INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 40 TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF DAVID. Jarchi interprets this psalm of the Israelites, and of their deliverance and song at the Red sea. The title of it, in the Syriac version, is, "A psalm of David according to the letter, when Shemaiah brought the names of those who mi... [ Continue Reading ]
I WAITED PATIENTLY FOR THE LORD,.... Or "waiting I waited" i; which denotes continuance, constancy, and patience; and which Christ exercised in the garden, when he submitted himself entirely to the will of God; and on the cross, when he continued in sure hope and firm expectation of his help and ass... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BROUGHT ME UP ALSO OUT OF AN HORRIBLE PIT,.... Which, with the following phrase, OUT OF THE MIRY CLAY, expresses the state and condition Christ was in at the time of his bloody sweat, his crucifixion, and his lying in "sheol", the pit or grave, sometimes rendered hell, which these figurative phr... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE HATH PUT A NEW SONG IN MY MOUTH, [EVEN] PRAISE TO OUR GOD,.... Sung by him in the midst of the great congregation of angels and saints, upon his resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God; see Psalms 22:22; when he went to his God and ours, to his Father and ours; and in wh... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY, O LORD MY GOD, [ARE] THY WONDERFUL WORKS [WHICH] THOU HAST DONE,.... This is the "new song", as Aben Ezra rightly observes, which is said in Psalms 40:3, to be put in the mouth of the Messiah; who sometimes speaks in the plural number, being the representative of his people, and sometimes in t... [ Continue Reading ]
SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU DIDST NOT DESIRE,.... These were desired, willed, and appointed by God, and that very early, even from the times of our first parents; and, when performed aright, were acceptable to God, quite down to the times of the Messiah: indeed, when offered without faith in Christ,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I,.... As in the council and covenant of peace, when and where he declared his willingness to come into the world, and make satisfaction for the sins of his people; so when the fulness of time was come for his appearance in human nature he repeated the same; for of the time of his coming i... [ Continue Reading ]
I DELIGHT TO DO THY WILL, O MY GOD,.... This he came down from heaven to do, and this he did do, by preaching the Gospel, and working miracles; and above all by obtaining eternal redemption for his people, which he effected by fulfilling the law, becoming a sacrifice, and suffering and dying in thei... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE PREACHED RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE GREAT CONGREGATION,.... Not the righteousness which the law requires men to do; but the righteousness which Christ himself wrought out, for the justification of them that believe; this he was a preacher, as well as the author of, and is part of the glad tidings h... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE NOT NOT HID THY RIGHTEOUSNESS WITHIN MY HEART,.... Meaning not the essential righteousness of God, though that was abundantly declared in the wounds, sufferings, and death of Christ; and which was the end indeed of his being a propitiation for sin, Romans 3:25; but his own righteousness, as b... [ Continue Reading ]
WITHHOLD NOT THOU THY TENDER MERCIES FROM ME, O LORD,.... this is a petition of Christ to his Father, when in the midst of his sorrows and sufferings, before related; and particularly when he hid his face from him, and withheld the discoveries of his tender and affectionate love; LET THY LOVINGKIND... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR INNUMERABLE EVILS HAVE COMPASSED ME ABOUT,.... Like floods of water all around him; see Psalms 18:4; these are the evils of punishment inflicted on him, as the surety and Saviour of his people; such as the sorrows and griefs he bore all his days; the cruel mockings and scourges he endured; his b... [ Continue Reading ]
BE PLEASED, O LORD, TO DELIVER ME,.... From the innumerable evils which compassed him about; from sinful men, and from devils, signified by the sword, dog, and lion, Psalms 22:20; and from the power and dominion of death and the grave; all which was done when he was raised from the dead, and as the... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM BE ASHAMED AND CONFOUNDED TOGETHER,.... As they will be at the last day, when they shall see him whom they have pierced come in the clouds of heaven, in his own and his Father's glory, and in the glory of the holy angels; THAT SEEK AFTER MY SOUL TO DESTROY IT; that is, his life, as did Her... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM BE DESOLATE FOR A REWARD OF THEIR SHAME,.... Of their shameful wishes, words, and actions, as they were: their habitations in Jerusalem were desolate, and so was their house or temple there, and their whole land, and they themselves were stripped of everything, when Jerusalem was taken and... [ Continue Reading ]
LET ALL THOSE THAT SEEK THEE,.... In the first place, with their whole hearts, earnestly and diligently, in Christ, and under the influences of his Spirit, for pardon, righteousness, communion, larger measures of grace, and for honour, glory, immortality, and eternal life; REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN TH... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I [AM] POOR AND NEEDY,.... As Christ was literally, 2 Corinthians 8:9; and in a spiritual sense, when deserted by his Father, forsaken by his disciples, and surrounded by his enemies; and had the sins of his people, the curse of the law, and the wrath of God upon him; [YET] THE LORD THINKETH UP... [ Continue Reading ]