Psalm 40

1. The first few verses of this psalm present words of thanksgiving. Those words begin with praising and thanking God for listening to the thoughts of the writer, David.

2. Verse 2’s language speaks of a completely hopeless situation for David (“pit of destruction,” “miry clay), but nothing is impossible with God. He was able to rescue David from even this situation that seemed to have no hope.

3. Verse 3 is a great verse of faith. Because God rescued David, he says that he will praise God so that others may hear, too. God has rescued me; do others know about it?

4. We are blessed (truly happy) if we trust, not ourselves, but the God Who is able! (verse 4)

5. Verse 5 contains a theme that occurs often in the Psalms. That theme is that God has done many amazing things; things that are much greater than anything man could ever do.

6. In verse 6, David is not saying that he did not need to sacrifice. That was one of the ways of worship under the Old Testament law. He was reiterating an idea that there are things that go along with those sacrifices. Religion and our relationship with God is far more than just completing a “to do” list.

7. Verse 8 would make a great devotional outline. Doing God’s will was a joy (or delight) for David, but the reason is also listed in the verse: “Your Law is within my heart.” When God’s Word is a part of us, we will be happy to obey.

8. Verses 9 and 10 again speak of David openly talking about his relationship with God. Again, I need to ask myself, do I do that? Do others know that I love God?

9. I think it is interesting that, just after speaking of how open he is about his relationship with God, David says that God is “open” in His protection of David! (verse 11)

10. The final verses (13-17) again turn to the theme of David being pursued by enemies and asking for God’s protection. I don’t want to retype my thoughts from other psalms, so you may want to just scroll down some, because these verses are very similar to other recent psalms.