It means finding God as our eternal treasure, so that we rejoice in all that He is, as well as in all that He does for us. With a telescope, astronomers know that many of those stars are anything but little. Nor such as turn aside to lies: To idols, the lying vanities of the Gentiles. Attitudinally, David understood the importance of what would be explicitly commanded through Paul (in Rom. Immediately, at once, without any delay; and he himself, and not another. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false (Psalm 24:4). PDF | The concept of God by the Hebrew mind is not projected in pompous psychological, philosophical, and theological complex terms. 7:21-26; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Matt. His sacrifice fulfilled and did away with any further need for sacrifice. Davids situation in the second pit seems to have been a combination of both. And on the way in which such objection may be met, see (psalm 40:3b). Jesus told the disciples to expect trials. Verse 10 says that it is by the second will that we have been sanctified. Imagery is a literary device that uses figurative language to describe objects, actions, and ideas in a way that appeals to the physical senses and helps readers to picture the scene as if it were real. How true this was of the Redeemer, that the Lord, the Father of mercies; thought on him. Psalm 40:10 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 congregation.. Maundy Thursday Love We can look back at them and say how bad they were, but in all reality, you and I had just as much to do with His crucifixion as they did. When youre in the pit, wait intently on the Lord and proclaim His goodness when He answers. This idea of innocence leads naturally into the lament and petition section of the psalm (verses 11-17). I have said before that possibly, that is why the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Pray The idea is that they were innumerable, the hairs of the head, or the sands on the seashore; being employed in the Scriptures to denote what cannot be numbered (see Psalm 69:4; compare Gen. 22:17; 32:12; Joshua 11:4; 2 Sam. Because he did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit, he was genuinely concerned that God could finally reject him, something that Christians never have to fear, so he prayed for Gods grace and mercy to be poured out to him again. And respecteth not the proud: Such as the Pharisees, and all self-righteous persons, who trust in themselves and their own righteousness. A Psalm of David. It is not needful now to say; nor can it be doubted that in the heavy sorrows of his life this was a source of habitual consolation. Refuge This, though in a general sense it may be true of David and of all Gods people, yet if it be compared with the foregoing verse. Why He loved us so much is impossible to explain. And when God did rescue him, David made sure that God got all the praise. 21:6; Deut. 13:11; 17:13; 19:20; 21:21), where the phrase, all Israel shall hear and fear, is used of the effect produced by the capital punishment of a high-handed transgressor of the Law. Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.. Whether this psalm is connected to any of the previous psalms where David asked for Gods deliverance is unknown, but it does say that God did deliver him at one time, and David was sure to express his gratitude in the best method he knew: a song of praise. Waiting on Him means crying out to Him; trusting Him; recounting His many wonders; obeying Him; seeking Him; and rejoicing in Him. Passover Jesus cried out unto the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, and God heard His cry. Many times the circumstances of our lives are the pits. In the first half (40:1-10), David tells how God got him out of one pit and he sings Gods praise for doing so. We have another Psalm in our readings And become the Israel of God, are alike indebted to him for the wonderful strains in which he has shown forth and magnified these qualities of the Almighty. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord. March 2022 The proud and liars are just about in the same boat. We must look to Jesus from whence cometh our help. Our psalm gives us at least seven clues: The Hebrew of verse 1 is an intensified form of the verb, literally, Waiting, I waited. The New English Bible translates it, I waited, waited for the Lord. Its not a passive, ho-hum kind of waiting, like you do at the doctors office when you thumb through a bunch of magazines to pass the time. Rather than follow the structure of the psalm, I want to follow Davids plan for getting out of a pit and his example of what to do when the Lord rescues you. But he doesnt exactly say what the first pit was, except to describe it as a pit of destruction and the miry clay (40:2). He waters the earth, providing crops for our food. Psalm 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me,. Yet Ryries Notes Say Otherwise. Either by weeping, or by the mere pressure of suffering, he was so affected as to be almost deprived of the power of seeing. Why was he tempted. David has offered counsel to those in similar circumstances as David to wait for the Lord (38:15; 39:2). When you need them the most, they will let you down. Even praise unto our God: To our God; identifying himself, as the Messiah does, with his people, and expressing the idea that the new song of praise was appropriate to them as well as to himself. Since they would be benefited by his work, and since God was their God as well as his (compare John 20:17). We have ears to hear and He has made us understand in our ears of our heart. Either the whole moral law, under which he was, as man, and the surety of his people. It is earnest, persevering prayer that is referred to. Spirit. Verse 12 shows the connection: For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. Emmanuel You may be responsible for being in your pit, or you may be a victim of the sins of others. The late Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, said to his frustrated, impatient daughter, My dear, if you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. (Source unknown. If David turned to some human scheme for deliverance, then David and his ingenuity would get the credit. 49:8). Boaz Let us always be mindful and thankful for the forgiveness of sins that has been extended to us despite our sins. There may be an allusion here to Absaloms end, which was probably followed by a certain number of executions. Christ took away the first will (covenant) and established a second will (covenant). Rather than turning away from the Lord, you must learn to turn to Him to rescue you from lifes pits. A psalm. This is not necessary, since the man of God can present his lament and petition to God, while at the same time offering his thanksgiving. May 2022 When it says that he came to do Gods will, it is speaking about Gods covenant or testament. Let thy loving-kindness and thy truth continually preserve me: As he had promised; of which promise some notice is given (Isa. Applied to Jesus, that obedience was unto the cross (see Isa. Psalm 30:5 Meaning of Verse and Simple Commentary Psalm 119, like most of the psalms, was originally composed as a song to be sung in praising God. In the midst of all that pain and mess, Paul could say, We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). The NIV Application Commentary offers fantastic background to the meaning of instruments in Psalms. Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his ________. David is trying to tell us that doing good deeds does not appease God. Imagery is a literary device that uses descriptive language to create a mental snapshot for the reader. David realizes, however, that the sacrifices and burnt offerings are not going to remove his sins from him. This is the reverse of that. The idea is, that his prayer was not answered at once, but that it was answered after he had made repeated prayers. Or he turned himself favorably toward me, as the result of persevering prayer. Registration confirmation will be emailed to you. These elements constitute only a part of the richness of Psalm 40. Rather, it is an intently active time when your situation in the pit tunes your heart to the Lord in ways that you would not normally experience. Or, if youre in a jam and it looks like a little white lie will get you out of the jam, you can be tempted to use it. He said the truth, when he said, Lord thou knowest. So when youre in the pit, wait intently on the Lord. Margin, as in Hebrew, In waiting I waited. That is, I continued to wait. It was not a single, momentary act of expectation or hope; it was continuous; or was persevered in. 5:7). Hands and heart represent the whole of ones life. What does it mean that He brought me out of the miry clay (Psalm 40:2)? This pictures obedience and dedication. For these psalmists, Zion That Ps 46 makes use of the mythic imagery of the primeval, chaotic waters in presenting a battle between Yahweh and his adversaries has He brought me up out of a horrible pit, and set my feet on the _______. The first section of the psalm describes God delivering David. This is speaking of Jesus. On the personal level, David had seen God deliver him from the bear and the lion, not to mention from Goliath and from Sauls repeated attempts to kill him. And which was written upon his heart, and which he perfectly obeyed. They dwarf our own sun, making it look like a speck of dust by comparison! May those who love your salvation always say, The Lord be exalted. That is simply, I am not able to see; and it refers to the dimness or failure of sight caused by distress, weakness, or old age (1 Sam. 22:20). Turn to the Lord. Psalm 40 The Servant Comes to Do Gods Will. Mine ears hast thou opened: Literally ears or two ears You have dug for me. web design faculty. I think that he is not referring to sins that he was currently committing, but rather to the consequences of past sins that were now coming home to roost. Then I said, Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. The nations sought to storm the city but Yahweh scattered them in His wrath. (Psalm 40) For evils have encompassed me. God knows every word that you have uttered, bad or good. There, the author quotes the LXX, which translates the second line of verse 6, a body You have prepared for Me. This was apparently an interpretive paraphrase, where they used a part (the ear) and expanded it to the whole body (F. F. Bruce, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 232). My sins nailed Jesus to the cross. Many times one sin leads to another sin and we have great difficulty trying to extract ourselves from the mire. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. We must see that we have the same need as David. Sadly, many use God like Aladdins Genie and put Him back on the shelf when they get what they want. We have habits that are very difficult to manage and difficult to break. Psalms 40 Actually, it is the number that your angels are sending to you in order to tell you something that could be very important. Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation., Psalm 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, [are] thy wonderful works [which] thou hast done, and thy thoughts [which are] to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: [if] I would declare and speak [of them], they are more than can be numbered.. Confidence for deliverance. Q. Say continually, the Lord be magnified: i.e., Give them constant occasion to say, and give them the grateful heart to say, The Lord be praised for his mercies (compare Psalm 35:27). If you have not yet cried out to God to save you from judgment and eternal punishment for your sins, then you are in a deep pit with no human way out. Why does God make His choice servants wait, especially when they could accomplish so much if they were free? He is the subject of the wheel within the wheel. December 2021 He was a good king who instituted many reforms in Judah. November 2020 We will look at where these metaphors come from, how they have shaped biblical poetry, and what they reveal about God himself. Many in the world either ignore God or think of Him as small and distant with regard to their lives. He placed the earth at the proper distance from the sun, so that we do not burn up or freeze. If we have set our heart to desire to be like God, it is a devastating thing to continue to fail. As Christians, we have cried out to the Lord to save us from the pit of destruction. As always, David was weighed down with the knowledge of his own sinfulness. The purpose of his enemies was to take his life; to prevent the spread of his doctrines; to check him in his work. We have been on His mind from the beginning. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.. The thanksgiving is offered (in verses 1-8). All this would have been defeated if, before that time came, he had been put to death by stoning, or in any of the numerous ways in which his life was threatened. Therefore my heart faileth me: Margin, as in Hebrew: forsaketh. The idea is that he sank under these sufferings; he could not sustain them. January 2021 104). The following notes will help to follow Davids mental movements through these 17 verses: Two situations constitute the framework for the psalmists publicized expressions of worship in Psalm 40. For pardon, righteousness, communion, larger measures of grace, and for honor, glory, immortality, and eternal life. The new persons God created (II Cor. O Lord, make haste to help me: Literally, Lord, make haste to my help (compare Psalms 22:19; 31:2; 38:22). So its a psalm about what to do when youre in the pit. 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