(To the chief Musician. Of David. A Psalm.) I waited patiently for Jehovah; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
The psalm opens by looking back: a man cried out, and God answered. Commentators hear here not only David's relief but the voice of Christ. They ask what such waiting cost Him, and what it wins for everyone still waiting.
Behind the English word "patiently" lies a Hebrew form that the translation has to smooth out. One writer explains:
In Hebrew, repeating a word makes its meaning stronger. Take Psalm 40:1, and many other examples could be given. We read, "I waited patiently for the Lord." Translated exactly, it would be, "In waiting I waited for the Lord." The repetition gives the word a deeper and more sustained sense, and the translation "I waited patiently" shows this.
Writers hear Christ speaking here, not David alone. Where the ESV has "the LORD," these writers use the older rendering "Jehovah." One states it plainly:
No one ever waited for Jehovah as Christ did — the eternal Son who had become His servant on the earth. In the scroll of the book it was written of Him: He was the object of God's counsels before He became man. But it was His one aim too.
The one waiting here was not helpless. That is what makes His waiting remarkable:
He tells us that He patiently waited for resurrection. He could have used His divine power, as we know. Instead He waited until He was raised "by the blood of the everlasting covenant." So He was, as He says in this Psalm, the poor and needy one — the one who depended on God for everything — the one who waited patiently as an exercise of faith.
He refused every escape open to Him. Each refusal is part of what "waited" means here:
The psalm shows the faithfulness of Christ in waiting for Jehovah while in the sorrow. He would not seek ease, or have twelve legions of angels, or drink the numbing myrrh. He would not shrink back from suffering the will of God, any more than He shrank from facing man when He preached it. He waited patiently for Jehovah; and He inclined to Him and heard His cry. This was His perfection: He sought no way out of obedience, He did not shrink, He did not turn back or aside. He waited for Jehovah's time in the path of perfect obedience, and it came. … The object of the Spirit here was to show the tried ones that One had gone before them in the path of sorrow and had been heard.
God heard Him, but the answer did not spare Him death. One writer sets the verse beside a word about Christ in the letter to the Hebrews:
In the days of His flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death" — or out of death — "and He was heard because of His reverence" (Hebrews 5:7). The apostle records the fact; David gives us the encouragement saints can draw from that deliverance. Heard He was and answered, but only in resurrection. So He waited patiently, the Psalm declares. How many a martyr has been called to wait patiently! Such a man dies under the abuse of a hostile crowd, to be vindicated on high in the future, whatever men thought of him when on earth.
The lesson is not for Christ alone. One writer draws it out by contrast with King Saul, Israel's first king, who could not hold out the seven days until the prophet Samuel came:
"I waited patiently for Jehovah." Patience had its perfect work — an immense lesson for us. Flesh can wait a long time, but not until the Lord comes in. It cannot wait in perfect submission, trusting only in His strength and faithfulness, so as to be perfect in obedience and in the will of God. Saul waited nearly seven days; but the confidence of the flesh was melting away — his army. The Philistines, the proud enemies, were there. He did not keep waiting until the Lord came in with Samuel… Flesh trusted its own wisdom, and looked to its own force, though with pious forms. All was lost. It was flesh which was tried and failed. Christ was tried. He waited patiently for Jehovah. He was perfect and complete in all the will of God. And this is our path through grace.
- Waiting doubled. The Hebrew reads "in waiting I waited." That repetition is what "patiently" translates — a deeper, longer waiting, not a brief pause.
- Waiting perfected. No one ever waited for the Lord as Christ did. He sought no way out of obedience — no ease, no legions of angels, no shrinking back.
- Waiting answered. He was heard, but the answer came only in resurrection — saved out of death, not spared it.
- Waiting rewarded. He waited for God's time in the path of obedience, "and it came" — the timing was God's, and it did not fail.
- Waiting shared. One has gone before us in the path of sorrow and was heard. So those who wait now — martyrs and ordinary saints alike — walk a road already proved: "this is our path through grace."
And he brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock; he hath established my goings
Psalm 40 opens with a man lifted out of a pit he could never climb out of himself. He is set on ground that will not shift. Commentators read these words first as the voice of Christ, and then as the pattern of God's rescue of His people.
The picture is one of complete helplessness. A man in a place like that cannot save himself.
He says nothing about the pain of His sufferings, though He does say He had been in a horrible pit (v. 2), and that God Himself had brought Him out of it. The horrible pit was a place no one could get out of by himself. It took God stepping in. He raised the Lord Jesus from among the dead, set His feet on a rock and made His steps firm. The rock stands in contrast to the miry clay, and speaks of the stability God gives.
The Hebrew word for the pit means destruction. Commentators hear the whole verse as Christ's own song after His resurrection.
Psalm 40 begins with what we may call "Christ's resurrection song." As the sin-bearer He went down into the horrible pit (Hebrew: the pit of destruction) and the miry clay. Then the power of God brought Him out, raised Him from the dead, set His feet on a rock and made His steps sure (His ascension). A new song is put in His mouth, "even praise to our God." It is the song of redemption. He sings it first, and all who believe on Him join in that song.
