says, He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. So if you'll notice here, I have a kiddie pool. Someone asked, Are we having another baptism? That would be really hard to fit anyone here. And we're not having a baptism, we're having something else. Dakota, where are you at? Come on up. Let's give Dakota a hand. So I'm a visual learner. Any visual learners out there? All right. So I'm a visual learner. So I'm thinking of Psalm 40, verse 2. And you ever notice that sometimes you're at a pool party, and a pool party is great until it's not so good? Some of you were in a pool party, it's summertime, and all of a sudden the pool turned into a pit. Your pool party turned into a pity party. So what do you do when you find yourself in a pit, right? You know, it's like life is good until it's not. You're in trial, you're waiting. And so Dakota is in this little kiddie pool, and you notice some pits are confining, right? You're like, I feel caved in, I feel like I can't breathe. This pit is not very fun. This pool party is now a pity party. But what kind of pit is it? Bible readers read there, it says, He brought me out of what kind of pit? It's horrible. Why is it horrible? There's mud in the pit, right? So, behind Dakota, I have some special soil. You notice this is Miracle Grow, and that's gonna come in handy a little bit. So I'm in a pit, and I start to climb out of the pit, but there's a problem about this pit. Sorry, Dakota. It's muddy, alright? So it's it's very muddy. Sorry. That's how does that feel? All right, and not only is it muddy, but it's wet. NIV says it's like slimy, slippery. So here's the idea. You're in a pit. Think about Joseph thrown in a pit. You try to climb out, but because it's wet mud, you don't gain traction, keep sliding down. So we don't have just mud, we have is there a why behind the weight? You've been listening to Pastor Timothy Brown. We'll be right back with the message. But first, we'd like to share some exciting news with you. We're releasing Dr. Timothy's new book called Go After Jesus. This book is a fresh approach to discipleship and focuses on your identity in Christ as the launching pad for Christian growth. In Go After Jesus, Pastor Timothy paints the picture of the six identities for every follower of Christ. You are a seeker, a disciple, a friend, a fisherman, a warrior, and a lover. We're currently offering two free chapters of this book as a digital download. To get your free chapters, go to Dr. Timothy's website at drtimothybrown.org. Now let's get back to the rest of the message with Pastor Timothy. Is there a purpose in your pit? Well, let me reframe this. God has put a dream inside of your heart, right? Just like Joseph had this vision, God has put a dream. There's something you're waiting for, there's something you're praying about. But just like a dream, it comes in a seed form. It's not yet developed. For most seeds to grow, they need what? They need to be planted in soil, right? So what if the mud you're in is actually the soil for the seed of your dream? And that it looks bad, but you know what? God has you in this situation for a reason. There's a purpose behind your pit. And you notice he says, I cried out to the Lord. How many of you have shed tears while praying? You've cried, God, I need, you know, there's some singles in there. God, I need, I need a husband. I'm sick and tired of being single. God, I need a wife. God, I need a job. God, the finances are so hard. God, the health. David and other psalms says, God, you keep record of my tears that you store them up in your bottle. So think going back to the seed. If a seed is planted in soil, and if a seed is watered, what happens eventually it sprouts and grows. So here's the thing. When you're in the pit, when you're in the muddy pit, what kind of mud, what kind of soil is this? You guys remember it's miracle grow? What if the mud you're in is actually miracle mud? And what if the soil and the tears that you're crying through the prayers up to God is watering that dream? It's watering it. So I just want to encourage you, there is a reason behind the season you're in. There is something greater happening, but you just have to wait. And if you keep waiting on the Lord, if you keep persevering, if you believe that there's something greater on this other side, guess what? Eventually, that seed begins to blossom and you see the dream come true. So, Dakota, let me help you. Go ahead and let's get this rinsed off here. I have to clean this up, by the way. Alright, so let's let's let's get you. Is that good? Alright, let's give Dakota a hand. Alright, after that, I'm gonna need some water. That's uh that is nasty. You never know what's gonna happen at Radiant Church. That's all I can say. So there are several benefits. I want to give you five benefits on the other side of your weight. These are benefits we see from David's own words. You notice he says that he brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clutch. So the first benefit is deliverance. Dakota feels really good right now that he's out of the pit. It was muddy, it was miry, didn't feel too good, he felt confined, you know, but now there's deliverance. So would you ever need a savior if you weren't stuck in a pit? Would you ever need someone to rescue you if you weren't in a bad situation? So if you're in a bad situation, I got good news. You're a good candidate for the Savior to rescue you. And the first rescue is from our sin. Jesus comes to save us. But that's not the only thing he rescues us from. Whatever situation you're going through, we have a savior that stoops. And not only does he lean into, but he actually comes down. We have the God who came down to earth to be with us. So there's deliverance. The second blessing on the other side of your trial is stability. So notice Dakota, he went from the mud and the mire. And David said, I went from a nasty, slimy pit to now he set my feet upon what? The rock. In the Old Testament, God is known as the rock, which means stability. I went from sinking sand to now I have stability, I have firm footing. In the New Testament, Jesus is known as the chief cornerstone, the picture of the rock. So here's the idea. When you're with God, it doesn't matter what kind of mud you're in. We serve a God who stoops down, he delivers you, and he sets your feet upon a rock. Alright, there's another blessing to happen, not just stability, but there's direction, there's a destiny. Look at verse 2, the end of it. Not only did he set me upon a rock, but he established my steps. Have you ever noticed that when you're in a pit, you lack perspective? There's a lack of perspective in the pit. But whenever you get out of the pit, it's like the tunnel vision's gone. You now have perspective. So on the other side of your struggle is going to be significant. It's going to be direction, it's going to be destiny. You establish my steps. