Bi-Polar Faith

March 15, 2020

“I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”

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.” —Psalms 40:8, 12 NKJV

In the space of three verses in this song (the psalms ARE songs!), the composer goes from speaking of his delight in God’s will to grieving over sins that have overwhelmed him. How does one go from one extreme to the other so quickly? It feels like he is almost bi-polar, cycling from ecstasy to despair in the space of mere seconds. Were parts of the Bible written by unstable people? Strangely enough, the answer to that question is, “yes,” but not here. Today,  we would say Jeremiah suffered from depression, Ezekiel was perhaps schizophrenic, and king Saul was paranoid. But this psalm was written from the midst of sanity.

Context is everything in Bible study. Warren Wolsey, college professor from years ago often told us that “a text without a context is a pretext.” The context of these words is found as the psalm opens—

“I waited patiently for the LORD; 

And He inclined to me, 

And heard my cry. 

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. 

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.”

—Psalms 40:1-3 NKJV

The reason he delights in doing God’s will is because he realizes how much God did for him when he brought him out of the pit he was in. His sins had overwhelmed him; he could see no reason for hope, and as a result, his heart failed him, ie. he had given up. When all hope was gone, God rescued him. He remembered all too well where he had been, and was therefore grateful for all God had done for him. 

Those love God best who have been forgiven much. If I am passive and blasé about my faith, I need only to consider what God has done for me. If I forget the depth of my sins, I cannot know the height of Christ’s love. I remember, not to live in regret and despair, but that I might live in gratitude and delight-filled service.