Putting Our Hope in the Lord: Psalms of Deliverance

Psalm 40 opens the door: “I put all my hope in the Lord. He leaned down to me… He lifted me out of the pit of death… and set my feet on solid rock.” The psalm sets the frame for hope as something sung from the bottom of a pit and then shouted from solid ground. The Psalms themselves carry the church through seasons. Walter Brueggemann’s three-fold pattern names them: orientation when life is ordered and bright, disorientation when life caves in, and reorientation when God brings good out of the wreckage. Psalm 1 and Psalm 8 sing the steady goodness of God in orientation. Then disorientation speaks up in Psalm 3 and Psalm 13, and then cries out with Jesus in Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” In those prayers the worshiper asks, Where are you, do you know, do you care.

Hope steps in there. Hope, not as a casual wish, but as conviction and a choice. The psalmists trust deliverance they have not seen yet, banking on God’s past mercy to fund tomorrow’s rescue. Again and again a lament turns. “How long” becomes “I will trust in your unfailing love.” That trust is not denial. It is the decision to “suit up and show up” while still in the mud.

Psalm 40 paints reorientation with earthy detail. God lifts a life out of “mud and filth,” the kind of pit that smells like a porta potty, and then plants steady legs on rock and puts a new song in the mouth. That is what God does. But the text also makes space for the wait. Hope requires waiting, and the honest truth is “not a fan.” Still, the line becomes a breath prayer: “I put all my hope in the Lord.” Morning and night, until it moves from head to heart.

Easter anchors the whole pattern. Christ enters disorientation fully, praying Psalm 22 on the cross. Christ is buried with the disciples’ hopes, then walks out of the tomb and names the promise that “the worst thing is never the last thing.” That resurrection hope does not float in the air. It shows up in hospital rooms and chemo wards, in gratitude for doctors whose work held back three funerals, in a rope held from the other end by the God who listens even when unseen. The Psalms teach the church to be honest about the pit, to choose hope before the rescue comes, and to live ready for the new song when God pulls hard on the rope.

Key Takeaways

• 1. The psalms trace three life seasons The songbook of Israel names orientation, disorientation, and reorientation, giving language for stability, collapse, and God’s surprising rebuild. Naming the season a soul is in keeps prayer honest and keeps faith from faking it. Orientation thanks God, disorientation tells the truth, and reorientation testifies to mercy that no one could engineer. The pattern invites patience when the middle season lingers. [33:45]
• 2. Lament turns toward trusting deliverance Complaint is not the opposite of faith in the Psalms. It is the road faith takes when God feels far. The turn often happens before the rescue shows up, which means trust leans on God’s past faithfulness to fund hope for tomorrow. That is how “How long” can end with “I will trust in your unfailing love.” [37:41]
• 3. God sets feet on solid rock Psalm 40 names God as the one who lifts a life from “mud and filth” and steadies shaky legs. The rescue is tangible, not theoretical, and it ends with a new song learned in a hard school. Remembering specific lifts in the past trains the heart to wait for the next hand up. Gratitude becomes fuel for endurance. [40:41]
• 4. Easter nails down Christian hope Jesus enters the darkest disorientation, prays Psalm 22, dies, and is raised. That story plants a stake in the ground that the worst thing is never the last thing. Hope here is not mood but memory and promise, carried forward into new trouble with cruciform realism and resurrection confidence. [43:41]
• 5. Choose hope and wait on God Hope is also a verb. Saying “I put all my hope in the Lord” morning and night trains desire and stiffens resolve. Waiting may not feel heroic, but it is the posture that keeps a life tied to the One at the other end of the rope. Over time, that rope holds. [42:41]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:22] - Why hope matters now
• [29:38] - Roadmap: finding hope in Scripture
• [29:57] - Laughter as good medicine
• [31:42] - A culture low on optimism
• [32:50] - What hope really means
• [33:45] - Orientation: when life is ordered
• [35:00] - Disorientation: when life falls apart
• [36:17] - Lament in Psalms 3, 13, 22
• [37:41] - The turn from complaint to trust
• [40:41] - Psalm 40: lifted from the pit
• [41:33] - From mud and filth to rock
• [42:22] - Waiting when not a fan
• [42:41] - Memorize Psalm 40:1
• [43:41] - Easter as the anchor of hope
• [44:23] - Living testimonies of deliverance
• [45:23] - Who is at the end of your rope
• [46:13] - Prayer for strength to wait

1. Psalm 40:1-2 uses vivid imagery like "miry bog" and "rock." What do these contrasting images reveal about the nature of God’s deliverance?
2. Psalm 13 begins with "How long?" but ends with trust in God’s love (v. 5-6). What does this structure teach about the relationship between lament and faith?
3. In the sermon, Psalm 22:1 is linked to Jesus’ crucifixion. How does this connection deepen the meaning of disorientation for Christians? [37:06]
4. The sermon describes Easter as proof that "the worst thing is never the last thing." What specific event in Jesus’ story illustrates this? [43:41]

1. Why might the psalmist in Psalm 13 shift from despair to trust before seeing tangible rescue? How does this reflect the nature of biblical hope?
2. The "pit of destruction" in Psalm 40 is compared to a porta potty in the sermon. What does this gritty metaphor suggest about the kinds of struggles God intervenes in? [41:33]
3. How does Jesus’ use of Psalm 22 on the cross redefine what it means to feel abandoned by God?
4. The sermon calls hope a "verb." What actions or choices might this involve during seasons of waiting? [42:41]

1. When have you experienced a "miry bog" situation where God later set your feet on solid ground? How does that memory help you wait in current struggles?
2. The phrase "How long?" is a raw prayer. What specific circumstance in your life right now needs this kind of honest cry to God?
3. The sermon suggests repeating "I put all my hope in the Lord" as a breath prayer. How could this practice reshape your response to anxiety this week? [42:41]
4. In what area of your life do you need to believe that "the worst thing is never the last thing"? What would it look like to act on that belief today?
5. The sermon mentions writing a thank-you note to a doctor. Who in your life has been an unexpected "rope holder" during a hard season? How can you express gratitude to them? [44:23]
6. When waiting feels unbearable, what practical step could you take to "suit up and show up" (e.g., a habit, conversation, or small act of service)? [32:24]