Lord, You Are My Deliverer (Psalm 40)
There are many reasons to believe that Psalm 39-40 should be thought of as side a and b of a cassette tape or an 8 track. They are part of the same album and part 1 and 2 of the same event. Psalm 39 ends with David being frustrated but still trusting in the Lord. He is still in the middle of the trouble. In Psalm 40, David has been delivered.
This has been the thought of many over the years because of the similarity in writing. This may not be the case, for there is no mention of context. But it does seem to be the case as we read through it. Whatever the context is, David has been delivered from his trouble by his deliverer, the Lord. And he finds that the only right response is obedience and declaration of God’s grace.
Lord, You are my Deliverer and I will thank you with obedience and praise.
Blessed Are You That Trust In The Lord (Psalm 40:1-5)
The Lord abundantly answered David’s prayer. This did take a long time and the phrase we open with allows us to see that. But the Lord did answer, and it was wonderful. The Lord heard his cry and rescued him.
The text is speaking of some sort of physical destruction that the Lord saved him from, but that does not mean we should not apply it to our spiritual lives. I would argue that we have many reasons to think through this with regard to our own salvation. Notice how David discusses the rescue, David was pulled out of the pit, or a hole that would destroy him. And then his feet were removed from the slick mud and placed upon a firm foundation (Psalm 40:2). I don’t know the exact circumstance to which David is speaking, but I know the pit that the Lord pulled me out. I know how slick and precarious my steps were. And praise God that He drew me out of that pit and placed my feet upon the solid foundation of Christ.
I was a sinner, in rebellion against the God of the Universe. I was fighting against the Lord and destined for an eternity in Hell where I would end up for all eternity. And God reached down and redeemed me through the finished work of His Son. God the Son took on human flesh over 2000 years before I was born. He lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness on behalf of wicked sinners like me. He also died on the cross and paid the punishment for sin. And three days later, He rose from the grave. All those who turn from ruling their own life and trust in Him are pulled out of the pit and given eternal life.
If you are a Christian today it is because God pulled you out of the pit and gave to you eternal life. And that is reason for joy. And so it was with David. David’s song of sorrow and sadness has now been replaced with one of joy. And I hope that it is that way for you.
And when things like that happen, people take notice. His sorrow has been turned to joy and David expects that many will see this take place and entrust their selves to the Lord (Psalm 40:3). This is something that people do see and notice. And we ought to pray for the same thing to happen with those who are around us.
And so, David notes that blessing upon blessing is poured out upon the person that trusts in the Lord and not the people of this world. You’ve often heard it said that people will let you down. They can disappoint. And we know this to be true. It is the same with the most powerful people in the world, they can disappoint as well. Trusting in the powerful of this world can lead to destruction. And I would argue that this is a massive problem for us today.
Politics plays a much larger role in our lives than it should. We are apt to spend large amounts of time paying attention to what our favorite politicians are doing right now. We are tempted to trust the powerful politicians of our day and think that it is they who are going to make the world a better place. But our hope is not found in the politicians of our day. They will likely turn their back on you if it would make them a few dollars or given them a little more power. People will disappoint you and powerful people will disappoint you powerfully.
Rather than trusting in people, and even powerful politicians, trust in the Lord. Those who do so are blessed. The grace of God in the life of a believer gives to them a spirit of thankfulness and adoration toward the Lord. And the reason for that is simple. They see the blessings. He has done so much for them that they cannot count the ways in which this is the case.
If you are a believer, then the Lord has blessed you greatly. He has given you eternal life and you have abundant reason to sing. It is also the case that He cares for you in this life as well. You are likely able to think through some physical hardship that you’ve been delivered from, and in that too you have reason to rejoice.
I have heard it said, by someone in our own congregation repeatedly, “I don’t understand how people live without the Lord.” And I believe that to be the sentiment that is portrayed here. The believer is blessed tremendously while the lost finds only destruction in the things they are trusting in.
