Hi, and welcome back! I just have to tell you that I am really surprised at how encouraged I have been by all of your comments and e-mails, you know, this kind of teaching format is so different for me, as I am sure it is for most of you! Being social by nature, I really enjoy the fellowship of seeing each one of you in 'person' each week, yet, I am really starting to appreciate this kind of Gathering as well. Plus, it just plain widens the scope of our sisterhood - just this morning alone we have had a visit from Tel Aviv, Israel; Sacramento, California; Pennsylvania, Idaho and Switzerland - so a warm welcome to all of you and also to our Burnaby, Victoria, Surrey and Penticton sisters as well! And listen, if you are just dropping by for a visit, remember to say hello!Oh, I almost forgot! I would really appreciate your input on this one - it is just a meandering thought at this point, but what would you think about non-techy me trying to put together a video segment posting? Like I said, it is just a thought, but I think it would be fun! I can almost hear Joan saying that I am digressing again, so on to Psalm 40!
As soon as I began to study Psalm 40, I understood why God had given us Psalm 34 before it. These two Psalms go together in the sense that Psalm 34 gave us a wide lens overview of David and his relationship with God. We learned that David had sought the Lord and cried out to Him; that God answered and delivered David from all his fears; that God heard him and saved him (Psalm 34:4-7).
As we move into Psalm 40 we now get a more intimate closeup view of David's relationship with God, it is a closer look at the life of one who did "taste and see that the Lord is good" and just how "blessed that man is who takes refuge in Him!" (Psalm 34:8)
While my approach to this Psalm will be mostly verse by verse, it's always good at the outset of our study to get an overview and see how this Psalm progresses from praise and thanksgiving in verses 1-10, to petition in verses 11-17. As I was reading through I thought of Philippians 4:6 which says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
As we go through the Psalms this Summer, the one thing that we have to keep in mind is that throughout the Psalms, God is inviting us to enter into communication with Him through prayer! In just the last four weeks alone, we have learned so much - grown deeper in our faith, in our love for God and for one another, yet we can't allow the daily things of life to crowd out the most important teaching that the Psalms can bring us - that the MOST important of relationships we can ever have is with God and that this is only strengthened and deepened through prayer. One thing that we don't want to do is get all hung up on the definition of 'supplicate' and 'petition' and 'request' and 'ask'; if you want to know what they all mean, the bottom line is this - they are all just simply talking with God! Just plain talk to Him and you'll be supplicatin' and 'petitioning' all over the place in no time! And the result will be that God's peace, (which by the way 'surpasses all comprehension'), will be guarding your precious heart and mind in Christ Jesus!
In verse 40:1 David declares that he 'waited' patiently for the LORD; we tend to put the emphasis on 'patient', yet, in the original Hebrew the focus is not placed upon patience, but upon the 'waiting' itself. This word 'wait' is קָוָה (qāwâ), it simply means 'to look for, to hope' and it carries with it the extended meaning of looking for or hoping for 'with eager expectation and steadfast endurance'. This gave me such insight into the waiting period that David had experienced, because waiting with steadfast endurance is a great expression of faith. It means enduring patiently in confident hope for the salvation of God (Gen 49:18).
In Psalm 130 we see that this kind of waiting involves the very essence of a person’s being, his soul. When the soul is involved in 'waiting in true faith', as David's was, that soul, that person, is renewed in strength so that they can continue to serve and give glory to God while looking for his saving work (Isa 40:31). As I was thinking about this, Psalm 27 was brought to my mind, and I thought about when we wait as David did, our faith is not only strengthened, but our character is also developed. Do you remember when we spent a year studying the book of Romans, and how in Chapter 5:3-4 we saw that tribulation for the believer brings about perseverance; and that perseverance brings about proven character; and that proven character brings about hope? Well, in David's time, v.5 of Romans 5 had not yet occurred (the coming of the Holy Spirit), but his soul was certainly postured in hope, and praise God that hope does not disappoint!
This deep 'soul waiting' was what David had experienced, and the LORD inclined to David and heard his cry, and saved him from the pit of destruction (say with me 'the pit of destruction'). You know, this may seem like Old Testament language here, but just think about the news last night and this morning that seems to have gripped the majority of telecasts and websites - there is surely a 'pit of destruction' today every bit as wide and deep as in David's time, perhaps even wider and deeper and more full that it has ever been, and the ONLY ARM that is able to reach down that far and pull precious people out to salvation is The Mighty Arm of our God!
I just couldn't help myself and fell flat out into a topical study on Psalm 40:2b-3, it was sheer exhilaration! For our purposes today I will try and keep it brief, but I am hoping that you enjoy it nonetheless!
After the Mighty Arm of God reaches down into that pit of destruction and lifts us up and out of it, He then sets our feet down upon a rock. Turn with me, if you will to Deuteronomy 32:31 - this is the Song of Moses that he was commanded to write; it was his final exhortation to Israel before he died...and it is beautiful! It starts out by calling all to hear and take hold of the doctrine to be taught in the song.
