As I write this, I’ve just come in from the soup kitchen.  We had an incredibly busy day today and yesterday and the dining room stayed full almost the entire period for lunch.  We saw a lot of new faces – too many.  A man came and ate today as we were nearing the end of serving time.  He was in his mid-fifties and  wore very thick glasses.  He ate two plates of food and after eating, he sat around for quite some time – until the dining room emptied.  I’ve seen him before, but he isn’t a “regular.”

When almost no one was around, he asked me if he could speak to me.  With the way he’d eaten, I thought he was going to ask for some food to take home, and I was already doing a mental inventory of what I could give him.

Instead, he asked me if I could read a passage from the Bible for him.  He looked around but saw no Bibles sitting out and said, “That is, if you can find one.”

I said, “I have one in my purse.”  I retrieved my Bible and asked him what he wanted me to read.  He told me that he could read and write, but that the words in his Bible were too small to see.  But, he said, a wind blew open the door to his house and his Bible next to his chair was blown open to Psalm 40.  He could read the big bold words of the book and chapter – just not the words.  (And typing this reminds me that I need to go by the Christian book store and get him a large print Bible and leave it with the woman who runs the soup kitchen in case he comes back tomorrow.)

He felt VERY compelled to seek someone out to read him that chapter, and when he saw me he knew I was the one to read it to him.

By the time I finished reading, he was sobbing.  He said, “Life has been so hard lately.  Times are just hard.  I guess God just needed to give me a Word.”

It’s hard out there for everyone.  If the busyness of the soup kitchen is any indication as to how things are out beyond the walls, things don’t look great. I believe God had him seek me out and put this so heavily on my heart because one of you needs this Word from God, too.   So, here is Psalm 40.

Psalm 40

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.

⁴ Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
In the great assembly;
Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,
O LORD, You Yourself know.
¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
From the great assembly.

¹¹ Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD;
Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
¹² For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.

¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who seek to destroy my life;
Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
Who wish me evil.
¹⁵ Let them be confounded because of their shame,
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

¹⁶ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The LORD be magnified!”
¹⁷ But I am poor and needy;
Yet the LORD thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

I pray that if you are in the pit, God will lift you out and set your feet on solid ground.  Remember, that God has given us the Holy Spirit as a comforter, and that we only need to cry out to Him.  If you have any questions about that or how to do that, please please don’t hesitate to email me or Gregg.

I pray God blesses you today.  If you know someone else who is in a bad spot right now, perhaps you could share this encouraging Word from God with them as well.

Hallee

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