Psalm 40

Part 11

Psalm 40 is another Psalm written by David, When you read through this Psalm, you learn that God has been present in David’s life in the past and how He is present in his life right now because God is always there. Part of this Psalm is considered as a Messianic Psalm because verses 6-8 are applied in part to Jesus in Heb. 10:5-8. This Psalm is also considered as lament or thanksgiving Psalm. So, there is a lot going on in this one Psalm.

We can break this Psalm into two parts. Verses 1 – 10 deals with the past in which David gives thanks for the victories God has given him. Verses 11-17 deals with the present in which David calls out to God to deliver him from the trouble he is going through right now.

Overall, this Psalm teaches us that God is the God of the past and of the present, which also means He is a God of the future. He has delivered David from his troubles before, and now David wants God to deliver him from his current troubles. David has no doubt that God will do this because as I have already said, God is always there for us because He is our Redeemer.

Psalm 40:1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. ² 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. ³ He has put a new song in my mouth -- Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD.

There were many times in David’s life that he had to be patient and wait on the Lord’s timing. As you read through his psalms, you will find times where he felt like God had forgot about him and he started becoming impatient because whatever crises he was through it was getting worse. In that sense, many of us are like David because I am sure most of us have prayed to God for something and we may have a grown impatient as well, and sometimes it causes us to take matters into our hands, which doesn’t always work out for the best, but when we do wait on God’s timing and trust in Him, things do work out for the best, but we must be patient.

When God answered David’s prayer, He describes God as bending over or extending His ear to his request. When God heard His cry, He describes God’s answer as pulling him up out a horrible pit and miry clay. Imagine yourself being in deep dark pit, in which the ground is wet clay. You will cannot see very well and you are surrounded by walls and every time you move you either slip or sink further down in the wet clay.

This describes many events in David’s life from his sin to his oppression from his enemies, but whatever troubles he faced, God had helped Him in his time of need, and when He did, it was like God threw him a rope and helped him out of the pit and clay and put him on solid ground and helped him to remain on that solid ground.

God can do the same for us today, because when trouble comes or the ole devil tries to keep us down in a pit, God can give us the strength and the direction we need to be able to stand on solid ground and be confident in our Christianity.

Since God did this for David, it was like God put new song in his mouth and he praised God for redeeming Him, and he would make sure that everyone knew what the Lord did for him, which will cause those around him to realize that God is near and that they should never stop trusting in God.

Personally, I know that once I get over a bad sickness, or when I figure out how to deal with something that is bothering me in my life, I always feel a great sense of relief, and like David, it makes want to thank God for what He has done for me.

Psalm 40:4 Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.

Since David understands that God is the only one that can bless us and answer our prayers, he knows that any person who trust in the Lord will be blessed. Sometime people will put their trust in a man or a woman because they seem so confident that they have the answers, but is some cases, they are just lying so they can take advantage over you. I hope none us in the room every put our trust in mankind to solve all our problems because the only person that can give us the wisdom and strength we need to conquer whatever trouble we find ourselves in with out fail is God almighty.

When you think about how involved God is in our lives and how He has answered Billions and Billions of prayers, there is no way we could every begin to count all that God has done for us individually or as whole. Since God has never stopped being involved in our lives, we can rejoice and take comfort in all that God does for us and will continue to do for us.

Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. ⁷ Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. ⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."

Many times it difficult for us to tell when a Psalm or Scripture from the OT is talking about Jesus unless it is revealed to us in the N.T. We can know for sure that at least part of verses 6 – 8 are talking about Jesus and it is possible to relate some of the passages following these verses to Jesus. First, let’s look at how the writer of Hebrews says our verses are talking about Jesus:

Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. ⁷ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come -- In the volume of the book it is written of Me -- To do Your will, O God.' " ⁸ Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

So, David was not saying that sacrifices or burnt offerings were not necessary under the Law of Moses, He was prophesying about how these sacrifices and burnt offerings would be done away with in Christ, when He established the new covenant.

We can know that David was not writing about himself because he says the scroll of the book is written about me, which is a reference to the Torah; that is the first five books of the Bible. David is not mentioned in those books, but the writer of Hebrews tells us that it is talking about Jesus and the Torah does talk about the coming of the Messiah in such passages as Gen. 3:15; 49:10; Deut. 18:15-19 etc.

Finally, we learn that when Jesus came to do the will of Father it involved taking away the first covenant, which required those sacrifices and burnt offerings.