The deliverance recorded here is what gives others a reason to lean on God at all.
Here is the reason why the remnant should trust Jehovah. He has been delivered from the horrible pit and the miry clay, which shows resurrection.
Before the lifting came a cry, and before the answer came a delay. There is a lesson in that for anyone still waiting.
In Psalm 40 we see the Lord Jesus above all in His life of public witness for God, in His sacrificial death, and in His resurrection too. He is brought up out of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay. First He waited patiently for Jehovah, until Jehovah turned to Him and heard His cry. He waited patiently, but did not wait in vain. His people may have to wait, but their waiting cannot be in vain. He has been heard and delivered, and so will they be, because by His death He has made atonement for their sins.
The word for "rock" here means something that cannot be moved. Scripture also uses it as a name for God.
Two words are mainly used for "rock." One is sela, "an elevation of strength, immovable." It is used as a picture of Jehovah as the rock of His people: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress." Ps. 18:2. He "set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure." Ps. 40:2.
The last part of the verse is about walking, not just standing still.
The word "goings" means the same as "steps." Another translation renders "established my goings" in Ps. 40:2 as "enabled me to step firmly." Freedom, strength and steadiness had been given.
(The ESV renders the clause "making my steps secure.")
Grace moves the believer in one direction: up, out of sin and toward the ascended Christ.
Up from the swamp of sin to the mountain top where no clouds hide the glories of the ascended Christ; up from the pit of shame to the "Rock that is higher than I" — this is the lift that grace gives.
But the rescue does not always come in this life.
Does God ever leave His people without stepping in to help them? Impossible. Yet for Christians the deliverance may come only through death and resurrection… Many a martyr has been called to wait patiently. He dies under the scorn of a hostile crowd, to be vindicated on high in time to come, whatever men thought of him when he was on earth.
- Pit — the hole and the mud picture helplessness. No one climbs out by himself, so the rescue can only be God's work.
- Cry — the lift comes after a cry and a wait. Christ waited patiently and was not disappointed. Those who wait after Him will not be either.
- Raised — commentators read the verse as Christ's own words. He went down into the pit of destruction as the sin-bearer, and God's power raised Him.
- Rock — the word means something that cannot be moved, and Scripture uses it as a name for God. It is the opposite of clay that gives way underfoot.
- Steps — the rescue ends in movement, not just safety. God gives freedom, strength and steadiness, so the rescued man can walk.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, praise unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall confide in Jehovah.
A psalm that begins in a pit ends in a song, and the singer did not compose it — God put it in his mouth. Commentators hear the voice of Christ raised out of death — so what makes this song new, who sings it, and why does the sight of it draw others to trust God?
The opening verses set the order: waiting first, deliverance second, singing third. One writer shows when the answer came, and who else must wait. He quotes an older wording, where "Jehovah" stands for "the LORD."
How instructive and comforting are the words in Psalm 40! — "I waited patiently for Jehovah... He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock... And He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God." When He lived on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ offered up prayers and pleas, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him out of death. He was heard because of His reverence (Hebrews 5:7). But the answer came only in resurrection. So He waited patiently, the Psalm declares. How many a martyr has been called to wait patiently, dying under the abuse of a hostile crowd, to be vindicated on high in the future.
The song has a date. No one could sing it until a certain work was finished.
I could not praise God — my proper work as a believer — unless He had put the song of praise into my mouth on the ground of redemption... Christ begins this song after redemption has been accomplished. There was a time when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." When God created the world all was very good. But sin has come in and spoiled that. Now Christ takes up the song of redemption, and so the saints can sing it too, as it is said, "praise to our God." But they cannot sing it until they know redemption.
That limit reaches further than you might expect. One writer takes the silence of Scripture seriously.
The angels who never fell, if we may safely read the silence of Scripture, do not have the privilege of song... God spoke with man, and man with Him, as the angels are said to do. But it is the crowning work of redemption, and that alone, which strikes a chord in the heart of God and tunes the heart of man to respond... Then only can Christ lead the praises of His saints, for song is born of salvation!
The word "our" matters. He joins others to Himself — the faithful few in Israel — and gives them the same song He received.
Here, in Psalm 40, His heart is with the poor remnant. He undertakes their cause, going through all their sorrow and bearing their sins... He gives them the comfort of being taken up to the same place as Himself. He puts a new song into their mouths, as Jehovah had put one into His.
The song is not private. In the older wording below, "many shall see it" — the rescue itself is what they see, and this fear ends in trust.
It is the voice of Jesus, heard by faith in the gospel, that gives life to the dead soul. It enables that soul to look in His light on the wonderful work of God... The fear of Jehovah fills the man whose eyes are opened to see truly the working of His hands. But in this, its highest display, God's power is the power of a Saviour. That fear is the beginning of wisdom. It leads the one who sees in Christ the wisdom and power of divine salvation into perfect peace and confidence.
The reach of that "many" goes beyond Israel.
