Psalm 30:1-3 - I will extol You, O LORD, for You have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me. O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
The psalmist is not the only biblical figure who cried out to God from the pit of death. Joseph was thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery. Later, Joseph was brought up from a prison pit and, by God's grace, raised to be a ruler of Egypt, second only to pharaoh. The prophet Jonah, in his futile effort to escape from the Lord, cried out for mercy from a different pit, the belly of a great fish. Rescued by God, Jonah called the people of Nineveh to repentance. Faithful Daniel spent the night in a pit of lions. After seeing that Daniel's God saved his servant from certain death, the king brought Daniel out of the pit and praised the God of Israel.
God lifted these saints out of deep places and sent them out into the world as His faithful servants. These biblical pit-dwellers, Joseph, Jonah, and Daniel, join David the psalmist in pointing to the One who went down into the pit of death for us, Jesus our Lord. On the cross Jesus cried out from the edge of death, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34b). No answer was heard and Jesus went down into the pit, into death. It was the pit that rightly, justly, should have been our dwelling forever. But the innocent Son of God died for our sins. He was sealed in a tomb, and on the first Easter morning He rose up from death, just as the psalmist foretold: "Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let Your Holy One see corruption" (Psalm 16:9-10).
Our Savior lifts us out of fear, despair, sin, and death because He went down into the pit of death for us. He rose up in victory over death and He gives that victory to us. In the water and Word of Baptism, we go down into death with Jesus. We are buried with Him, to be raised in Him to new life. Through faith in Jesus, God forgives and restores us and sends us into the world as His faithful servants. We have the message of salvation to proclaim, the Good News of Jesus our Savior, who rescued us from the pit of death to live in His presence forever. With the psalmist we rejoice: "O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me ... You restored me to life."
WE PRAY: Jesus, You raised me up and restored me to life. Send me out to serve others in Your Name. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Reflection Questions:
1. In what ways has God lifted you from the pit and made you His faithful servant?
2. When we feel all alone and abandoned, what should we remember?
3. When our sins seem to defeat us, what has God done to give us ultimate victory?
Today's Bible Readings: Song 6-8 Acts 7:22-43
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