⁹ I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. ¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.

These verses could also be applied to Jesus as He did not hold back the good news that God had sent Him to deliver. He spoke to large crowds and to small ones, and He never kept the truth from those who were willing to listen.

This could also apply to David because he loved God and he appreciated everything that God did for him, he loved to tell people about God and how great He is. David was not one to keep the righteousness of God to himself.

As Christians we should not keep the love of God and what He has done for us a secret either. It should bring us great joy to tell people about how Great He is and what a difference He has made in our lives. Even if no one seems to be listening to us, we should keep on sharing the love of God with those around us.

When I think about those who will not listen and how frustrating it can be at times when people don’t seem to care about God, I always take my mind back to Jeremiah who preached year after year to the people and no one seemed to listen. Like us, Jeremiah got frustrated and thought about quitting as we read in:

Jeremiah 20:9 Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

When we love God and put His Word into heart, the same thing that happened to Jeremiah will happen to us because it difficult to keep good news to yourself even if no one wants to hear it especially when we know that God wants us to continue to share His righteousness with others whether they listen or not.

Psalm 40:11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. ¹² For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me.

David’s thoughts are focused on his present problems, and he is under great distress. He knows that God will not keep his tender mercies to Himself because He loves us. David wants God to show his loving kindness toward him and rescue Him from his enemies and his sin.

When David says, “Your truth continually preserve me,” he is saying that God’s truth continues to protect or guard him. To me, this saying that David continues to feel confident that God will protect him and forgive him because the Scriptures teach that God will do these things.

At this point in David’s life, he felt like he was surrounded by evil, and he was drowning in numerous sins. Again, picture David being drug back down in the dark pit with the wet clay where he was before, and since God rescued him before in the past, He knew that God could rescue him again.

David felt like his sins were more numerous than the hairs on his head. Since he was so overwhelmed with his sins at the moment, he could not even begin to look up toward God because he was to ashamed to do so. Since David knows that his sins separate him from God, it has caused him to loose his courage.

This is exactly what sin can do to us if we allow it to overwhelm us. When we loose the courage to fight against sin, the devil loves it, but as Christians, we don’t have to let the devil win, because once we become a Christian, we are just one prayer away from breaking the chain of sin that is holding us down because when we repent and confess our sin to God in prayer, it will be forgiven and we can once again stand on firm ground, and we can tell the ole devil get behind me, and he must obey because every Christian has the power over sin.

David understood this even though he lived under the O.T. times, which is why He was reaching out to God for help even though he was stained with sin through and through.

Psalm 40:13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! ¹⁴ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor Who wish me evil. ¹⁵ Let them be confounded because of their shame, Who say to me, "Aha, aha!" ¹⁶ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" ¹⁷ But I am poor and needy; Yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

David makes his finally plea to God. David does not want God to delay in helping him in his crisis because he wants his enemies’ mouths to be shut and for them to be put to shame for all bad mouthing of David and God Almighty. Every time David’s enemies were able to advance on him and pin him down in a corner, I can just hear them in my mind telling the children of Israel how weak their God is and how they are going to destroy them. So, David wants them to pay for their evil and be forced backward so they will have to eat their words.

Then David prays for all those who seek after God, and he hopes that all of them will continue to rejoice in the Lord and praise Him.

Finally, David describes himself as being poor and needy and He wants God to take notice of him and help him in his time of trouble. He finishes by letting God know that only He can help him and deliver him from his enemies and his sin. One last time, he pleads for God to come to his aid quickly.

There are several lessons we can learn from this Psalm:

1. We must learn to wait patiently for the Lord. Just because we are in hurry does not mean that God is in a hurry.
2. If our ears are opened to God, then God’s ears will be open to us. As: 1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil."
3. If our attitude about God is right and our actions show it, we can influence others to put their trust in the Lord as Jesus said: Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
4. We sing the song, “Count your many blessing name them one by one,” but in reality our blessing are more than we can number.
5. We learned that we should not keep the good news about God’s righteousness to ourselves. We certainly don’t hesitate to tell people about other things that we are excited about, so why should we be ashamed to share the greatest news ever. As Jesus said: Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
6. We learned that God is concerned about us and He has helped us in the past, and will help us in the present and in the future. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
7. We learned that the only person that we can always rely on to help in our time of need and has the power to forgive us of our sins is God almighty. Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Without a doubt in my mind, I can say that God is a God of the past, present, and future and we should continue to put our trust in Him.