He Rescued Me From The Pit

Psalm 40:1-2 

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. 

I opened my eyes to utter darkness. It was incredibly quiet. I was unable to tell where I was, except for the cold damp walls pressing in on me from all sides. I could also feel the thick, sticky mud gluing me from my waist down. Each breath was full of the acrid smell of death.  

Looking up I saw a small disc of blue at least 50 feet above. But this escape route didn’t give me any hope, it was not the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. In a vertical tunnel, it only solidifies that fact that it is impossible to get out. Ignoring the facts, I dug my fingernails into the slime-covered walls and tried to pull myself up. Maybe if I could get clear of this mud, then I’d be able to climb the rest of the way. I lifted a knee and tried to push out in all directions, but it was no use. After trying for half an hour all I had accomplished was to exhaust myself and cover my whole body with the slop. 

This is when, being a logical person, I began yelling uncontrollably in panic. “Help! Somebody help me! I’m stuck down here!” Thirty minutes of this left me hoarse but no closer to getting out alive. I was miles from town and nobody even knew where I was. My spirit sank lower in the muck as I remembered how I got here, it was my own fault, there was no scapegoat to blame. I…had dug…this…pit. And I’d enjoyed the digging! At least at first, and when the pleasure of the hole waned, I dug it deeper, trying to restore the satisfaction and pleasure I desperately craved. I’d underestimated how slick the walls would be…it was so easy to slide down, it was effortless. But no amount of effort could get me closer to the top again. 

I waited. I looked up to the only place salvation could come from. The blue orb suddenly went black. Then it came back. There must be someone up there. “Help!” I croaked again and I heard a reply. “Don’t worry son, I’m going to pull you out of this pit.” Lowering a rope down to me would be useless, I knew I didn’t have the strength left to hold on, even if he could lift me. 

The sound of muffled talking managed to reach me at the bottom and I could hear two distinct voices. They must be discussing the plan or maybe they were talking about the fact that I was a lost cause. Suddenly the light went out again and I could hear something being lowered down to me from above. I waited and then I felt something – no, someone! Then he spoke to me. “My dad tied this rope around me and lowered me down to you. I’m going to tie it around you now, if you’ll let me, and my dad will do all the work to lift you up out of this hole of death. I’ll stay here in your place until you are drawn up to safety and then he’ll pull me up, too.” 

I hung like a rag doll as the father hoisted me up with powerful pulls on the rope, never hesitating or stopping to catch his breath. I knew I was saved when the dark, slippery world I had grown used to suddenly exploded into light and color and immensity. The father set me on the clean, dry ground. 

Here are words and ideas that the bible has when it describes the spiritual pit: injury, death, graves, perishing, flung alive, sinking in mire, destruction, falling, dark and deep, swallowed alive with the pit closing its mouth over you, a narrow well, Sheol, no hope, terror, the slain.  

Does that help? Are you there?  

I’m not just asking rhetorically…not just in your imagination. Are you still there?  

We all dig a pit and we all fall into it…the bible tells us that, too. I was there, too. But I’m not in my pit anymore! How did I escape you ask!? Just as Psalm 40:2-3 continues, 

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 you realize that you are in a spiritual pit and cannot get out, and you fear and put your trust in the LORD, you have a song of praise to God! 

Psalm 103:1-5 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, 

    and all that is within me, 

    bless his holy name! 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, 

    and forget not all his benefits, 

who forgives all your iniquity, 

    who heals all your diseases, 

who redeems your life from the pit, 

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 

who satisfies you with good 

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.