"Many shall see it and fear, and put their trust in Jehovah." This would let in Gentiles. God had come in to deliver out of the effect of evil, and set His feet on a rock above it and all its results. This is the sure faithfulness of grace: the deliverance of God shown in One who had gone to the depths of trials. It would be a resting place for the faith of others.
That raises a practical question: when does the singing start?
We do not have to wait until we get to heaven to sing! These words speak of our journey now. He has put a new song into our mouths, even praise to our God (Psalm 40:3). We have indeed many reasons to be joyful and to sing on the way to the Father's House.
- Waited — the song follows a cry answered only in resurrection. Waiting is the road to it, not a detour.
- New — new because redemption is finished. The creation song of the morning stars cannot carry it, and angels have no such song.
- Given — God puts the song in the mouth; no one works it up. Christ received it, and He hands the same song to those He joins to Himself.
- Shared — "our God" is the hinge word: the Deliverer sings with companions, not alone.
- Seen — the song becomes evidence. Many see, fear, and rest their trust on a God proven faithful in One who went to the depths.
Blessed is the man that hath made Jehovah his confidence, and turneth not to the proud, and to such as turn aside to lies.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Thou, O Jehovah my God, hast multiplied thy marvellous works, and thy thoughts toward us they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee; would I declare and speak [them], they are more than can be numbered.
Verse 5 is a burst of praise that gives up counting. Who is speaking here, and what runs past counting — God's works or His thoughts?
One writer marks this verse as the psalm's true starting point.
Often the result of the experiences described in a psalm comes at the start. This becomes the theme or subject, and what follows leads up to it, explains it, or illustrates it... The psalm really begins with verse 5. Then in the next verse, as we learn from Hebrews 10, we enter an eternal scene. It is a solemn transaction between God and His beloved Son in a past eternity.
Commentators read most of Psalm 40 as the words of Christ Himself. One writer takes verse 5 as His comment on works that all meet in one event:
Verse 5 is the comment on the many wondrous works which all merge in the incarnation and its circumstances.
The verse names two things: works and thoughts. One writer draws out why the second list is longer than the first, and what still lies ahead because of it.
Verse 5 speaks of it — the many and wonderful thoughts and works of God, which are "more than can be numbered," that is, they are innumerable also. He died as a sacrifice. That was not only to blot out our sins, but also to express and carry out the glorious thoughts and purposes of God. The works which He has done are indeed many, but His thoughts are more, for a whole multitude of them are not yet worked out in works. They will be, however, worked out and brought into display to His eternal glory, in the ages that are yet to come.
The words "toward us" make the verse personal. One writer takes the number of these thoughts as a measure of God's care for Christ and His people.
The unnumbered multitude of God's thoughts (see also Psalm 139) beautifully expresses the diligence and delight of God over Christ and His redeemed, as though this object were all His concern, and the centre of all His counsels. How I wish we knew how to enjoy this truth as we should!
One writer points out where the line ends, and what that means for us:
It starts with "O LORD my God," and the clause ends with "toward us." Whatever our blessed Lord secures by His sufferings and death, He shares with His own.
Set against man's thinking, God's thoughts run the opposite way:
Man's thoughts centre around himself, whereas the thoughts of God are centred in Christ, the Son of His bosom... From the earliest days God spoke against the thoughts of man, saying they were "only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). But we read that God's thoughts toward us are abundant and wonderful (Psalm 40:5).
Some translations end the line "they cannot be reckoned up in order to you"; the ESV reads "none can compare with you." The commentators here work from that first wording. One writer explains what happens when we try to arrange God's thoughts.
The thoughts of God are wonderful, and infinite in number. We cannot classify them; they rush together, overlap and blend into one another. We cannot reckon them up in order when we are before God in prayer and thanksgiving (Ps. 40:5)... but all are summed up in Christ. The revelation of all God's thoughts is overpowering. We cannot comprehend them. They stagger and confound us.
Another writer measures the same overflow against the limits of time itself:
This section ends with joyful praise to God for wondrous works, and for gracious "thoughts toward us," far beyond words... It is the theme of eternity, and time is all too narrow for it.
One writer presses this verse on anyone who feels they have nothing to thank God for:
Is it really the case that there is nothing at all in your life that calls for thanksgiving to God? Can you not recall one mercy? There must surely be one: are there not even two? Perhaps if you try you can count a score, and if you try hard, a hundred and more.
And one writer puts the verse on the lips of anyone who has grasped what it means to be an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ — privileges he says no one could have invented:
Man never dreamt of such privileges, such an inheritance. No system of religion of human invention has suggested that such favours could be obtained for its followers.
- Speaker — Commentators read the psalm as Christ's words; verse 5 is His comment on works that meet in the incarnation.
- Works — What God has already done is beyond counting, and the writer of the psalm gives up trying to list it.
- Thoughts — More still, because many are not yet worked out. God will display them in ages to come.
- Toward us — God's thoughts centre on Christ and His redeemed. Man's thoughts centre on himself.
- Response — We cannot set them in order; they rush together and overwhelm us. So count your mercies, and let the counting turn into praise.