Psalm 40:4-8

4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.^[a]

5 Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened^[b] — burnt offerings and sin offerings^[c] you did not require.

7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll.^[d]

8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

Psalm 40:4-8 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.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 34:8
• 2. Psalms 84:12
• 3. Psalms 101:5; Psalms 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 16:5; Isaiah 65:5; 1 Peter 5:5
• 4. S Deuteronomy 31:20; S Psalms 4:2; S Psalms 26:1
• 5. S Deuteronomy 4:34; Psalms 75:1; Psalms 105:5; Psalms 136:4
• 6. Psalms 139:18; Isaiah 55:8
• 7. Psalms 71:15; Psalms 139:17
• 8. S 1 Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 6:20; Amos 5:22
• 9. Exodus 21:6
• 10. Psalms 50:8; Psalms 51:16; Isaiah 1:11; Hosea 6:6
• 11. Job 19:23; Jeremiah 36:2; Jeremiah 45:1; Ezekiel 2:9; Zechariah 5:1
• 12. S Matthew 26:39; John 4:34
• 13. Hebrews 10:5-7*
• 14. S Deuteronomy 6:6; S Job 22:22; Romans 7:22; Psalms 37:31

Footnotes

• [a] Or "to lies"
• [b] Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts "but a body you have prepared for me"
• [c] Or "purification offerings"
• [d] Or "come" / "with the scroll written for me"