Psalm 40 begins with one of the best introductions ever:
"I waited patiently for the LORD, ...and He heard my cry. He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, set my feet on a rock, and established my goings. He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God."
In other words, the writer's past experience and memory is that God has helped him when he asked. Things didn't immediately change for him ("I waited patiently"), but when they did, the help that came along was overwhelming. Instead of drowning in an awful quicksand pit, God lifted him out of that hole, set him on a rock, and gave him the ability to "walk out" of the mess he was in. Sounds great, right?
Yes, it does. However, that's not all this Psalm is about. Later, it also details the struggles of the man or woman who desperately wants to be godly, but struggles against circumstances, against himself, against the evil around him, and in his own heart.
The source of his confusion is the life he must live right now, as a man of God (or as a woman of God), and how he will do that.
You see, God is "up there," and we are "down here." It's easy to think that God has no sympathy with our plight, or that He's never been where we are in life. And if you are thinking about the LORD, the God who is Spirit, you might be right. However, John tells us that "The word became flesh, and dwelt among us..." meaning, of course, God's Son, Jesus Christ, who became Man. There is no reason now to say, "God, you don't understand me," because God's dear Son does--and He more sympathetic than your best friend, because He can enter into your trials with you, and be right there. The writer of the book of Hebrews puts it succinctly when he says, "God made [Jesus] perfect through His sufferings..." meaning, of course, that God completed in Jesus Christ all the realities of humankind, so that nobody who comes to Him can say, "You just don't understand."
He does.
