Psalm 40:16

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

40:11-17 The best saints see themselves undone, unless continually preserved by the grace of God. But see the frightful view the psalmist had of sin. This made the discovery of a Redeemer so welcome. In all his reflections upon each step of his life, he discovered something amiss. The sight and sense of our sins in their own colours, must distract us, if we have not at the same time some sight of a Saviour. If Christ has triumphed over our spiritual enemies, then we, through him, shall be more than conquerors. This may encourage all that seek God and love his salvation, to rejoice in him, and to praise him. No griefs nor poverty can render those miserable who fear the Lord. Their God, and all that he has or does, is the ground of their joy. The prayer of faith can unlock his fulness, which is adapted to all their wants. The promises are sure, the moment of fulfilment hastens forward. He who once came in great humility, shall come again in glorious majesty.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let all those that seek thee - All those who desire to know thee; to understand thy ways; to be thy friends. The phrase is used to denote the truly pious, because it is a characteristic of all such that they truly desire to be acquainted with God, and to find the way which leads to his favor.

Rejoice and be glad in thee -

(1) By finding thee, or securing the object which they sought;

(2) in thee, as the source of all true comfort and joy.

The prayer is that all such may be successful in their efforts, while those who have no such aim may be disappointed, Psalm 40:14.

Let such as love thy salvation -

(a) Thy method of salvation, or the appointed way by which men may be saved; and

(b) the salvation itself - deliverance from the guilt and dominion of sin, and complete and eternal restoration to the favor of God.

Say continually, The Lord be magnified - See the notes at Psalm 35:27, where the same expression occurs.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. (Compare Ps 35:27).

love thy salvation—delight in its bestowal on others as well as themselves.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Such as love thy salvation; either,

1. Such as desire and rejoice in the salvation and deliverance which thou givest to me and to others of thy people, which was a great eye-sore and grief to the wicked. Or,

2. Such as expect and seek for their salvation and happiness not from idols, nor from their wicked courses, nor from any creatures, as other men do, but from thee only, and gladly accept and embrace that salvation which thou hast promised, together with the conditions required to it, to wit, faith and repentance. Or,

3. Such as love thy Messias, upon whom both David’s and other holy prophets’ and saints’ thoughts and affections were much fixed, as is evident from many places of Scripture, as John 8:58 Acts 2:30,31 1 Peter 1:10,11; who is called the desire of all nations, Haggai 2:7, and the glory and consolation of Israel, Luke 2:25,32, yea, and by the very title here used, God’s salvation, Isaiah 62:11 Luke 2:30; whose appearance or coming the godly of all ages did love and long for; and of whom David had so lately and clearly spoken, Psalm 40:6,7, &c.; all which considered, this cannot seem a forced or very far-fetched interpretation. The Lord be magnified: let them have continual occasion to magnify God for his mercies vouchsafed to them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 thee: as their covenant God, the Father of their mercies, the God of all comfort and salvation, who pardons their sins, clothes them with the robes of righteousness and garments of salvation, and accepts their persons in Christ; all which is matter of joy and gladness: Christ is concerned for the joy of his people, John 15:11; the Targum is, "they shall", or "let them rejoice, and be glad in thy word": in himself, the essential Word, in whom there is always ground and reason of joy and gladness; because of his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice;

let such as love thy salvation; either Christ, who is God's salvation, Genesis 49:18; and who is loved by his people, universally, superlatively, and sincerely; or the salvation of him, his deliverance from the grave, resurrection from the dead, and exaltation; the benefits of which believers share in, and so have reason to love it: or the salvation he is the author of, which is loved by those that know it; partly because agreeable to the divine perfections, the glory of God is great in it; and partly because it is so full and complete in itself, and so suitable to them;

say continually, the Lord be magnified; let this be their constant employment in this world, as it will be for ever in the next, to ascribe greatness to God; or greatly to praise him, because of the great salvation wrought out for them.

Geneva Study Bible

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, {n} The LORD be magnified.

(n) As the faithful always praise God for his benefits, so the wicked mocked God's children in their afflictions.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. Cp. Psalm 35:27. The discomfiture of the wicked gives occasion for the righteous to rejoice in God, not merely because they are set free from persecution, but because they see in it the proof of God’s righteous sovereignty and the unfolding of His purposes of salvation.

such as love thy salvation] Cp. Psalm 40:10 : and the corresponding N.T. thought in 2 Timothy 4:8.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. The psalmist cannot long be satisfied with mere prayer for self. He must extend his supplication, and make it cover the whole body of the faithful, "all those that seek God" (comp. Psalm 25:2, 3, 20-22; Psalm 28:1-9, etc.). Let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified; ie. "Give them constant occasion to say, and give them the grateful heart to say, The Lord be praised for his mercies" (comp. Psalm 35:27). Psalm 40:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the midst of such sufferings, which, the longer they last, discover him all the more to himself as a sinner, he prays for speedy help. The cry for help in Psalm 40:14 turns with רצה towards the will of God; for this is the root of all things. As to the rest, it resembles Psalm 22:20 (Psalm 38:23). The persecuted one wishes that the purpose of his deadly foes may as it were rebound against the protection of God and miserably miscarry. לספּותהּ, ad abripiendam eam (with Dagesh in the פ according to Ges. 45, 2, Ew. 245, a, and not as Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 1235, states, aspirated),

(Note: After ל the aspirate usually disappears, as here and in Psalm 118:13; but there are exceptions, as לנתושׁ ולנתוץ, Jeremiah 1:10, and frequently, לשׁדוד, ib. Psalm 57:4. After ב and כ it usually remains, as in Psalm 87:6, Job 4:13; Job 33:15; 2 Samuel 3:34; 1 Kings 1:21; Ecclesiastes 5:10; but again there are exceptions, as בּשׁכּן, Genesis 35:22, בּזכּר, Jeremiah 17:2. In Genesis 23:2 it is pointed לבכּתהּ according to the rule, and in my Comment. S. 423 it is to be read "with a Dagesh.")

is added to מבקשׁי נפשׁי by way of explanation and definiteness. ישׁמּוּ, from שׁמם, to become torpid, here used of outward and inward paralysis, which is the result of overpowering and as it were bewitching surprise or fright, and is called by the Arabs ro‛b or ra‛b (paralysis through terror) cf. Job, note at Psalm 18:12. An על following upon ישׁמּוּ looks at first sight as though it introduced the object and reason of this fright; it is therefore not: as a reward, in consequence of their infamy, which would not be על־עקב, but merely the accusative עקב (Isaiah 5:23, Arabic ‛qîba), it is rather: on account of the reward (Psalm 19:12) of their disgrace (cf. as belonging to the same period, Psalm 109:29; Psalm 35:26), i.e., of the reward which consists in their being put to shame (Hitzig). לי as in Psalm 3:3; Psalm 41:6 : with reference to me. האח האח (Aquila, ἀὰ ἀὰ, αὐτῇ συγχρησάμενος, as Eusebius says, οὕτως ἐχούσῃ τῇ Ἑβραΐκῆ φωνῇ) is an exclamation of sarcastic delight, which finds its satisfaction in another's misfortune (Psalm 35:25).