Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 40:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 40:4. Blessed is that man — The man must be blessed and happy who casts his soul, with all its burden of sin and wretchedness, at the footstool of God's mercy; for he will save all who come to him through the Son of his love.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 40:0 The life that pleases God

David here refers to some past experience in which God rescued him from what appeared to be certain death. David felt like a person who had fallen into a muddy pit and was sinking to death, but God pulled him out and put him on firm ground again. He can now continue his journey, singing as he goes and thereby encouraging others to put their trust in God (1-3). His song is one of praise to God, whose loving works on behalf of the faithful are more than can be numbered (4-5).

What God is most concerned with in the lives of believers is not the offering of animal sacrifices, but the offering of their lives; not the mere performance of religious rituals, but the willing performance of all God’s will. God wants believers to open their ears to hear his instruction, then to carry it out willingly and joyfully (6-8). (This principle was carried out perfectly in the life of Jesus; see Hebrews 10:5-9.)

Having experienced personally the loyal love of God, David never stops telling people about it (9-10). He knows that the outflow of divine love will never cease, and with this assurance he asks God for his special protection through the persecution he is at present suffering. He does not deny that this suffering may be a punishment for past sins, but he still trusts God to save him through it (11-15). He desires that people everywhere praise God for his great salvation, and that he too might experience God’s saving power once more (16-17).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Blessed be the man that maketh Jehovah his trust, And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done, And thy thoughts which are to us-ward: They cannot be set in order unto thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.”

“Blessed be the man” This is a beatitude much like those that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Nor such as turn aside to lies” “This is the same as, `Those that turn aside to false gods.’“H. C. Leupold, p. 323.

“Many… are the wonderful works which thou hast made” The wonderful works of God are: (1) all of those things which are beyond the power of men to accomplish; (2) so complex that they cannot be set in order, meaning that they cannot be classified, or in any sense completely comprehended; and (3) they are innumerable, as stated in the last line of Psalms 40:5. “When we have said the most we can of the wonders of divine love to us, we must conclude with an `etc.,’ or an `as such,’ and adore the depths of that to which we can never find the bottom!”Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Vol. III, p. 387.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust - See the notes at Psalms 34:8. Compare Psalms 27:1. Literally, here, “The blessings of the man who places Yahweh for his confidence;” that is, who makes Him his seeurity, or who feels that his security for happiness and salvation is in Him.

And respecteth not the proud - The haughty, or those who are confident in themselves. Literally, “who looks not to the proud;” that is, who does not depend on them for help and for salvation.

Nor such as turn aside to lies - Who depart from the straight path, and incline to that which is false and deceitful. The reference is to those who are easily made to swerve from that which is true and honest to that which is delusive and false. Their integrity cannot be confided in. There is no security that they will be disposed to do right. The idea is, that the man who trusts in God is blessed or happy, as compared with one who trusts in man; man confident in himself; man liable to fall into error; man who is easily led astray; man who is deceitful, and who cannot, therefore, be relied on. God is mighty, but not haughty; God never is drawn aside from the truth; he never deceives.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

4.Blessed is the man who hath set Jehovah for his confidence David here relates what ground for good hope his deliverance would give to all the faithful; inasmuch as, setting aside all the allurements of the world, they would thereby be encouraged to commit themselves with confidence to the protection of God; persuaded not only that they are happy who trust in him alone, but that all other expectations at variance with this are deceitful and cursed. This assurance is not natural to us, but is derived partly from the word of God, and partly from his works; although, as I have said before, the contemplation alone of the works of God would not kindle this light within us, unless God, illuminating us by his word, should show us his benevolence. After having promised to be gracious to us, in manifesting also his goodness by indubitable proofs, he confirms with his own hand what he had previously uttered with his lips. David, therefore, from the fact of his having been restored to life from the abyss of death, justly declares that the faithful are taught from this proof — what men are naturally so reluctant to believe — that they are happy who trust in God alone.

