Hello, welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. The devotional for today was

written by Marvin Williams, and it's titled God's Rescue. A compassionate volunteer was called

a guardian angel for his heroic efforts.

Jake Manna was installing solar panels at a job site when he joined an urgent search to find a missing five-year-old girl.

While neighbors searched their garages and yards, Manna took a path that led him into a nearby wooded area where he spotted

the girl waist deep in a marsh. He waded carefully into the sticky mud to pull her out of her

predicament and return her, damp but unharmed to her grateful mother. Like that little girl, the psalmist David also experienced

deliverance. In Psalm 40, the singer waited patiently for God to respond to his heartfelt cries for

mercy, and he did. God leaned in, paid close attention to his cry for help, and responded by rescuing him from the mud and mire of his circumstances,

providing sure footing for David's life.

The past rescues from the muddy marsh of life reinforced his desire to sing songs of praise, to make God his trust in future circumstances,

and to share his story with others. When we find ourselves in life challenges such as financial

difficulties, marital turmoil, and feelings of inadequacy, let's cry out to God and wait patiently for him to

respond. He's there, ready to help us in our time of need, and give us a firm place to stand.

Let's head to our Bibles now and hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 40 verses 1 through 4.

I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. 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.

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. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.

Let's pray.

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