How Do I Thank God? Obedience To His Word And Declaration Of His Grace (Psalm 40:6-12)
God always desired the obedience and heart allegiance of His people. David points that out here (Psalm 40:6). And the reason for this line of thinking is that David is attempting to answer this question: How do I thank God for all He has done for me?
David could go and offer up a “thank offering”. He could, and that is something that the Old Testament outlined. But the right and ceremony was never the end or point of that exercise. It was thankfulness of the heart that led to obedience. And David has been rather forcefully made to understand this.
His ears were opened, but the Hebrew word is quite forceful (Psalm 40:6). His ears were “bored open”. There was a time when they were closed but they were forcefully opened to see that obedience, not sacrifices were the great act of thankfulness.
This has reference not just to some general obedience, but to obedience to God’s Word. That is made abundantly clear in Psalm 40:8. What is it that David desires to do, it is “the law within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). A king was to know God’s Word. And they were to be obedient to God’s Word.
God’s Word is everything to the believer. In God’s Word we have everything we need to come to faith in Christ and everything we need to live a life of godliness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). But there is a problem, we can’t understand God’s Word without our own blinded eyes being opened. We must have our own ears bored open to know, understand, and apply God’s Word.
This is made abundantly clear in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 1:18-24, 2:14, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Matthew 11:27, and 1 John 5:20 just to name a few). But the need of the Holy Spirit to believe in and trust the Lord is not foreign to the Old Testament. In fact, Moses states that the reason so many of the Israelites didn’t trust the Lord is because the Lord had not worked in them.
“And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” (Deuteronomy 29:2-4 ESV)
They had seen incredible miracles but they were still in rebellion. What was the reason? They needed the Holy Spirit’s work to open their blinded eyes and to unstop their deaf ears. The people of God have always needed the work of the Holy Spirit to follow the Lord, to desire to follow God’s Word, to have opened eyes and unclogged ears.
Because of the difference in today and that time, it can be confusing to consider. The differences are not outlined with tremendous clarity. But abundance seems to be the differences. There is debate concerning whether the Holy Spirit indwelt believers in the Old Testament. But what is not debatable is whether the Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament causing people to believe, because without Him they would not as Moses stated so well.
And when God unstopped David’s ears, he understood that it was obedience to the Lord that was desired. And it was obedience to the Lord that would be the greatest way to show thanks.
But this is not the only thing that David did. David spread the news of his deliverance far and wide. He declared the glory of God and the work of grace that God had accomplished in his life. And so it is with us. We go forth, in a spirit of thankfulness, and declare the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
We are totally dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit. I can’t know the Lord without the Holy Spirit opening my blind eyes and deaf ears. I can’t understand God’s Word without light from the Spirit. I can’t apply these teachings rightly to my life without the work of the Holy Spirit.
And this understanding of the dependence upon the Holy Spirit leads us to be incredibly thankful for the work that He has done in our lives. And it pours out of us in our speech.
We overthink what it means to declare God’s grace to the world. Simply put, it is opening our mouths and speaking of the greatness of God. David didn’t withhold his speech, and neither should we.
I obviously believe there is a time and place for a scripted way of speaking of the gospel. And I also believe that it helps us to get the message of what Christ has done out but declaring the works of God should pour out of us.
Lord, Deliver Me Again For You Are My Deliverer (Psalm 40:13-17)
Deliverance does not signal the end of trouble. Nor does being redeemed signal the end of our redemption. Life is filled with trouble and sorrow. And the Lord will repeatedly be our Deliverer.
There are people causing David problems again. They are people attempting to do him harm. And David prays for them to be put to shame and completely disappointed in their endeavor (Psalm 40:14). And he prays that this would lead the congregation of Israel to rejoice in their great and glorious Deliverer.
This world is filled with trouble after trouble. And we rest secure in the Lord. He is not our one-time deliverer. He is our hope and deliverer now and always.
R. Dwain Minor