“Lo! I Come!"
Psalm 40

July 10, 2005
by C.W. Powell

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my go-ings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not con-cealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.” (Ps 40:1-17 AV)

This is a great worship Psalm. David had been delivered from some terrible affliction and trouble and he writes this Psalm in praise and thanksgiving for God’s wonderful mercies. In this he points to the Lord Jesus Christ, and also gives some very important teaching concerning the nature of true worship. David would magnify the Lord in his troubles. This Psalm is quoted in Hebrews 10 as being fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in His death on the Cross. But let us look at the words.

I. In this Psalm David is living in Jesus Christ.

A. It is a great mistake to think that Old Testament saints had no connection to Christ and that their connection to God was in the ceremonies of the law.

1. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Him. This was true in the Old Testament as well as in the new.
2. This is the reason that so much of the Old Testament live and breathes of the Lord Jesus, and shy the New Testament writers quoted it so much. “Search the Scriptures,” Jesus said, “for they testify of me.”

B. So much of the Psalm speaks both of David and of Christ, David’s Son.

1. David suffered as a Christian, and suffered persecution for Christ’s sake. His sufferings pointed to the Cross of Christ.
2. David triumphed in Christ and came to the throne as a type of Christ and David’s king-dom was an earthly representation of Christ’s greater and spiritual kingdom which is over the whole earth.

C. Because David was in Christ and we are in Christ, we see some echoes in David of our own Christian experience,

1. We also endure trials for Christ’s sake and He delivers us and we rejoice over them.
2. Have you ever thought you were in a horrible pit and in miry clay? Jesus did and wept and sweat drops of blood. David did and scratched on the gate of the city of Gath and pretended to be mad, letting the spit run down his beard.

D. God magnifies Himself in our troubles. There is always a purpose in them.

1. The true blessing in faith: to put our trust in the Lord; not for His gifts and rewards, but for Himself. God is our reward and our great defense.
2. Those who so trust in God can have a song in their heart of praise to God. The proud are never satisfied, but always chafe and fret and find fault.
3. It is wonderful to have a song in your heart. If you do not trust in God; if you have re-spect to the proud, if you turn aside to lies; then you will not have a song in your heart.

II. The great trial of the Lord Jesus Christ. Vs. 6-8

A. The great trial of the Lord Jesus Christ had its origins in the secret counsel of God before the world was.

1. The nature of God cannot be satisified with ceremony; he cannot be worshipped with men’s hands.
2. “Thou desirest not sacrifice.” This is not to be understood absolutely as if there was nothing to be done about man’s sin. But there was no offering that man could offer that would satisfy God. Even the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord. “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” (Pr 21:27 AV) How can your clean your face with dirty hands?

B. Mine ears has thou opened: “bored” You have made me to hear, O God. This speaks of David, of course, but even Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered.

1. Because Jesus heard; Jesus could do the will of God. If your ears are stopped you will make terrible mistakes concerning the will of God and will do terrible things, thinking you are doing God service.
2. David, of course, speaks of himself; but Jesus himself came to do the will of God, not his own will. He said this over and over again Our redemption was planned an perfected in the will of God and Jesus consented to do what the Triune God had ordained for Him to do.
3. Because Jesus did the will of God, you and I can also. His obedience is the foundation of ours. David could do the will of God because Jesus did the will of God.
4. The result is the preaching of the gospel to the whole world: to the great congregation of the elect in all the corners of the world. Vs. 10. “I have “I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.” (Ps 40:10 AV)

C. "I come to do your will": Hebrews tells us what this was:

1. Hebrews translates “my ear you have bored:” with “a body you have prepared me.” Your body is out of control until the Lord opens you ears. The ear is to direct the body; not the other way around.
2. The ear hears the will of God; the mind seasons, the body obeys. God gave you a body to do the will of God, just like He gave Jesus a body to do the will of God.
3. Jesus body was a sacrifice for sin, because the blood of bulls and goats—men’s offerings could not take away sin.
4. He sacrificed, so we wouldn’t. Instead of us giving sacrifices, we belong to Him totally to do as He pleases with us and all that is ours, because He purchases us from that horri-ble pit and from that miry clay. We belong to Him and not to ourselves.
5. Jesus also preached to the great congregation as we read in Psalm 22 after his sufferings and death.

III. David lives in trust and thanksgiving and lowliness of mind. Vs. 11-17 Being in Christ is to be a par-taker of his sufferings, for whom the Lord loves, he chastens. The Lord’s deliverance of David did not leave David complacent and self-confident; for he knew there would be trials ahead. The final deliverance would come later at the resurrection of the dead. David is to walk in contrition and humility.

A. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
B. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed.
C. In this world there are innumerable evils around you; not the least of which are the sins in your own heart and mind. Vs. 12
D. Proud tongues say “Aha, Aha” We got you now.
E. The proud seek their own agenda; the humble seek to magnify the Lord.
F. Vs. 17: the Lord looketh upon me. This is the hope and comfort of the saints.

IV. Application.

A. In the midst of trials, remember that the Lord remembers you.
B. What seems as a horrible pit and miry clay to you is nothing to the Lord. All power and wisdom are His.
C. The fit use for the ear is to hear the word of God; the fit use for the tongue is to speak the praises of God, his truth, his mercy, and his righteousness.
D. God gave you a body for His own purposes, for you to use in His service. It is to be presented to God as a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God.
E. Our obedience is because of the obedience of Christ. If He had not obeyed we would be yet in our sins, without God and without hope.
F. There is not sacrifice that we can make that will be pleasing to God. In fact, for us to even con-template making a sacrifice for sins of any kind is to declare that the sacrifice of Christ is not suf-ficient and we must repent of it.
G. Let us humble our selves and trust in God alone; then what we do in the body will be pleasing to Him and will magnify His name. May God bless you. Amen and Amen.

Amen and Amen. May God bless you.