Psalms 40:1-3

David Rejoices In His Past Deliverance Because He Believes That It Will Cause Many To Trust In YHWH (Psalms 40:1).

Psalms 40:1

‘I waited in patient waiting for YHWH,

And he inclined to me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And he set my feet upon a rock,

And established my goings.'

And he has put a new song in my mouth,

Even praise to our God.

Many will see it, and fear,

And will trust in YHWH.'

As David looks back to past trial he describes how he had waited patiently and trustingly for YHWH, and how YHWH had bent down to him and had heard his cry. He had lifted him from the ‘pit of tumult' and from the miry clay, and had set his feet on a rock and had established his goings.

The picture is a vivid one of a man struggling in a quagmire and being rescued from it by being drawn out onto a rock. But the quagmire is a quagmire of worldly problems, being faced up to in a tumultuous world that would seek to drag us down. It can however be seen as any troubles with which we might be beset as we struggle to face up to the quagmire of life. And the promise is that, as He did with David, God will lift us out from them to a place of safety and security. He will set our feet on a rock, where the ground is firm beneath our feet, so that we might continue on securely.

The result was that David, ‘the sweet Psalmist of Israel', found himself with a new song on his mouth, a song of praise to ‘our God'. The use of ‘our' indicates that he wants all to join with him in praise. For his purpose in the song is that men may see what has happened and be filled with reverent awe and love, and may thus learn to trust in God.