As the instability of our nature commonly tends to draw us downward, and as all of us, from our proneness to yield to delusions, are tempted by many wicked examples, David immediately adds, that he is blessed who regardeth not the proud Some, indeed, render רהבים, rehabim, the rich, or the great of this world, but improperly, in my opinion; because pride, and turning aside to lies, are two things which David here joins together. To regard the great of the earth, therefore, does not signify, as they suppose, to rely upon their power and riches, as if a man’s welfare depended thereupon, but it rather means to be carried away by their examples, to imitate their conduct. When we are everywhere constantly seeing men puffed up with pride, who despise God, and place their highest felicity in ambition, in fraud, in extortion, in guile, a perverse desire of imitating them steals upon us by degrees; and, especially when every thing turns out according to their wishes, a vain and delusive expectation solicits us to try the same course. David, therefore, wisely, and not without good reason, warns us, that in order to have our mind constantly fixed in simple reliance upon God alone, we must guard against those evil examples which ever seek to allure us on all sides to apostatise from him. Moreover, when he says that the proud turn aside to lying, or vanity, ⁽⁸⁴⁾ in this way he describes briefly the foolish confidence of the flesh. What else is the pride of those who put their own fancies in the place of God but a vain illusion? Certainly the man who, puffed up by the breath of fond conceit, arrogates any thing in the least degree to himself, flatters himself to his own destruction. In short, pride and vanity are opposed to the holy confidence which relies upon God alone; for there is nothing more difficult to the flesh than to trust in God alone, and the world is always full of proud and haughty men, who, soothing themselves with vain allurements, would soon corrupt the minds of the godly, if this arrest were not laid upon them, to restrain, as with a bridle, their erroneous and extravagant opinions.

(84) “Ou vanite “ — Fr.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 40:1-17

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings ( Psalms 40:1-2 ).

Now his last prayer was, "Lord, help me, save me from the strokes and so forth," and now, "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined unto me; He heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." Oh, when I look back and see the horrible pit that God took me out of, how thankful I am. I realize I was sinking, I was going down, but God put my feet upon a solid rock. He established my life in Christ.

He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and reverence, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies ( Psalms 40:3-4 ).

As we were driving home this afternoon, we were driving down Newport Boulevard and I saw in the rear view mirror, a sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp, little Ford, probably a 1929 vintage or something that was really fixed up with a full blown type of a caddy engine in the thing. And, of course, everything was all chrome and everything was all opened, and this guy was just sitting there, you know, just... It was just perfection, you know. Everything was just so sparkling and shining and everything else, and he was driving down Newport Boulevard. And I saw him in the rear view mirror as he was coming past us on Kay's side, and I said, "Hey, Kay, take a look over to the right and see that fellow driving his god down the street." And you could tell by the way, that it was. And she looked over and then she looked back real quickly, she said, "I don't want to give him the satisfaction of staring at it." She said, "Because that's what he wants." And then she said, and she quoted this scripture, "Blessed is the man that respects not the proud." And she said, "He is proud of that thing and I don't want to respect him." And, "Nor such as turn aside to lies."

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts towards us: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered ( Psalms 40:5 ).

You can't even number the thoughts that God has concerning you.

Sacrifice and offerings you did not desire; my ears hast thou opened ( Psalms 40:6 ):

Now, God doesn't really desire that you give to Him sacrifices and offerings as much as He desires that you submit to Him your life.

And this phrase, "My ear hath He opened." When a servant had served a six-year term, according to the law he had to be released. You could not keep a servant more than six years. The seventh year was the year of release and all of the servants were released from their bondage or from their servitude in the seventh year. Except if a servant would come to you and say, "I enjoy serving you. I am happy here. I don't want to go out free. I want to remain your servant." Then you would take an awl, and you would go over to the door post of your house and you would put his earlobe up against the doorpost, and you take this awl and pin him with the awl through the earlobe to the doorpost of your house. You just drive the pin through and just pin him there to the doorpost. Actually, it was just an ear-piercing process. And then they would put a gold ring in the hole that was made. So that if you saw a servant or a slave with a gold ring in his ear, you knew that he was a servant by choice. He was a servant willingly. He had offered himself. He had said, "I don't want to be set free. I want to be your servant for life."