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to an understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he shall do what? He'll direct the steps. So that's good. I got direction now. There's a fourth benefit. So we're talking about the why behind the way. Why God? Okay, look on the other side. There's singing. What kind of song is it? It's a new song. Now I just want to declare I am all about the old songs. I love the hymns. Some of you love the hymns, songs of old. I'm all for them. However, there's something good about new songs. Throughout the Bible, like Psalm 33:3, it says, Sing to the Lord a new song. Well, what's wrong with the old songs? Nothing wrong with the old songs. But the old song represents what God did in the past. But with every new deliverance comes a new song. And it's like you guys follow some artists that they're like a one-hit wonder, they have a song and then they never have any good ones, and you're like, I've lost. But there's other people that stay relevant. Why? They keep having new songs. And those new songs are based upon new experiences. So if all you had was sunshine in your life and no rain, no mud, guess what you'd have? You'd have desert. But the fact that you're going through trials, the fact that some of you you had a hard time during COVID, sometimes some you've had a hard time after COVID. It's been a tough season. Realize that the mud is miracle mud. Realize those tears are growing, those dreams. As you send your prayers up to God and you're crying, the Bible says God's leaning in, He's listening. But then there's another benefit, not just a new song, but a new testimony. As you read verse 3, it says, Many will see it in fear and will put their trust in the Lord. So here's a way to reframe the weight. What if what you're going through right now, even though it's a horrible trial for you, outside of that trial, when you come out of the trial, it's going to become a blessed testimony. Pastors have said it like this What if your current test is your future testimony? Think about it. If you haven't gone through anything hard, do you have anything really to talk about? How many of you enjoy talking to shallow people that have really nothing to talk about except the weather and this and that? You don't get much depth, right? But people have been through some stuff. People that have been through some brokenness. People that, like Jacob, walk with the limp, you want to hear from them, right? Because they went through stuff. And if you're going through stuff, you want people that have come out of it so they can relate and say, Me too, I've been through that. And guess what? The same God that got me through it, he's going to get you through it. So whenever you're going through sadness, just know that God can turn your sadness into a song. Right now you may be dealing with ashes, but we serve the Creator who can recreate and who can turn ashes into beauty. Right now, some of you are in a nightmare, right? And here's the thing if you want your nightmare to come true, you have to wake up. God can turn your nightmare into a dream, but you just have to wait on Him. And by the way, the wait is it's worth it. And that brings us to our final truth. The fourth truth that's comforting in the uncomfortableness of waiting is this. The wait is worth it if you stay focused on the goodness of God. If you read verses four and five, you're gonna see this. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. Notice he's focusing on God, not his circumstances. And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside the lies. So what is David saying? When I'm in the pit, instead of having pitology, I'm gonna have great theology. Pitology is look how bad my pit is. It's muddy, it's messy, it's wet, it's confining. This one is see-through. It's like there's so much going on in the pit. Someone once asked someone how they're doing, and they said, I'm doing good under the circumstances. And the person was kind of savvy. They said, What are you doing under there? Why are you under your circumstances? Because those who wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings like eagles. You're to fly above the circumstances, not under the circumstances. Now keep in mind, this is not a like a self-help guru type talk. David understood his pit. You know, some people say, Don't, don't, don't mention your pit. David talked about it. He said it was muddy, it was miry. So you're aware of your pit, but your focus is not on your pit. Your focus is on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you stay focused on the pit, some of some people will think you've been baptized in lemonade. So you're like a sour saint, right? Part of this just, well, how are you doing? I'm okay. I'm okay. You know, and it's like I'm holding on until Jesus comes. Does he want you to hold on or does he want you to go and make a difference in the world? So I want you and encourage you to keep trusting in the goodness of God. Don't get sidetracked by the sidelines. David's like, I'm focusing on God. Think about the many wonderful works God has done for you in the past. David said, Listen, if I look back at the past, do we have any CPAs or accountants in the house? Raise your hand. We had one in the first service. My wife used to be an accountant. Imagine if you were like a super duper CPA, that you had great counting skills. Verse 5 says, if I could count all the stuff you've done, they would outnumber, I couldn't add a number to it, right? So whenever you're in the pit, I want you to be reminded of this. God's thinking about you. His thoughts about you are so loving, so caring. It's kind of like when my kids say, Daddy, I'm alert. What do you need, right? Usually it's get me out of this tree, I'm falling. Like, you know, I want to rescue, right? So whenever you call upon your heavenly Papa, Father, he hears your cries, he listens to you, and he loves you. We're glad you joined us on today's edition of Truth for Transformation with Pastor Timothy Brown. We're working our way through the Book of Psalms, the original collection of worship music. God knows how music can connect people to his heart. It can take us from knowing something about God into a place of knowing him deeply. It connects the mind to the heart. The Psalms are an amazing how-to for worshiping God. You'll find calls to lift your hands, clap, bow down, sing, shout, and even dance. When did you last see dancing in church? Also, the psalms show us a wide array of what we can pray and sing to God about. We can celebrate God for his greatness, and we can call out and lament, asking God to deliver us. Sometimes we think we can't tell God how we really feel, but the psalms show us that God can handle all our emotions. There are even psalms that call for God to bring justice against Israel's enemies. We hope today's message has led you closer to God. If you'd like to share your thoughts with us, ask a question, or just say hello, please find us on social media at Dr. Timothy Brown Ministries. You can also find us online at drtimothybrown.org, where you can connect and learn more about our ministry. Remember, it's through your support that this ministry is possible. Your giving fuels the mission. And being on mission for God is so important. To give, go to drtimothybrown.org. Thank you again for joining us on Truth for Transformation.