What does it mean that He brought me out of the miry clay (Psalm 40:2)?

Answer

King David discovered a key to experiencing joy amid the most challenging times of life by remembering God’s past deliverance from trouble. We don’t know the exact details of David’s ordeal in Psalm 40, but he compares it to being stuck in a horrifying pit filled with mud and mire:

“I waited patiently for the LORD;

And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps” (Psalm 40:1-2; NKJV).

If you’ve ever been stuck in quicksand or stood on the soft ocean shore as your feet sank deeper into the sand with each wave, you know the feeling of being caught in the staggering helplessness of miry clay. Mire is deep, soft mud in water or slush, like wet loam or potter’s clay. The Hebrew term in Psalm 40:2 is translated as “miry bog” (ESV), “mud and mire” (NIV), and “muddy clay” (CSB).

David wants to convey the idea of being desperately trapped in abysmally dark circumstances. David’s metaphor reminds us of Jeremiah’s actual imprisonment in a muddy cistern (Jeremiah 38:7-13) and Joseph’s entrapment by his brothers in a pit (Genesis 37:18-22). On his own, David is powerless to escape. The only thing he can do is wait patiently for the Lord to rescue him. David may have been speaking of the same excruciating episode in Psalm 69:2: “Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me” (NLT).

David’s pit of miry clay could be symbolic of any number of distressing times he endured. Perhaps it was the crater of depression and rejection he experienced.David faced challenges due to King Saul’s murderous jealousy and hatred (1 Samuel 18:10-17; 23:15-29). Perhaps it was when his son Absalom led a conspiracy and rebellion against him (2 Samuel 15:1—18:33). It could have been the pit David dug for himself through his sinful affair with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband (2 Samuel 11:1-27).

Whatever the pit may have been, David learned to cry out to the Lord in times of trouble: “Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink. Let me be rescued from those who hate me and from the deep water” (Psalm 69:14, CSB). Trusting in the Lord and seeking God’s help, David’s Redeemer hears and responds (Psalm 56:9-11; 121:1-2).

“He brought me out of the miry clay,” testifies David. The Lord delivered him by lifting him out of his terrible ordeal. “You brought me up from the grave, O LORD,” David says in Psalm 30:3, “You kept me from falling into the pit of death” (NLT). “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me,” declares David in Psalm 18:19. What David cannot do for himself, the Lord accomplishes (see Ephesians 3:20; Luke 18:27). God sets David’s feet on a solid, secure rock and establishes his steps (Psalm 27:5; Psalm 37:23; Psalm 62:2).Coming out of the miry clay symbolizes Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, leading to the salvation believers receive through Him. When Jesus died, He was buried in a grave. The crucifixion was a truly dreadful experience as the spotless Lamb of God bore all humankind’s transgressions on His sinless body (Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 John 3:5).

Fortunately, our Savior did not remain in the pit. “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24; see also Hebrews 5:7). He was lifted “out of the miry clay.” Christ is alive and will live forever. The apostle Peter explains, “He suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18, NLT).

Jesus Christ was raised to eternal life, never to die again. His work of redemption is finished. Though we were meant to die, through His amazing salvation, He rescued us from the miry clay. He placed our feet on a rock, and like David, He instilled a new song of praise to God in our mouths (Psalm 96:1; Psalm 149:1).