Psalms · psalm 40 of 150
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Psalm 40 is a thanksgiving of David for being lifted out of a pit of despair, followed by a prayer asking for help again. David teaches that God desires obedience rather than sacrifices, proclaims God's faithfulness in the great congregation and, though he calls himself poor and needy, trusts that the Lord takes thought for him.
The title dedicates it to the choirmaster and ascribes it to David. The psalm has two parts that seem different: a thanksgiving in verses 1 to 10 and a prayer of petition in verses 11 to 17. Verses 13 to 17 are repeated almost identically in Psalm 70. The letter to the Hebrews quotes verses 6 to 8 and applies them to the obedience of Christ.
David begins by telling that he waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to him and heard his cry. He drew him up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, set his feet upon a rock and made his steps secure. He put a new song in his mouth, a song of praise to our God, and many will see, fear and trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust and does not turn to the proud or to those who go astray after a lie. God's wonders and thoughts toward us are so many that they cannot be counted.
Then David speaks of what God desires. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; you have given me an open ear; burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then he says: here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. He has told the glad news of righteousness in the great congregation and has not closed his lips, has not hidden God's righteousness within his heart but has spoken of his faithfulness and salvation.
The third part returns to need. Do not restrain your mercy from me, for evils without number have encompassed me and my iniquities have overtaken me so that I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me. He asks God to hasten to deliver him, for those who seek his life to be put to shame and for all who seek the Lord to rejoice. David closes by saying: I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me; you are my help and my deliverer, O my God, do not delay.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David waited patiently, and the Lord lifted him out of the pit of despair and set his feet on a rock. God's salvation is concrete: it raises, steadies and gives a firm place.
The Lord put a new song in David's mouth, a song of praise to our God, and many who see it will trust the Lord. What God does in one life becomes a testimony to others.
God does not desire sacrifices but ears opened to obey, and David answers with readiness: here I am, and I delight to do your will. Hebrews 10:5-10 applies these verses to the perfect obedience of Christ.
David calls himself poor and needy, yet affirms that the Lord takes thought for him. The final request acknowledges that even after being rescued he still needs God every day.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He waited patiently for the Lord. — Psalm 40:1
Answer: A new song, a song of praise to our God. — Psalm 40:3
Answer: That God did not desire them but opened David's ears to obey. — Psalm 40:6
Answer: God's will; his law is within his heart. — Psalm 40:8
Answer: God's righteousness, faithfulness and salvation; he told them in the great congregation. — Psalm 40:9-10
Answer: Poor and needy, yet sure that the Lord takes thought for him. — Psalm 40:17
Psalm 40 joins two experiences we tend to separate: thanksgiving for what God has already done and a plea for what we still need. In a small group you can recall a pit from which God lifted someone and also pray about a present need, without feeling a contradiction.
Verses 6 to 8 remind us that faith shows itself in obedience, not in empty ritual. Whoever has received mercy answers with open ears and a ready life. Ask what it means today to say here I am, and how to tell others, in simple words, what God has done.
Psalm 40 ends with a simple prayer: Lord, do not delay. Psalm 41 closes the first book of the Psalms with a blessing for the one who considers the poor, a painful betrayal and a final praise.
Psalm 70 is almost a copy of those verses with small variations. It was probably a short prayer used on its own in worship, and the compiler also placed it here as the close of this psalm. What matters is that it shows the plea for help is a constant in the believer's life.
The phrase in verse 6 suggests that what God wants is an attentive ear, that is, obedience. The oldest Greek translation, quoted in Hebrews 10:5, says God prepared a body, and the author of Hebrews applies it to Christ, who came to do the Father's will.
In verse 7 he says that in the scroll of the book it is written of him. It may refer to God's law, by which the king was to live according to Deuteronomy 17:18-20, or to what God has determined for him. The letter to the Hebrews sees in these words the mission of Christ.