Psalms 40:16-17

He Ends Up By Depicting Who Are The Truly Righteous, To Whom He Knows YHWH Will Provide Help, And While Not Seeing Himself As Comparing With Them, Nevertheless Looks To God For Him Also To Help Him (Psalms 40:16).

He closes the Psalm by turning men's attention away from him to YHWH. He wants them to look at God and honour Him, and recognise that their safety, security and blessings came from His hands. And he hopes that there will be a little left for himself.

One of the tests of a truly righteous man is that he does not see himself as righteous. He is deeply aware of his own failings. And so it was with David. He was one of the most moral and righteous men of his times (in spite of the black spots) and yet he saw himself as simply ‘poor and needy', and indeed could not fully understand why the Lord bothered about him. But he knew that He did and he rejoiced in it.

Psalms 40:16

‘Let all those who seek you rejoice,

And be glad in you.

Let such as love your salvation say continually,

“YHWH be magnified”.

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.'

He closes by calling on God to ensure that the righteous receive what they ‘deserve', God's security, protection and provision. Let those who see Him, be glad in Him (because He has faithfully provided for them), let those who love his salvation constantly be able to say, ‘YHWH be magnified' (because they know and are aware that YHWH has truly saved them).

And then his humility comes out in that he, the chosen of YHWH, is so surprised that his Sovereign Lord (Adonai) thinks on someone so poor and needy as he is. But in his heart he knows that He does, and so he calls on Him as his God not to delay, but to come to him, bringing him help and deliverance, and he does so with full confidence in his heart (‘yet the Lord thinks on me').