Psalm 40

Psalm 40 | New International Version:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.

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.

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened—burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll.

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

I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.

I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.

I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.

Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.

Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.

May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame.

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!”

But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.

RAMP: READ / ANALYZE / MEDITATE / PRAY

R: Read the Passage

Read the passage fully from start to finish without taking any notes — just read!

Then read it again! This chapter is packed with goodness.

We will dive more into this below, but this particular Psalm is written by David — you’re right, the same David who was anointed King as a teenager while he was tending sheep, the same David who killed Goliath and the same David who was under constant siege from his ‘friends.’

During the time he wrote this Psalm, David was serving as King of Israel. He had to flee Jerusalem because his son, named Absalom, was gaining both power and a following. Absalom was ready to destroy David and take over as King. As you read this Psalm, let your imagination put you in David’s shoes.

To read the narrative of this part of David’s story, read 2 Samuel 15.

A: Analyze

Journal your response to these questions:

1. What does this say about God?

• Look at how David (the Psalmist) described what God DID while David was in the pit

• What characteristics are evident about God in His kindness toward David (which are His same characteristics of kindness toward us)

• We see several actions of God in this passage — write them down, almost like you’re on the hunt for all the action verbs. What He did for David is what He does for us today. What He does reveals the truth about who He is.

2. What does this say about you?

• Put yourself in David’s shoes in this passage — who are you, where do you find yourself?

• What is true about your helplessness, your sinfulness?

• What is true about your rescue?

3. Is there a command to follow?

Commands can be tricky to spot, especially when they aren't flat out “thou shall not…” Knowing what God expects of us as Jesus followers comes from knowing God personally. Just like as we grow in relationships with people, we come to understand what they want from us. The same is true in scripture.

A few commands I found from this passage:

• To desire His will over mine

• To proclaim His truths and righteousness

• Do not hide or conceal His goodness

4. Is there a sin to repent of?

On the heel of those commands, are there areas for repentance? Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I actually believe He will pull me out of the pit?

  • God, forgive me for my unbelief.

• Am I looking to the proud as a source of trust?

  • God, forgive me for not trusting you above others.

• Am I working too hard at all the wrong things?

  • God, forgive me for bringing effort (sacrifice and offerings) when you actually want my heart.

• Do I desire my will over God’s?

  • God, help me truly desire Your will over mine. Help me surrender my all to you.

• Do I hide God’s righteousness and faithfulness in my life?

• Do I fail to proclaim His faithfulness and salvation?

  • God, give me courage which leads to confidence in proclaiming you to the world around me.

5. Is there a promise to claim?

Finding promises in God’s word is like a treasure hunt. Train your eye and your heart to see them. In this passage, look for how God’s faithfulness/salvation moves past David and impacts others. God’s glory never stops with us.

M: Meditate

Spend some time journaling about where your mind is going.

• How do you feel after studying Psalm 40? Be honest with God about what you feel — grateful for His rescue? Frustrated in the waiting? Bitter about the outcomes? Confident in His presence?

• Think back to God’s faithfulness in your life up to this point — wonder, worship and remember with wisdom.

• Has God transformed your cry into praise?

• Has your pit become a rock of truth?

• Are you willing to be rescued?

• Are you being honest with God about your pain and your frustration?

• Surrender your will to God’s will. Ask for courage to do this, because it may just be the hardest part of following Jesus.

• Where have you offered sacrifice before seeking obedience?

P: Pray

Look back over all your notes and pray them back to God.

• Start with what you saw about Him — tell Him who He revealed Himself to be.

• Ask Him to forgive you of any sin revealed through conviction.

• Thank Him for the promises you found.

Nicole’s Notes:

As we study through several Psalms together, you will begin seeing patterns within the passages. The Psalms are poetry and they oftentimes read as trains of thought. So many times, like we will see in Psalm 40, the perspective shifts somewhere in the middle, and we can see exactly what God has done, who He is, the truth about Him, followed by how we can respond and how our lives can reflect His goodness.

You can look at Psalm 40 has having two main sections:

1. Verses 1-11 are David’s words of thanksgiving

2. Verses 12-17 are David’s words of lament.

Thanksgiving makes sense to us, as we, ourselves, will express our gratitude to God for all He has done and is doing. Lament feels like an old word to use in 2019, but it is such a powerful concept. Biblical lament is the expression of sorrow for the brokenness around us — the brokenness of the world, the brokenness of sinful people. As believers, we feel lament when we hear of tragedy, or a hate crime that we cannot understand or a story that reminds us of the evils in the world. Lament becomes personal to us when the brokenness of the world shows its ugly face as brokenness IN OUR worlds. And that’s where we find David in this passage.

Bonus tip: Psalm 40 is also considered a Messianic Psalm because verses 6-7 are a reference to Jesus. Anytime we see glimpses of Jesus in the Old Testament it's an exciting find. As fully God, Jesus is present in all of Scripture. He doesn’t just come onto the scene in the Christmas story! When the prophets and the writers of Old Testament scriptures tell us about Him as a person, as the coming Savior, we can take a moment to stand in awe of the sovereignty of God.

Extra bonus tip if this intrigues you: Psalm 6-7 are also quoted and referred to in Hebrews 10: 5-10.

In David’s words of thanksgiving, we see him looking back in reflection of who God was to him during his time in the pit (most likely during the time he was fleeing from then-King Saul, who was out to kill him). Now, David is remembering God’s faithfulness as he lives through yet another chase-down, but this time from his own son. As we hear in David’s words, God’s faithfulness in the past serves as a guide for knowing and relying on His character and goodness in the current troubles.

