He Has Put a New Song in My Mouth! . Psalm 40

 

A Psalm of David                                                                Commentary Dennis Edwards

40 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. ² He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

If we wait upon the Lord, which means, if we seek Him in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, He shall hear us and answer. He will lift us up out of whatever horrible pit we have fallen into; whether it be emotional, financial, or relational. Jesus is the Rock that our feet need to be set upon. He is the stone which the builders rejected that has become the chief cornerstone. If we build the house of our lives upon Him, by obeying and following His word, our ways shall be established and our house shall not be overwhelmed by the storms of life.

³ And He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

Even though at the moment you may feel down and discouraged, if you bring your problem to God in prayer, if you set your feet upon Jesus, the Rock, if you resolved to obey and follow His word, you will find joy again. God will bring you up out of the seemingly impossible situation, that horrible pit you are passing through and you will sing for joy once again. He will restore the joy of your salvation. Hold on. Fight the fight of faith with praise. "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you," 1st Thessalonians 5:18. 

⁴ Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Help us not to desire to be like the rich and the proud who love the world. They desire the lusts of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. They turn aside from God’s good word to the lies of men and the lies of the father of lies, Satan himself. Lord, lead us from temptation.

⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts which are toward us: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto You: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Help us, Lord, to come into Your presence with praise and thanksgiving for the countless blessing You have bestowed upon us. If we count our blessings, and name them one by one, we will be surprised what the Lord has done. Praise is the voice of faith.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears have You opened: burnt offering and sin offering have You 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 Your will, O my God: yea, Your law is within my heart.

The author of Hebrews quotes the above section from the Septuagint as the following: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; a body have You prepared Me.” The author argues that sacrifices and offering were merely a foreshadowing of Christ’s own sacrifice on the cross for the sins of mankind. He argues that the psalm is prophetic of Jesus, of the new and living way to enter into God’s presence through faith in the blood of Jesus who was slain from the foundations of the world. Jesus came as it was prophesised and delighted to do God’s will, not His own. Let us follow in His footsteps.  

⁹ I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, You know it. ¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation: I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

Let us be faithful to not hide God within us, but to share the love and truth of the Gospel to all those God puts within our paths. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,” John 1:17. Let us preach the Gospel to every creature.

¹¹ Withhold not Your tender mercies from me, O Lord: let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. ¹² For innumerable evils have compassed me about: my iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head: therefore, my heart fails me.

We can often fall into discouragement at our own failures to overcome our besetting sins, or personality failures, our bad habits. But, as David does here, we need to cry out to God that He preserves us, forgives us, and extends His tender mercies to us.

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.

David prays against his enemies, and no doubt Christ prayed against His spiritual enemies. We, too, must rebuke the spiritual powers that attack us and try to bring our efforts to naught. We must wage spiritual warfare in prayer against the principalities, and powers, and the spiritual forces of darkness in high places that seek to destroy and hinder our important work for the Lord. We must put on the whole armour of God and resist the Devil.

¹⁶ Let all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You: let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified. ¹⁷ But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me: You are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

May the lost and weary sheep searching for God find Him. May God send forth labourers into the harvest which is white unto harvest, but the labourers are few. Lord, you are near to those of a broken heart, and you save such as be of a contrite spirit. Though many be our afflictions, Lord, You promised to deliver us out of them all, Psalm 34:18-19. Save us, O Lord. Deliver us from the hand of man and from those that would rise up against us. O Lord, tarry not, “come quickly. Even so, come, Lord Jesus,” Revelation 22:20.

Prayer: Lord, we look at the world today, a maddening mass of madness. Evil men grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived. Soon that wicked one shall arise and the flood of iniquity shall break forth even more so upon the earth. Strengthen us, Lord. Prepare us for the battle. Help us not be weary in well-doing. Lord, be our strong tower. In Jesus' name, Amen