Psalm 40

This psalm stands near the end of Book One of the Book of Psalms (Psalms 1–41). The preceding psalm, Psalm 39, laments the brevity of human life and pleads, "my hope is in thee." Psalm 40 opens with the confession that, after long waiting, an answer has come. The superscription reads "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David." The "chief Musician" was the director who led the temple music.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: The psalmist waits patiently for the LORD, and God hears his cry, brings him up out of the horrible pit and the miry clay, and sets his feet upon a rock. God puts a new song in the psalmist's mouth.
• Verses 4–5: Blessed is the one who makes the LORD his trust. The wonderful works the Lord has done and his thoughts toward his people are too many to be numbered.
• Verses 6–8: The Lord does not desire sacrifice and offering, nor does he require burnt offering and sin offering. The psalmist responds, "Lo, I come," and confesses that God's law is within his heart.
• Verses 9–10: The psalmist declares that he has not concealed God's righteousness, faithfulness, and salvation but has proclaimed them in the great congregation.
• Verses 11–12: He confesses that innumerable evils and iniquities more than the hairs of his head have caused his heart to fail, and he pleads for mercy.
• Verses 13–17: He asks for speedy help, praying that those who seek to harm him will be put to shame and that those who seek the Lord will rejoice. The psalm ends with the plea "make no tarrying, O my God."

Key Verses

• Psalm 40:1: "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." Waiting and answered prayer form the starting point of the psalm.
• Psalm 40:6–8: "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire … Then said I, Lo, I come." This confession places obedience above ritual, and the New Testament quotes it in Hebrews 10.
• Psalm 40:17: "But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me." With this verse the psalm closes on a note of humble trust.

People and Places

• David: The king of Israel named in the superscription.
• The LORD: The God for whom the psalmist waits, whom he praises, and from whom he seeks help. No place names appear in the text.

Points for Reflection

• The relationship between the two parts: Verses 1–10 are thanksgiving and verses 11–17 are petition, so the order may seem reversed. Verses 13–17 are nearly identical to Psalm 70. For this reason some scholars hold that two originally separate psalms were combined, while others read the text as a single psalm that recalls past deliverance while pleading for help in a new crisis.
• The statement about sacrifice: Verse 6 is commonly interpreted not as a call to abandon the sacrificial system itself but as a critique of sacrifice offered without heartfelt obedience. It is often read alongside Psalm 51:16–17 and Micah 6:6–8.
• "Mine ears hast thou opened": The Hebrew expression is closer to "ears you have dug (pierced) for me." Some interpreters connect this with the ordinance in Exodus 21 for piercing a servant's ear. The Septuagint renders the phrase "a body hast thou prepared me."
• Connection with the New Testament: Hebrews 10:5–10 quotes the Septuagint version of verses 6–8 as words spoken by Jesus Christ when he came into the world. Christian tradition has therefore read this passage in light of messianic prophecy and the Incarnation. Interpreters differ, however, on whether "mine iniquities" in verse 12 should also be applied to Christ; some limit the messianic reading to verses 6–8.
• A new song: "Thy law is within my heart" (verse 8) is sometimes read together with the New Covenant promise that the law will be written on the heart.

In the Korean Church

Verses 1–3, with their themes of waiting and answered prayer, deliverance from the miry clay to the rock, and the new song, are frequently preached as texts on answered prayer and overcoming suffering.