Psalm 40 - 3/16/08pm

The Fortieth Psalm
A Psalm of David, a Psalm of God


1 "I waited patiently for Jehovah; And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry."

Talking to God:
Often we take prayer for granted, even when we remember to pray. But think about what prayer entails. We are speaking to God, the almighty, the creator of all things. We are speaking to the very definition of Good and Power. In fact, He is so awesome, Christ serves as the intermediary for prayer. Think about it, the Son, who was sacrificed for our sins, who led a sinless life of perfection, serves as an intermediary for the Father. Now that’s rank. And even more amazing, He listens to us. When we speak to Him, it is not ignored. It is not scoffed at or forgotten. Jehovah listens. We may not always get the answer we think we want, but He listens and responds. I can’t call up customer support and have them listen to me, yet the Almighty will.


2 "He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay; And he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: Many shall see it, and fear, And shall trust in Jehovah. 4 Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust, And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies."

Blessings from God:
God can, and does protect us. He provides us stability in an otherwise unstable world. He is trustworthy, we can trust in the promises of our Lord. For those that live for Him, those who follow His Son, the Messiah, there are blessings beyond measure. Peace in this world. He will not make all our roads straight, but he provides us with strength to overcome obstacles. And through it all, we have the peace of knowing we have an eternity assured, so long as we follow Him. For those that fear and trust the Lord, there are many blessings. Peace. Fellowship and brotherhood. Strength. Protection. Stability.


5 "Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done, And thy thoughts which are to us-ward; They cannot be set in order unto thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered."

The Power of God:
Can you name every great thing God has done? Of course not! Mankind has not even scratched the surface of what God has done for us, I don’t think. Creating the world and everything in it. Creating life. This is the God who has given each and every one of us life. Every heartbeat, every breath is His. He is the God who opened the Earth to swallow Korah and his followers. He is the God who divided the Red Sea. He is the God who stopped the sun for Joshua. Just think of the power involved in that, for a moment. He stopped the planet from moving. Try to do that sometime. And, most importantly for us, He gave His Son in our place, as a final sacrifice for our sins. Your sins. My sins. Because of God’s works, we are free.

6 "Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in; Mine ears hast thou opened: Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required."

Obedience to God:
Does this mean that when God ordered sacrifices that he was wrong or mistaken? No, I do not think that is what David is speaking of here. I think this is a similar passage to when the prophet confronted Saul about making an unauthorized sacrifice. God expects obedience. Not what we think is best, or what we determined He wants, but rather what He says He wants. We are to worship Him in spirit and in truth, according to the things He has told us. And really, it’s not too difficult (at least, it shouldn’t be). He no longer does ask for burnt offerings and sacrifices from us. He does not ask for great feats of strength or wisdom. He does not demand that we do great things to earn a place among His faithful. Rather, we are simply to humbly and obediently submit ourselves to Him, and His simple commands. To love Him above all else.

7 "Then said I, Lo, I am come; In the roll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God; Yea, thy law is within my heart."

Delight in God:
David delighted in doing God’s work, and in knowing and obeying the law. Think about this. He did not grudgingly do what God asked him to do. He delighted in it. He enjoyed it. He wanted to do it. And, David knows that God knows this. Will it be written in the roll of the book that we delight to do God’s will? Do we always have God’s word in our hearts and minds, and look for ways to obey and do what God would want us to do? Or do we make excuses, and feebly try to get out of doing what we know we should be doing? Do we truly delight in God’s will?

9 "I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly; Lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Jehovah, thou knowest. 10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great assembly."

Teaching of God:
Do we have to force ourselves to speak of God, and our faith in Him? Do we hide our faith? Do we hide the righteousness of the Lord? Do we neglect speaking of the things God has done for us? Or are we boldly teachings others? Do we commonly speak of God? Do we teach others as we go about the day? Are we concealing and hiding God from others? Will we be responsible for not letting others know of God? I hope not. I hope we are all, throughout each day, teaching of God, Christ, and the hope that is within us. I hope that we can all say, at the end of the say, that we have not concealed His truth.

11 "Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Jehovah; Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. 12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about; Mine iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; And my heart hath failed me.13 Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver me: Make haste to help me, O Jehovah. 14 Let them be put to shame and confounded together That seek after my soul to destroy it: Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor That delight in my hurt. 15 Let them be desolate by reason of their shame That say unto me, Aha, aha."

Strength in God:
David felt beset on every side by those who would do him harm, from those who mocked him and his faith, and by those who lived sinful lives. Yet he found his strength in God. He begins by telling God of his troubles, and then asks for strength and justice. Which is interesting. In asking these things of God, there is the implicit belief and trust that God can deliver. The belief that God can, and will, support those who follow Him. The belief that God can, and will, deal justly both with the righteous and the unrighteous. God can give you strength, if you put your trust in Him. The knowledge that God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear is great. After all, any temptation you encounter…you already know you can escape it! And the knowledge that God cares, and will deal justly with the ungodly, makes it easier to deal with the daily grind. God will give us strength to carry on, if we just ask Him.

16 "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: Let such as love thy salvation say continually, Jehovah be magnified."

Joy in God:
Those who follow God, those who seek His word, those who strive to keep His will can find joy in God. So there’s two parts to this simple statement. The first part is the who, the second part is the what. The who is simply those who follow God. Those who actively and diligently seek Him. Those who love God, Christ, and the salvation He offers. The what is joy. Happiness. If you are consistently following and praising God, you will find happiness in Him. So, conversely, if you are not finding joy in God, perhaps you need to reevaluate whether you are truly following Him or not.

17 B"ut I am poor and needy; [Yet] the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer; Make no tarrying, O my God."

Relationship with God:
What a clear picture of our relationship with God! We are lowly. We are merely human. We are unworthy. Yet God, in His infinite mercy, has seen fit to allow us salvation, and the opportunity to spend eternity with Him. He has seen fit to deliver us from hopelessness and sin. Our relationship with God is one of reliance. We rely on Him for strength, for protection, for salvation. All good things come from Him, and we are to know it. Although we are undeserving, God blesses us. And we pray for speediness on the part of the Lord. We long for Heaven and eternity with Him. To be in the presence of the Almighty, someone so much greater than we can ever be. Our relationship is clear. We are the created, and we are to worship our creator. Not only on the first day of the week in a formal service, but also every moment of every day of our lives. We must have that personal relationship with the Lord. We must trust Him, rely on Him, and know that He cares for us - not because we have earned it, but because He is merciful.

Do you have this relationship with God? Have you come to Christ? Can you find your strength in Him? Are you joyously serving Him? Do we pray to Him and are we obediently serving Him?

If you have not become a part of His body, you are not. None of that applies to you. You lack the relationship with God. Or perhaps you’ve begun your walk with God, but have ceased to serve Him as you once did. Or maybe you simply want prayers for strength to be a better servant of His.