Psalm 40:2-12

2 He brought me up from a desolate^[a] pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

4 How happy is the man who has put his trust in the Lord and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies!

5 Lord my God, You have done many things- Your wonderful works and Your plans for us; none can compare with You. If I were to report and speak [of them], they are more than can be told.

6 You do not delight in sacrifice and offering; You open my ears to listen.^[b] You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering.

7 Then I said, "See, I have come; it is written about me in the volume of the scroll.

8 I delight to do Your will, my God; Your instruction resides within me."^{[c] [d]}

9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; see, I do not keep my mouth closed^[e] -as You know, Lord.

10 I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart; I spoke about Your faithfulness and salvation; I did not conceal Your constant love and truth from the great assembly.

11 Lord, do not withhold Your compassion from me; Your constant love and truth will always guard me.

12 For troubles without number have surrounded me; my sins have overtaken me; I am unable to see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my courage leaves me.

Psalm 40:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. Jarchi interprets this psalm of the Israelites, and of their deliverance and song at the Red sea. The title of it, in the Syriac version, is, "A psalm of David according to the letter, when Shemaiah brought the names of those who minister in the house of the Lord;" see 1 Chronicles 24:6; according to Kimchi, the subject of this psalm is the same with that of the two preceding; and R. Obadiah thinks it was composed by David, when he was recovered of a leprosy; but though it might be written by David, it was not written concerning himself, or on his own account, but of another. The title of this psalm is somewhat different from others in the order of the words; whereas it is usually put "a psalm of," or "for David"; here it is, "for David, a psalm"; and may be rendered, as Ainsworth observes, "a psalm concerning David"; not literally, but typically understood; not concerning David himself, but concerning his antitype and son, who is called by his name, Ezekiel 37:24; and that it is to be interpreted of him is evident from the application of Psalm 39:6, unto him by the apostle in Hebrews 10:5; and the whole of it is applicable to him; some apply it to Jeremiah in the dungeon, and others to Daniel in the den, as Theodoret observes.

Footnotes

• [a] Or watery
• [b] Lit You hollow out ears for me
• [c] Lit instruction within my inner being
• [d] Heb 10:5-9
• [e] Lit not restrain my lips