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.