Now God is saying, "Look, I really don't want sacrifice or offering. The ear, I want to open it. I want you to submit unto a life of service. I want your life." And so I am a servant by choice. Lord, I love serving You. Lord, I don't want to do anything else but serve You. There is no other life for me, Lord, than a life of service unto You. And so mine ear hath He pierced. I am a servant by choice.

burnt offerings, sin offerings you did not require ( Psalms 40:6 ).

Now a prophecy relating to Jesus. And, of course, this is all prophecy relating to Jesus. Mine ear hath He pierced. He was in the form of God, thought it not robbery or something to be grasped to be equal with God. But He humbled Himself and came in the likeness of man and as a servant. Humbled Himself, became as a servant. A servant willingly. "Mine ear hath He pierced."

Then said I ( Psalms 40:7 ),

and quoted of Jesus in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews,

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me ( Psalms 40:7 ),

So, the volume of this book, the volume of the Old Testament is actually written concerning Jesus Christ. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You do search the scriptures because in them you think you have life, but they actually testify of Me, but you will not come to Me that you might have life" ( John 5:39-40 ). "I have come, as it is written of Me in the volume of the book, to do Thy will, O Lord" ( Hebrews 10:7 ).

And I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart ( Psalms 40:8 ).

And that is what it means. When God has written His law in your heart, is that it becomes the delight and the pleasure of your life. Doing the will of God is not some horrible awful thing to me. It is not some cross that I have to bear or carry. Doing the will of God is the most exciting, delightful experience of my life. In fact, I really don't desire anything else. It is so glorious just doing God's will. For He has written His will in the fleshly tablets of my heart. That is, He has created the desires in my heart so that I delight doing His will. It's the delight of my life.

I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. 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. Withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy loving-kindness and thy truth continually preserve me. 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 fails me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. 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. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha ( Psalms 40:9-15 ).

There you have it again. Those dirty words that they were saying to David, whatever they might have meant.

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified ( Psalms 40:16 ).

Now this is a phrase, I don't know why it hasn't been taken up by the people of God, but surely it is a phrase that we ought to be using all of the time. Along with the "Praise the Lord," or, "Bless God," or whatever, there is a phrase that we should be using and that is the phrase, "The Lord be magnified." "Let those that love thy salvation say continually." It should be a constant phrase on our lips. When we are greeting each other and all we should be saying, "Hey, the Lord be magnified." "Let them say continually, 'The Lord be magnified.'" Now try and add that phrase to your vocabulary and start using it.

I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks about me ( Psalms 40:17 ):

That is great.

thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God ( Psalms 40:17 ).

Verse Psalms 40:13 he says, "Help, make haste to help me." And now he says, "Don't tarry, Lord. Deliver me, make no tarry."

Now we are going to leave it at that. Next week we will take the next ten chapters from 41-50. We will go ten chapters a week for a while, as we have gotten into some of the longer psalms. And then when we get to 121 we'll take twenty chapters, because they are shorties. Or twenty psalms, they are really not chapters. They are... each one is a psalm, complete within themselves.

Shall we stand.

Now may the Lord be with you to watch over you and to keep you in all your ways. May your steps be directed of the Lord this week. That He might delight in the path that you take. And I pray that there are some of you that will come and say, "Lord, I want to serve You. I love You. I am satisfied. I don't want any other life. Go ahead, Lord, pierce my ear, open my ear. I am willing to take the mark of a bondslave of Jesus Christ." And may you know the joy and the delight and the blessing of serving the Lord. If some of you have come tonight and you haven't given your lives to Jesus Christ and you would like to do so, if you will go back into the prayer room, the pastors will be glad to pray with you back there and lead you to a real commitment of your life unto the Lord. Really living in this world today with all of its turmoil, with all of its problems, I don't know how a person can exist without a firm relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. I wouldn't want to try and even go on tomorrow without the strength and the guidance and the help of the Lord. And so I would encourage you to just open up your heart and life to Him. For He wants to help you, and to lead you into His path of righteousness. God be with you. Watch over, keep, bless, and use you as His servant this week. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Thanksgiving for salvation 40:1-10

