Psalms 40 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 40

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

40:1   I waited patiently for the LORD;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2   He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
  and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
3   He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
  Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the LORD.
4   Blessed is the man who makes
    the LORD his trust,
  who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
5   You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
  I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.
6   In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ear.¹
  Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
7   Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8   I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”
9   I have told the glad news of deliverance²
    in the great congregation;
  behold, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O LORD.
10   I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
  I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.
11   As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
  your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
12   For evils have encompassed me
    beyond number;
  my iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot see;
  they are more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart fails me.
13   Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!
    O LORD, make haste to help me!
14   Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who seek to snatch away my life;
  let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
15   Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16   But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
  may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
17   As for me, I am poor and needy,
    but the Lord takes thought for me.
  You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

Footnotes

[1] 40:6 Hebrew ears you have dug for me
[2] 40:9 Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10

Commentary

A deep and real experience of God, akin to Christian conversion. This is also a prophetic psalm, pointing us forward to Christ.

v1: We wait patiently because answers are not always immediate, but in God they are certain. Our cry to Him is a confession of weakness and sinfulness. The Lord shows His grace in turning and hearing.

v2: He delivers us and raises us up, like Joseph and Jeremiah we are brought up from the pit. We receive security in Christ; He establishes our steps in His direction. We are brought into security and certainty

v3: A new song, the song of the redeemed. Only those who truly belong to God can sing His song.

Others will see and fear, and trust; our lives should be a testimony, bringing impact into the lives of others, Matt 5.16; 1 Cor 14.25.

v4: The changed life; God's ways are different to the ways of the world, and we are made different; pride and lies and idolatry are put away.

v5: God's overflowing goodness, Ps 36.7-9. We are recipients of this, and we are overwhelmed. Even when we cannot count God’s blessings we recall these words in times of trouble.

v6-8: The life of love for God; seen perfectly in the Lord Jesus, Heb 10.5-9. Delight and devotion are preferred above ritual and form. An open ear (Ex 21) speaks of voluntary slavery to God; a total commitment to do His will, delighting in His ways and His words.

And, no wonder! In response we cannot simply bring an animal sacrifice. God’s generosity towards demands and receives a heart given over on obedience.

v9-10: Good news proclaimed to many; the psalmist's commitment to declare God's word to the great congregation of the children of Israel. Such a testimony to the people of God is to encourage them, and to provoke them to a greater commitment.

v11-12: Confidence not triumphalism; we do endure "troubles without number," we are conscious of personal sins, and we must constantly trust in God, looking to Him to preserve us.

v13-17: Closing prayer, compare Ps 70. Even in difficult times we can enjoy God's blessing. The psalmist had endured mocking, some sought to take his life; but he looked to God that he might be delivered.