The first part of the song (32:4–14) emphasizes the Person of God in all his perfection and justice toward Israel. He had purchased them, set their boundaries, protected them, and provided for them. You really should read the entire song, but listen to verse 3, "For I proclaim the Name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! THE ROCK!" Ok, I admit that I am the queen of the exclamation mark, I use it way too much, but frankly it is as necessary to me as breathing. Why Scripture itself is not just 'exclamation marked' all over the blessed place is beyond me - but here, in this verse, YES!, we find that Moses himself could not resist that powerful little digit - he exclaimed the Name of God..."THE ROCK!"
In 2 Samuel 22:2-3 we see David also writing a song (Psalm 18) to the Lord, saying, "The LORD is my ROCK and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my ROCK, in Whom I take refuge." I love verse 32 and verse 47, "For who is God, besides the LORD? And who is a rock, besides our God?..... The LORD lives, and blessed be my ROCK; and exalted be God, the ROCK of my salvation."! (exclamation mark, mine).
Just as we learned in our study of Psalm 16 that God is our Cup - here we can clearly see that when His Mighty Arm pulls us up and out of the pit of destruction and he sets our feet upon a rock, girls, He's THE ROCK!
Remember that glorious hymn, "On Christ The Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand."? Oh, go ahead...sing it loud and sing it proud! It is because of THE SOLID ROCK that our footsteps are firm - He truly is solid ground and everything else is sinking sand. But there's more - God then goes and puts a new song in our mouth, a song of praise to our God! (Psalm 40:3) and just like we learned in Psalm 34, once that song starts warbling through us, many will see and fear and trust in the Lord! And girls, the circle just gets bigger and bigger!
David tells of the blessing that is upon those that do put their trust in God, and praises God with the new song that has been placed within his mouth in verse 5. Ok, now Debbie, this is in answer to your question sweetheart...in verse 6 David says that God has not desired 'sacrifice and meal offering, nor has God required burnt offering and sin offering. Debbie was wondering how this could be when, during the time of David and right up through until the day of the crucifixion of Jesus, these offerings were indeed required and adhered to by the nation of Israel. Good question to bring up! I believe that the key to this answer is found in verse 6a and in verses 7-8.
The reference to David's ears being 'opened' or 'dug out' has a two-fold meaning, as it can be translated from the Hebrew to read 'pierced'. Firstly, God Himself had done the opening, the digging out, and now David had the ability to hear and obey the Word of God, he now had the ability to understand that ultimately it was not the sacrifice or offering that God was after it was truly David himself. But there is something else here that we need to see in reference to David's ear being 'pierced' - I am going to give you an excerpt from a study that I wrote a few years ago that will help explain this -
"...after seven years of service (Exodus 21:2-6), in the year of Jubilee, God's law cancelled the contract (between servant and master) and the servant was set free. At his appointed time of release, the master was under obligation to render unto the servant, grain, livestock and wine to establish a new life for himself. Not all masters, however, were equal. Many Israelites who contracted themselves out in slavery knew that seven years could be long and arduous under a hard taskmaster that was abusive and cruel. However, a servant who had come to love his master could, upon the seventh year, request to become a 'bond-servant', a servant for life, until death. His master, upon agreement, would take the servant to the marketplace, where the servants' ear lobe would be placed upon a block and with one blow of a mallet, an "awl" would be driven into the earlobe. Whenever people would see that bond servant, they would know immediately what that "awl" meant, .... "He must have some master!"
This is what has happened to David when he declares that God Himself has opened (pierced) his ears, He has now become a willing 'bond servant for life' to the LORD! In verse 7 David further states that his response is "Behold, I come". David further understands that God's desire for him has been written of in the "scroll of the book", that God had intentions upon David from even before he was born (Psalm 139:16) and that now the very laws of God are written on David's heart and he delights to do the will of God.
There is so much more to all this, but think on verses 6-8 as pointing towards your own salvation. We can talk about this further in the Comment Cafe! I'm having to practice restraint here from taking you all over your Bible on a couple of topical studies! Sheer indulgence!
Verse 9-10 are some of my favorite verses in Scripture and my memory verses from this chapter, along with verses 1-3. Let us determine together to be women who "proclaim glad tidings of righteousness" in the great congregation; let's not "restrain our lips" or "hide His righteousness in our hearts"; let's join together and speak of God's "faithfulness and His salvation", not concealing His lovingkindness or His truth from our brothers and sister in the faith.
I am looking forward to hearing what your time in this Psalm has done in your own heart. You know, it is in the sharing that our mutual faith is built and strengthen!
By the way, did you notice that the superscription to this Psalm was "For the choir director"? go ahead and sing this song, I tried it and for some reason it had a country/western twang to it! Go figure, I'm just glad I was singin' unto the Lord, I get the sense He was pleased if not amused by my attempt!
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