Heart Song

This little jewel is the anthem of the changed heart. Life has a way of casting us away into the "miry bog," “slimy pit” (v.2) or “mud” depending on the translation. Those words are actually a metaphor for Sheol understood to be the “place of death.” The point for the Psalm is that we may find ourselves in a life-threatening or other situation so dire that we despair even of life.

David wrote this Psalm as a celebration of God’s rescue from such a dire place and is also an expression of God’s reliability in the face of any such storm. This place of “slimy mud” or more literally in Hebrew “cistern”[i] represents the darkest place in your life and God’s available presence, strength and deliverance from these storms that overwhelm you.

Only in the believing heart can such miracles transpire and it is in those moments of deep and abiding pain, trial and lostness in the dark that we find a new song in us, penned upon the newly created heart by the power and hand of a loving God.

With this new song written in the deepest valleys of the human journey we burst forth in worship to our savior God. All of us that follow Christ have our own, unique song, written on our souls by none other than our loving, pursuing God.

God loves you individually, as you and not merely as a part of a large collective of humanity. He wrote your life. He created your DNA. He made you exactly as he wanted you. From your skin color, your height, your hair, your gender, your brain―everything―including your capacity for spiritual response and engagement with him in a personal relationship. It is a dance, a waltz with God. It is his song of you and he wrote it and sings it with you. It is the melody of melodies, and the masterpiece that is you.

It is the story of God rescuing you. It is the story of God’s Son rescuing your heart and soul from eternal destruction and separation from him.

It is your heart-song to God.

But you must forget about religion and religious stuff and respond to this dance of the Cross with your Savior-God.

It is why you were born.

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40 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 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. 3 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.

Psalm 40:1–3 ESV

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©2018 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.

[i] See also NET translator’s notes 1–3 on Psalm 40

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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:

"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”

If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).

Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.

Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page.

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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.

Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).

Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com.

Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.

Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.

©2022 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.