Psalm 40[a]
Thanksgiving and Prayer for Help
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]I waited patiently for the Lord;
then he stooped down and heard my cry.
3 He raised me up from the desolate pit,
out of the mire of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a rock,
giving me a firm footing.
4 He put a new song[d] in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will look on and be awestruck,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed[e] is the man
who places his trust in the Lord,
who does not follow the arrogant
or those who go astray after falsehoods.
6 How innumerable, O Lord, my God,
are the wonders you have worked;
no one can compare with you
in the plans you have made for us.
I would proclaim them and recount them,
but there are far too many to enumerate.
7 [f]Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but you have made my ears receptive.[g]
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not demand.
8 [h]Then I said, “Behold I come;
it is written of me in the scroll of the book.
9 To do your will, O God, is my delight;
your law is in my heart.”[i]
10 I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly;
I did not seal my lips,
as you well know, O Lord.
11 I have not concealed your righteousness within the depths of my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and salvation.
I have not concealed your kindness and your truth
in the great assembly.
12 O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me;
may your kindness[j] and your truth keep me safe forever.
13 I am surrounded by evils without number;
my sins have so engulfed me that I cannot see.
They outnumber the hairs on my head,
and my heart sinks within me.[k]
14 [l]Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
15 [m]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
16 May those who cry out to me, “Aha, aha!”[n]
be overcome with shame and dismay.
17 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “The Lord be magnified.”
18 Even though I am poor and needy,[o]
the Lord keeps me in his thoughts.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Footnotes
- Psalm 40:1 This psalm, one of the most engaging of the entire Psalter, is divided into two parts. The first (vv. 2-13) is a thanksgiving reminiscent of Jeremiah (Jer 7:22; 17:7; 31:33). The second (vv. 14-18) is a lament that appears also as Ps 70.
Every Christian (and the whole Church) can naturally recite this beautiful psalm in his or her own right as one really (though not yet completely) saved. - Psalm 40:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation.
- Psalm 40:2 The psalmist expresses a great hope in the Lord. No one knows God’s goodness better than one who has experienced abandonment. Purified by trial, the psalmist welcomes God into the depths of his being, his life becomes a kind of inner offering, the only true sacrifice, and he joyfully bears witness to the Lord’s righteousness, love, and truth. In reading this psalm, we get the impression of entering into the confidence of Christ himself, of divining his inner attitude toward the course of his action and above all toward his Passion. A few Greek translations have accentuated this resemblance even more; thus, the Letter to the Hebrews cites this psalm to make us understand the profound decision of Christ (Heb 10:5-10).
The best praise of God and the best sacrifice are the gift of one’s heart and life. The Prophets often opposed ritual formalism and replaced it with the true religion that is internal (Isa 1:11; Jer 6:20; 31:33; Am 5:22; Hos 6:6). It is this experience to which the songs of the Suffering Servant bear witness (Isa 50:5; 53:10), which was also the experience of Christ. - Psalm 40:4 New song: see note on Ps 33:3. Many will look on: see note on Ps 9:2.
- Psalm 40:5 Blessed: see note on Ps 1:1.
- Psalm 40:7 These verses are applied to Christ by Heb 10:5-10.
- Psalm 40:7 Obedience is better than sacrifice (see Pss 50:7-15; 51:18f; 69:32f; 1 Sam 15:22; Isa 1:10-20; Jer 7:22; Hos 6:6; Am 5:22-25; Mic 6:6-8; Acts 7:42f). But you have made my ears receptive: a variant reading from the Greek versions has: “but a body you have prepared for me,” which was interpreted in a Messianic sense and applied to Christ (see Heb 10:5ff).
- Psalm 40:8 The psalmist presents himself to the Lord, submitting himself to whatever his Master may require (Heb 10:9). He presents himself as an offering to the Lord (see Rom 12:1f). It is written of me in the scroll: the scroll is the Torah or the Mosaic Law, transcribed on parchment scrolls. The alternative Greek reading is “with the scroll written for me,” which suggests a Messianic sense.
- Psalm 40:9 Heart: see note on Ps 4:8.
- Psalm 40:12 Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
- Psalm 40:13 Hyperbolic statements expressing the intense nature of the sinner’s sufferings (see Pss 6:8; 38:4f, 11; 69:5), which serve as a transition to the second part of the psalm.
- Psalm 40:14 Distress can remind a person of his attachment to sin. Is there any reason why people should vilify the person who acknowledges his faults? Realizing his attraction toward evil, the psalmist cries out to God, and the poor man rediscovers the joyous assurance that God thinks about him.
- Psalm 40:15 See notes on Pss 5:11; 35.
- Psalm 40:16 Aha, aha!: the mocking words of the psalmist’s adversaries.
- Psalm 40:18 Poor and needy: see note on Ps 34:7. My help and my deliverer: the salvation promised to the faithful (see Isa 25:9), first conceived as natural with reference to the Exodus or the return from the Exile, was later conceived as spiritual without restriction of space or time (see, e.g., Pss 18:1; 19:15).