Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he attended to me, and hearkened to my supplication.

2 And he brought me up out of a pit of misery, and from miry clay: and he set my feet on a rock, and ordered my goings aright.

3 And he put a new song into my mouth, even a hymn to our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall hope in the Lord.

4 Blessed is the man whose hope is in the name of the Lord, and who has not regarded vanities and false frenzies.

5 O Lord my God, thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, and in thy thoughts there is none who shall be likened to thee: I declared and spoke of them: they exceeded number.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; but a body hast thou prepared me: whole-burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require.

7 Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me,

8 I desired to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart.

9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I will not refrain my lips; O Lord, thou knowest my righteousness.

10 I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation.

11 But thou, Lord, remove not thy compassion far from me; thy mercy and thy truth have helped me continually.

12 For innumerable evils have encompassed me; my transgressions have taken hold of me, and I could not see; they are multiplied more than the hairs of my head; and my heart has failed me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, draw nigh to help me.

14 Let those that seek my soul, to destroy it, be ashamed and confounded together; let those that wish me evil be turned backward and put to shame.

15 Let those that say to me, Aha, aha, quickly receive shame for their reward.

16 Let all those that seek thee, O Lord, exult and rejoice in thee; and let them that love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.

17 But I am poor and needy; the Lord will take care of me; thou art my helper, and my defender, O my God, delay not.

Psalm 40 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.