Psalm 40

This Psalm is another Messianic Psalm, made abundantly clear in Hebrews where 40:6-8a is the centerpiece of the argument for Christ (Heb. 10:5-9).  But in saying this we again want to remember that this “Psalm of David” almost certainly comes from his own experience.  David is the “man after God’s own heart” and as such is in sync with his Greater Son, the Messiah, who will rule on his throne.  

In each case (that of David and the Christ) we have a King who is responsible for the well-being of his people.  The King makes the announcement of good news to the people, but then recognize that the people are depending on them as King for God’s blessing.  The people cry out to God for the king because they realize the king is God’s means of blessing them.  A good illustration of this kind of prayer is Psalm 20 which concludes with the words, “Save, Lord!  May the King answer us when we call” (20:9).  In the case of Psalm 40 it is the King who cries out to God for help in delivering the people.  

If you think about it, it makes sense that this Psalm would appear in the argument of Hebrews as to the sufficiency of our Lord.  In this Psalm is a prayer that fits the agony of Gethsemane when He pleads for God’s will.  He has proclaimed the good news for three years.  Now He is about to be thrown into the deepest pit, the death of the cross.  He is putting His trust in His God, His Father, to deliver Him and thus provide deliverance for His people.

Consider this outline and brief thoughts.  May they encourage you to re-read this marvelous Psalm.  May you be encouraged to trust the King who is your Deliverer!

1)    Praise for deliverance, v1-3.  God has delivered from the worst of situations, a horrible pit and miry clay.  He has established the King on a place of solid footing.  This calls for praise.

2)    The blessing of faith, v4-5.  This is the issue of the Song.  The people are called to faith in the King as God’s provision; the King will exercise faith so that the need of the people will be met.

3)    The essence of faith, v6-8.  Trust in God is total acquiescence to the will of God.  When we say that the people trust in the King, they are actually trusting in God.  It is God who bids them trust in this way.  But the King recognizes that his/.His role is beyond his/His own ability.  As God’s “Anointed One” he is in a “mediatorial” position; He is there in the place of God for the people.  This recognition that “sacrifice and offering” are not the essence of faith is common knowledge to those who truly know God (Micah 6:6-8; Amos 5:21-24, etc.).  It was the downfall of David’s predecessor, King Saul (1 Samuel 15:17-31).  The King, both David and the Christ, must inquire of God and then do His will, no matter how difficult.  That is the essence of faith in Psalm 40.

4)    The public exercise of faith, v9-10.  So the King announces to the people that God will deliver them.  This is good news.  Even so the Christ announced the good news of the Kingdom, the good news that the Redeemer King was among them, that the day of deliverance was near. 

5)    The private exercise of faith, v11-12.  The proclamation is then followed by a plea, “Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord.”  The King is aware of his/His own weakness in that there are many evils around as well as iniquity within.  It is vital that we recognize that this prayer fits the Messiah, the Holy One.  His identification with us and our sin was just that real.  He truly “became sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21).  “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

6)    The prayer of faith, v13-15.  Out of this inner plea for God’s mercy and grace comes then the prayer for deliverance from those who seek to destroy (render ineffective) the King.

7)    The exhortation of faith, v16-17.  These closing verses are encouragements to faith on the part of the King.  He wants the people, those given to Him by God, to be saved to the glory of God.  And the King is confident that God will think of Him and will help and deliver Him. 

Certainly we learn something of what it means to trust God in this Psalm.  So be sure and learn.  But the issue here has to do with the “object/Object” of faith.  In our homes and churches as well as our nations we are depending on God to lead and bless our “leaders”; thus we should pray for them.  But in no greater way do we depend on “someone else” than in the matter of our relationship with God.  There is One who has identified with us at the cross.  It is Jesus, the Christ.  To trust God for salvation is to believe in the Name of Jesus Christ.  No one comes to the Father but through Christ (John 14:6).  “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).