He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Psalm 40:2 (Life Application Study Bible)
Jesus Tells Us…Self-pity is a slimy, bottomless pit. Once you fall in, it’s almost impossible to get out by yourself. The harder you try to pull yourself out, the farther down you slip. You look down and all you can see is deep darkness. Don’t look down, look up at Me. See My Light, which is still shining down to you. Reach up in trust and grab My hand. Hold tightly to My promises as I slowly pull you up out of the pit.
Jesus Concludes…I will set your feet on the firm rock of My Love. I will wash away the mud of sin with My forgiveness, and cleanse you with My Peace. I will cover you with the shining clothes of My righteousness. And I will walk with you down the path of Life.
Psalm 40:2; Psalm 40:3; Psalm 147:11; Study Notes
Passage Psalm 40:3; He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.
Footnotes Psalm 40:1-3; Waiting for God to help us is not easy, but David received at least four benefits from waiting: (1) God lifted him out of his despair, (2) God set his feet on a rock, (3) God gave him a firm place to stand, and (4) God put a new song of praise in his mouth. Often, blessings cannot be received unless we go through the trial of waiting.
Passage Psalm 147:11; The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Footnotes Psalm 147:10-11; We may spend a lot of time and effort trying to sharpen our skills or increase our strength. Although there is nothing wrong with doing so, and, in fact, our resulting skills can be used to glorify God, that is not what God primarily desires from us. When we use our gifts with no regard for God, they accomplish little of lasting value. Ultimately, God desires our fear (reverence) and trust. When he has those, then he can use our skills and strengths in ways far greater than we can imagine.
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
THE WORLD…we see history
LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519
Geniuses among our 100 People Who Changed the World have emerged from disparate backgrounds that range from abject poverty, to nobility. As a more modern genius, Chuck Berry, once observed, “It goes to show you never can tell.” Leonardo Da Vinci, the towering Italian artist, scientist, architect, musician and Renaissance visionary, was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl. He showed early talent, and had the good fortune to be apprenticed to the sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio. (It has been said that Verrocchio modeled his David on the handsome young Leonardo.) Leonardo gained his first and most durable renown as an artist, and the unfinished Adoration of the Magi, painted before he was 30, proved him already a master.
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In 1482, he went to Milan as a court artist but was unable to restrict himself to the canvas. He began writing his famous notebooks, which dealt with hydraulics, mechanics, mathematics, anatomy, geology, botany, almost anything. Leonardo could bury a masterpiece anywhere. His sketch Vitruvian Man, made circa 1487, in pen and ink on paper, is, along with his later masterworks, The Last Supper and Mona Lisa, one of the three or four or five most often reproduced works of art in the world. It is on, among other things, the Italian Euro, as well as T-shirts and posters and mugs and calendars around the globe. While it is true that the “inventions” Leonardo made notes on, a helicopter, a tank, a calculator, a submarine, were never produced and, in fact, couldn’t have been built as designed, he inspired others to think about and develop these things. In the way the writer Jules Verne would centuries later, Leonardo pushed the game along. Barely more than 20 of his paintings survive today, but this is unsurprising because there weren’t all that many to begin with, maybe 30 in total. His was a most restless mind, and he was given to procrastination, always dropping this project for the next one. Clearly, that was the handicap of his particular genius, and its glory. Illustrative of Leonardo’s multifold genius is that fact that all works on this page are by him.
Source: https://www.life.com/history/lifes-100-people-who-changed-the-world/ Page 88