Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
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.

I waited patiently for the Lord

I’m not very patient really. If I ask my husband for help, and he doesn’t do it (that minute), I get frustrated. Then usually I’ll do it with a scowl on my face and a bad attitude. He’ll retort that he was going to get to it, just not that second. That reasonable, right. Of course it is, but that doesn’t stop me from justifying my impatience by telling him if I didn’t need his help NOW, I wouldn’t have asked NOW. I think that’s how I am with God sometimes as well. I don’t ask God to walk with me in the beginning of a project or activity. I wait until I’m sure I can’t do it on my own, and then I ask God for help. I don’t want any of that, “In God’s time” stuff. I want it now. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want it now. Perhaps if I had included God from the beginning it wouldn’t have gone the way it went, and I wouldn’t be so desperate, or maybe it isn’t all about me, and God’s timing has bigger plans, plans I may never see, but that He uses to His glory anyway. Patience is a virtue. I need to work on waiting patiently for the Lord.

He inclined to me and heard my cry

Now I find this part of our verse (the part with the theme of the blog in it) very comforting for so many reasons.

• My Cry – Why does the part about crying out make me feel comforted? Because it shows that I don’t have to have my emotions in order. I can cry or cry out of frustration, pain, anger or suffering. It’s not wrong to have emotions. It’s not wrong to cry out to the Lord and be true to what you’re feeling. I like that freedom.
• He heard my cry – Another wonderful part of this section of our passage from Psalms is that God hears my cry. He hears me. He isn’t tuning me out. He doesn’t have Skull Candy ear buds in that make it possible to ignore everything that’s going on around Him (like my boys like to do when I need them to help around the house). He hears my cry.
• He inclined to me: God leaned in to hear my cry better. He has a disposition and a tendency to helping and hearing me. He is inclined to move in my direction. He comes close to me. He comforts me. He leans in. Have you ever noticed that when things are going wrong, some people lean in and some lean out? I have. It’s really interesting who will come to your side or be inclined to you when you’re in trouble. When someone is really listening to you, they often are inclined to you. They lean in and show you with their body language that they’re paying attention. God is inclined to you. He’s paying attention.

Definition of INCLINED