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 40

In this psalm, David offered himself as a sacrifice to God because the Lord had delivered him. He also lamented his distress and prayed for salvation. The psalm is a combination of thanksgiving (Psalms 40:1-10) and lament (Psalms 40:11-17), and it is messianic (Psalms 40:6-8; cf. Hebrews 10:5-9). [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 171.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The person who does not rely on the self-sufficient or liars but puts his complete trust in the Lord experiences great blessing.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust,.... For such are safe and secure in him, are possessed of all blessings of grace through him, have peace in their own souls now, and shall enjoy eternal happiness with him hereafter;

and respecteth not the proud; such as the Pharisees, and all self-righteous persons, who trust in themselves and their own righteousness, submit not to the righteousness of Christ, and despise others; to these such who trust in Christ have no respect; they neither esteem them, nor imitate them;

nor such as turn aside to lies; to idols, the lying vanities of the Gentiles; or to any doctrines injurious to the person, office, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and grace of Christ; which are no other than lies, and which those who believe in Christ have no respect to, but abhor both them and the abettors of them.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

      1 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.   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.

      In these verses we have,

      I. The great distress and trouble that the psalmist had been in. He had been plunged into a horrible pit and into miry clay (Psalms 40:2; Psalms 40:2), out of which he could not work himself, and in which he found himself sinking yet further. He says nothing here either of the sickness of his body or the insults of his enemies, and therefore we have reason to think it was some inward disquiet and perplexity of spirit that was now his greatest grievance. Despondency of spirit under the sense of Gods withdrawings, and prevailing doubts and fears about the eternal state, are indeed a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a dear child of God.

      II. His humble attendance upon God and his believing expectations from him in those depths: I waited patiently for the Lord,Psalms 40:1; Psalms 40:1. Waiting, I waited. He expected relief from no other than from God; the same hand that tears must heal, that smites must bind up (Hosea 6:1), or it will never be done. From God he expected relief, and he was big with expectation, not doubting but it would come in due time. There is power enough in God to help the weakest, and grace enough in God to help the unworthiest, of all his people that trust in him. But he waited patiently, which intimates that the relief did not come quickly; yet he doubted not but it would come, and resolved to continue believing, and hoping, and praying, till it did come. Those whose expectation is from God may wait with assurance, but must wait with patience. Now this is very applicable to Christ. His agony, both in the garden and on the cross, was the same continued, and it was a horrible pit and miry clay. Then was his soul troubled and exceedingly sorrowful; but then he prayed, Father, glorify thy name; Father, save me; then he kept hold of his relation to his Father, "My God, my God," and thus waited patiently for him.

      III. His comfortable experience of God's goodness to him in his distress, which he records for the honour of God and his own and others' encouragement.

      1. God answered his prayers: He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Those that wait patiently for God, though they may wait long, do not wait in vain. Our Lord Jesus was heard in that he feared,Hebrews 5:7. Nay, he was sure that the Father heard him always.

      2. He silenced his fears, and stilled the tumult of his spirits, and gave him a settled peace of conscience (Psalms 40:2; Psalms 40:2): "He brought me up out of that horrible pit of despondency and despair, scattered the clouds, and shone brightly upon my soul, with the assurances of his favour; and not only so, but set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." Those that have been under the prevalency of a religious melancholy, and by the grace of God have been relieved, may apply this very feelingly to themselves; they are brought up out of a horrible pit. (1.) The mercy is completed by the setting of their feet upon a rock, where they find firm footing, are as much elevated with the hopes of heaven as they were before cast down with the fears of hell. Christ is the rock on which a poor soul may stand fast, and on whose meditation alone between us and God we can build any solid hopes or satisfaction. (2.) It is continued in the establishment of their goings. Where God has given a stedfast hope he expects there should be a steady regular conversation; and, if that be the blessed fruit of it, we have reason to acknowledge, with abundance of thankfulness, the riches and power of his grace.