Where have you seen this as true in your own life? Think back on times when you experienced the same goodness and faithfulness from God:

• He turned to you, He heard you

• He lifted you out of the pit and set your feed on a rock — giving you a firm place to stand

• He put a new worship song in your heart — He allowed your heart to actually sing a new song, when you had felt as if all hope was gone and there would never be new words to sing.

Looking back on the faithfulness of God will always lead to:

1. Wonder — See and acknowledge the many wonders of His creation, His faithfulness, His kindness to you.

2. Worship — When we look back, we remember His faithfulness, and remembering allows us to see God for who He is — greater than the circumstances we find ourselves in now. If He was faithful then, He will be faithful today. If He was greater than the problems then, He is greater today.

3. Wisdom — Remembering His faithfulness before allows our hearts to patiently wait on the Lord to deliver us — again.

‘Pit’ in this passage comes from the word ’Sheol,’ which literally is translated into ‘the realm of the dead.’ Have you been there? The darkest time of your life, the moments of attack. The times when you were overwhelmed by the world around you, it was chasing you down, caving in on you and there was no escape.

In the pit is where David learned to wait. And in His waiting, He was comforted — not with immediate rescue, but with the presence of Almighty God. God listened to David, He heard him, He acknowledged the pain and the hurt. And God didn’t leave Him there alone. He was with David. And then, in His time and according to His master plan, He lifted David out. He will do the same for you, He has before and He will again. And again.

What was the result of David’s rescue? See two beautiful realities in verse 3:

1. Praise: a new song; a hymn of praise to our God. David’s cry became a song of praise.

2. Evangelism: many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. The pit became a rock of truth.

How can we fight for praise from the pit with the hope that others will see Him too?

• Wait with patience on the Lord — don’t just wait on His answer/rescue, enjoy His presence.

• Fight for joy as you cry out to Him with the truth of His faithfulness

• Ask for belief even in your unbelief

• Find peace and comfort in knowing you are seen, noticed and heard by God.

• Hold onto the truth that when you are rescued, others will see Him and come to know Him.

What do you think stirred God to move on David’s behalf? What stirs Him to move on your behalf? We see a few qualities in David which are key to our posture before God:

• David was willing to receive God’s rescue.

  • Are you willing?

• David was honest about his pain.

  • Are you realistic with yourself and God about the pit?

• David desired God’s will over his own.

  • Are you fully surrendered to God’s will over yours? A fully surrendered life leads to confidence in God’s will and a courage to proclaim His strength in your weakness.

As followers of Jesus, may we be mindful about giving God all He asks for. Sacrifices and offerings are NOT what God wants. He asks for our hearts. David tells us God opened his ears — ask Him to open yours. Allow God’s voice to override the million other voices competing for your attention and brain space. When we hear the voice of God in our life, it should lead us to yield — yielding our will to God’s will. When you hear God’s voice, you must then obey God’s commands. But you cannot obey what you don’t hear.

See the contrast in what we often offer to God, versus what He truly wants from us:

• Sacrifice is not what God is looking for. Obedience is. Obedience leads to sacrifice, yes, but the motive for obedience is to follow God’s plan with submission and surrender. The motive behind our 'sacrificial efforts’ reveals a works-based mentality on our part — thinking we can do enough to please God. This often looks like us sacrificing for the wrong things with the wrong motive. Don’t ever sacrifice first. Obey. And when obedience leads to sacrifice, God is honored.

• God doesn’t want us to remain silent about His faithfulness. He wants us to proclaim His faithfulness.

Our world is broken, and that is a reality. Our hearts lament over this. Trouble is all around us — it has come and it will come again. We are broken people living in a broken world. Find comfort in David’s words in verses 12-17, and let your heart be broken over the brokenness. Let your heart be broken over sin — yours and others’. The only hope we have comes from Christ — hope for salvation through Jesus’ death, hope for eternity through Jesus’ resurrection.

God finds great pleasure in rescuing His children. He is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him — and that comes from needing Him. When you need Him, He comes. And when He comes, there is cause for gladness and rejoicing.

Davids pits weren’t just for David — they were for the people of Israel and they are for us. Your pits aren’t just for you.

God’s glory never stops with us. His glory doesn’t stop in the rescue, and it won’t stop in our future deliverance.

Psalm 40 | The Message:

I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened.

He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud.

He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip.

He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.

More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.

Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships;

The world’s a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts.

Nothing and no one comes close to you!

I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words.

Neither numbers nor words account for you.

Doing something for you, bringing something to you—that’s not what you’re after.

Being religious, acting pious— that’s not what you’re asking for.

You’ve opened my ears so I can listen.

So I answered, “I’m coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me,

And I’m coming to the party you’re throwing for me.”

That’s when God’s Word entered my life, became part of my very being.

I’ve preached you to the whole congregation, I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that.

I didn’t keep the news of your ways a secret, didn’t keep it to myself.

I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.

I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth

For myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story.

Now God, don’t hold out on me, don’t hold back your passion.

Your love and truth are all that keeps me together.

When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting,

I was so swamped by guilt I couldn’t see my way clear.

More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.

Soften up, God, and intervene; hurry and get me some help,

So those who are trying to kidnap my soul will be embarrassed and lose face,

So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable will be heckled and disgraced,

So those who pray for my ruin will be booed and jeered without mercy.

But all who are hunting for you— oh, let them sing and be happy.

Let those who know what you’re all about tell the world you’re great and not quitting.

And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing: make something of me.

You can do it; you’ve got what it takes— but God, don’t put it off.