Psalms 40:11-17

11 (39-12) Withhold not thou, O Lord, thy tender mercies from me: thy mercy and thy truth have always upheld me.
12 (39-13) For evils without number have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me.
13 (39-14) Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. look down, O Lord, to help me.
14 (39-15) Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek after my soul to take it away. Let them be turned backward and be ashamed that desire evils to me.
15 (39-16) Let them immediately bear their confusion, that say to me: ’T is well, t’ is well.
16 (39-17) Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.
17 (39-18) But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me. Thou art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack.

Psalms 40:11-17 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.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.