      3. He filled him with joy, as well as peace, in believing: "He has put a new song in my mouth; he has given me cause to rejoice and a heart to rejoice." He was brought, as it were, into a new world, and that filled his mouth with a new song, even praise to our God; for to his praise and glory must all our songs be sung. Fresh mercies, especially such as we never before received, call for new songs. This is applicable to our Lord Jesus in his reception to paradise, his resurrection from the grave, and his exaltation to the joy and glory set before him; he was brought out of the horrible pit, set upon a rock, and had a new song put into his mouth.

      IV. The good improvement that should be made of this instance of God's goodness to David.

      1. David's experience would be an encouragement to many to hope in God, and, for that end, he leaves it here upon record: Many shall see, and fear, and trust in the Lord. They shall fear the Lord and his justice, which brought David, and the Son of David, into that horrible pit, and shall say, If this be done to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry? They shall fear the Lord and his goodness, in filling the mouth of David, and the Son of David, with new songs of joy and praise. There is a holy reverent fear of God, which is not only consistent with, but the foundation of, our hope in him. They shall not fear him and shun him, but fear him and trust in him in their greatest straits, not doubting but to find him as able and ready to help as David did in his distress. God's dealings with our Lord Jesus are our great encouragement to trust in God; when it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and put him to grief for our sins, he demanded our debt from him; and when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand, he made it to appear that he had accepted the payment he made and was satisfied with it; and what greater encouragement can we have to fear and worship God and totrust in him?. See Romans 4:25; Romans 5:1; Romans 5:2. The psalmist invites others to make God their hope, as he did, by pronouncing those happy that do so (Psalms 40:4; Psalms 40:4): "Blessed is the man that makes the Lord his trust, and him only (that has great and good thoughts of him, and is entirely devoted to him), and respects not the proud, does not do as those do that trust in themselves, nor depends upon those who proudly encourage others to trust in them; for both the one and the other turn aside to lies, as indeed all those do that turn aside from God." This is applicable, particularly, to our faith in Christ. Blessed are those that trust in him, and in his righteousness alone, and respect not the proud Pharisees, that set up their own righteousness in competition with that, that will not be governed by their dictates, nor turn aside to lies, with the unbelieving Jews, who submit not to the righteousness of God,Romans 10:3. Blessed are those that escape this temptation.

      2. The joyful sense he had of this mercy led him to observe, with thankfulness, the many other favours he had received from God, Psalms 40:5; Psalms 40:5. When God puts new songs into our mouth we must not forget our former songs, but repeat them: "Many, O Lord my God! are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, both for me and others; this is but one of many." Many are the benefits with which we are daily loaded both by the providence and by the grace of God. (1.) They are his works, not only the gifts of his bounty, but the operations of his power. He works for us, he works in us, and thus he favours us with matter, not only for thanks, but for praise. (2.) They are his wonderful works, the contrivance of them admirable, his condescension to us in bestowing them upon us admirable; eternity itself will be short enough to be spent in the admiration of them. (3.) All his wonderful works are the product of his thoughts to us-ward. He does all according to the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:11), the purposes of his grace which he purposed in himself,Ephesians 3:11. They are the projects of infinite wisdom, the designs of everlasting love (1 Corinthians 2:7; Jeremiah 31:3), thoughts of good and not of evil,Jeremiah 29:11. His gifts and callings will therefore be without repentance, because they are not sudden resolves, but the result of his thoughts, his many thoughts, to us-ward. (4.) They are innumerable; they cannot be methodized or reckoned up in order. There is an order in all God's works, but there are so many that present themselves to our view at once that we know not where to begin nor which to name next; the order of them, and their natural references and dependencies, and how the links of the golden chain are joined, are a mystery to us, and what we shall not be able to account for till the veil be rent and the mystery of God finished. Nor can they be counted, not the very heads of them. When we have said the most we can of the wonders of divine love to us we must conclude with an et cætera--and such like, and adore the depth, despairing to find the bottom.