Thanksgiving And A Cry For Help

INTRO

Each week as we look at all these psalms, we try to highlight one chapter that points to the coming Messiah. Psalm 40 is a Messianic psalm. I am going to discuss where we see the Messiah in this psalm. In Psalm 40, David started out with a thankful heart and then immediately went to crying out for help. Over and over, we see this in the psalms. Wiersbe wrote that in Psalm 40, “David praised God for all that He had done.”¹ This Davidic psalm begins with instruction to the choir director, which implies this passage was to be sung.

TEACHING

Psalm 40:1: Because God answered his prayers, David praised Him. God had provided what David needed and protected him from danger. Wiersbe wrote, “God delivered David from his enemies and from Saul.”² The Lord heard David’s cries and answered him. Nelson’s Commentarystates, “The words ‘He inclined to me’ presents the image of the Creator of the universe, the King of heaven, stopping from His throne to save the helpless.”³ The crazy thing is God does this for all of us! When we turn to God and wait with confident trust and faith, He will answer our prayers (Psalm 130:5). David is an incredible example of how we should pray to God.

Psalm 40:2: David declared that God brought him up from a desolate pit. David had not literally been in a muddy, slimy pit. Nelson’s Commentary states, “David writes this poem during a period of terrible stress; he feels stuck in a pit or swamp. No matter how hard he tries he cannot get out.”⁴

Psalm 40:3: David asked for a new song to sing to praise God. What I see here is David saying, “God, instill in me something new.” Wiersbe wrote, “A quaint country preacher used verses 2–3 for a sermon text, and his ‘points’ were: God brought him up, stood him up, and tuned him up!”⁵ This tuning up implied David received a new song. Who put the new song in his mouth? How did it get there? God. God gave David a new song. K. Jason French wrote, “The song has been put there by God. God! It has not been ‘earned’ by the feeble works of man. The psalmist doesn’t say, ‘I learned a new song! I earned a new song! A song of praise by, and for, my efforts, my wisdom, my riches, my greatness!’”⁶ Do you know how refreshing that is? It means God can continue to pour it out to us every single day. Let’s look at this new song mentality. These psalms represent praise: Psalm 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1. These verses imply that singing a song and/or playing an instrument is considered as praise.

I am spending so much time on this phrase, “He put a new song in my mouth,” because I think it actually points to the gospel. God is the one that radically changes our lives. God gives us the opportunity for salvation. My simple proposal is that the new song is a prophetic picture of the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18–19; 2 Corinthians 5:17). When we are saved, we are washed by the blood (Ezekiel 36:25–28; John 3:3, 5–8). There is a freshness and a newness in a song that comes from the Lord that will draw people to the Lord. If you allow Christ to change your life from the old to the new, many will see and trust in the Lord. There is a theme of this ongoing new song in Revelation 14:3; 15:3. Revelation 5:9 shows God is always bringing something new to bring people to Him.

Psalm 40:4–6: There are two different views on the phrase “open my ears.” Nelson’sCommentarystates, “The Lord not only gives us ears to hear His words, but also grants us understanding so that we can truly obey Him.”⁷ Constable presents a different view writing, “The phrase, ‘my ears Thou hast opened (or pierced)’ may mean David viewed God as having made him His willing slave by being so gracious to him (Exodus 21:6).”⁸ I tend to lean toward the first view.

Psalm 40:7–8: There are many arguments for this psalm being a Messianic psalm. One of these arguments is found in Luke 24:27. Nelson’s Commentary states, “David brings his sacrifice, but his focus is on presenting his own life to the Lord (Romans 12:1–2).”⁹ It is amazing to see that many of the psalms are seen throughout the New Testament. In Hebrews 10:4–10, Jesus spoke the words of this psalm to the Father.

Psalm 40:9–10: David spoke of the attributes of God: righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, love, and truth.

Psalm 40:11–17: Remember earlier, we talked about how David went from thanksgiving to a cry for help. Here is where we see that. It seems like a completely different text—much like the ups and downs of our lives. Despite the troubles, David trusted God. Despite our troubles, we can trust God.

CLOSING

As believers in Christ, we know no matter where we are emotionally, our hope lies in God. We have been given hope. That is a cool picture to me! We saw David praising God, giving God all He asked, and trusting Him. This is a great example to follow. This is one of those psalms that points to Christ, the King of Glory.