Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. Sermons
The title of the psalm indicates that it is one of David's: against that no adequate argument has been raised. Therefore, as David's we regard it. We are called on to a treatment of it in three several topics. In this, the first, we look at it as a song of praise for delivering mercy - for delivering mercy experienced by the psalmist himself, who, having written this grateful hymn, hands it "to the chief musician" for use in sanctuary service. Where can our notes of praise for Divine interposition be more appropriately sung than in the fellowship of the saints in the house of the Lord? We are left in doubt, indeed, as to whether the help thus celebrated was temporal or spiritual. Either way, the progression of thought in these ten verses is the same. For homiletical purposes we can scarcely let our remarks run on both lines at once. We shall, therefore, confine our thoughts to one kind of deliverance, viz. that from spiritual distress; while a pulpit expositor will find the progression of thought equally appropriate, should he desire to use it to incite to praise for temporal mercy. But our present theme is - praise for delivering grace. I. HERE IS A CASE OF SORE DISTRESS. (Ver. 2.) "An horrible pit;" "the miry clay." Two very striking expressions, which may well represent, figuratively, the wretchedness and peril of a man who is deep down in the mire of sin and guilt, and on whose conscience the load of guilt presses so heavily, that he seems to be sinking - to have no standing; as if he must soon be swallowed up in misery and despair. II. THE DISTRESS LEADS TO PRAYER. (Ver. 1.) There was a "cry" sent up to God for help. And this help seemed long delayed. There was a prolonged waiting in agony of prayer, that deliverance would come. The Hebrew is not exactly, "I waited patiently," but "waiting, I waited," signifying "I waited long." He who, broken down under conviction of sin, pleads with God for mercy, and will not let him go except he blesses him, - such a one shall never wait in vain. III. PRAYER IS ANSWERED, AND DELIVERING GRACE IS VOUCHSAFED. (Ver. 2.) How great the change! From sinking in a pit, the psalmist is lifted up and set upon a rock] How apt and beautiful the figure to set forth the change in the penitent's position, when, after being weighed down by sin, he is lifted up and set firmly on the Rock of Ages! IV. HENCE THERE IS A NEW SONG IN THE MOUTH. (Ver. 3.) How often do we read of a new song! The song of redeeming grace is new, superadded to the song of creation. It will be ever new; whether on earth or in heaven, it can never grow old, it can lose none of its freshness and glory! V. AS THE RESULT, THERE IS A TWOFOLD EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE. 1. Surrender of will, heart, life, and all, to God. (Vers. 6-8.) "In the roll of the book" it was prescribed that Israel's king was to fulfil the will of God, and that such fulfilment of the will of God was more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Note: The doctrine here expressed is no mark of a later date than David (see 1 Samuel 12; 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 1; Psalm 51:16; Isaiah 1:11; Jeremiah 7:21; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:1-8). 2. The proclamation of God's mercy before men. (Vers. 9, 10.) There is nothing like the experience of "grace abounding to the chief of sinners," to give power in speaking for God. He who having been first "in the pit," then "on his knees," then "on the Rock," is the man who will have power when he stands "in the pulpit." - C. Blessed is the man who maketh the Lord his trust. I. WHAT IS IMPLIED BY OUR TRUST. 1. That it rests in the Lord Himself. 2. It sets aside all self-confidence. II. SOME REASONS WHY THE MAN WHO MAKES THE LORD HIS TRUST IS BLESSED. 1. He acts in accordance with the Divine will. 2. There is stability in his trust; you may always depend upon it. 3. It bestows true manly dignity and freedom from all servile fears. 4. It gives quiet composure to the mind. () The psalmist here expresses — I. A PECULIAR HABIT OF MIND. What is implied in trusting in God? 1. A knowledge of His character. 2. It implies the consciousness of reconciliation. 3. Obedience. 4. Piety or devotion. II. THE HAPPINESS CONNECTED WITH THIS TRUST IN THE LORD. 1. See it by way of contrast. For how insufficient and unstable are the objects in which the world trusts. Riches, skill, virtue and the like. 2. In the perfections of the God in whom we trust. Think of all His attributes and each will minister to this happiness. 3. In what is prepared for such, both here and hereafter. () II. THIS IS HIGHLY REASONABLE. We love to be trusted, and are much troubled when we are not. It is our proper position towards God, and it supplies the link between us and Himself. The complete confidence of the heart is the essence of obedience and the fountain of it. And it is no objection that faith, trust, seems such a small matter. But within the compass of it there lies a force whose power would be difficult to measure. It is a virtue which contains within it seed enough to sow all the acreage of life with holiness. III. AND FAITH IS BLESSEDNESS. For in trouble it assures us that "all things work together for good." And it releases from trouble. Read this psalm. It creates within him a deep peace and a holy elevation of character. We put down our foot on what seems thin as air and, behold, it is firm as a rock beneath us. But some one says, "I could not live with nothing to depend upon." Is God nothing? The believer has nothing more, and what does he want more? And faith makes blessed in death. For the believer knows he cannot truly die. If ye will believe, ye shall have both heaven on earth and heaven in heaven. God uplift us from the miry clay of unbelief to the rock of confidence in Him." () "As happy as a king "is a common phrase; but history almost seems to say, "As miserable as a king." In his last will HenryIV. spoke most sadly of his life, which he had "misspended." The last words of Henry VIII. were, "All is lost." "I, Eleanor, by the wrath of God, Queen of England," so wrote Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of Henry II. Queen Mary begged that, when she died, not even the semblance of a crown might be put upon her brow. "I am aweary of my life," said Queen Elizabeth to the French ambassador. And in the present time we have all seen how much there is in the lot of the Czar of all the Russias that none of us would like. — True happiness can never be realized, either by king or peasant, apart from God, and the wise king said very truly, "Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."
People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics FALSE, Aside, Astray, Blessed, Confidence, Deceit, Doesn't, Faith, Fall, Falsehood, Gods, Happiness, Happy, Honour, Lapse, Lies, Makes, Maketh, O, Pride, Proud, Respect, Respecteth, Treacherously, Trust, Turn, Turneth, TurningOutline 1. The benefit of confidence in God
6. Obedience is the best sacrifice
11. The sense of David's evils inflames his prayer
Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 40:4 5262 commendation
5763 attitudes, positive to God
5874 happiness
8023 faith, necessity
8032 trust, lack of
8157 righteousness, as faith
8224 dependence
8747 false gods
8771 idolatry, objections
8803 pride, evil of Psalm 40:1-5 8609 prayer, as praise and thanksgiving Library Two Innumerable Series
'Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered ... 12. Innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart faileth me.'--PSALMS xl. 5, 12. So then, there are two series of things which cannot be …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureOut of the Deep of Sin.
Innumerable troubles are come about me. My sins have taken such hold upon me, that I am not able to look up; yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me.--Ps. xl. 15. I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.--Ps. li. 3. I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord; and so Thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.--Ps. xxxii. 6. Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep The Master's Profession --The Disciple's Pursuit
WHO IS THE SPEAKER that gives utterance to these marvellous words? In the first instance they must be understood to proceed from our Lord Jesus Christ. By the Spirit of prophecy in the Old Testament they were spoken of him, and by the Spirit of interpretation in the New Testament they have been applied to him. Mark, then, how vehemently he here declares that he has fully discharged the work which he was sent to accomplish. When, in the days of his flesh, he was crying to his Father for preservation …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871 Brought up from the Horrible Pit
I shall ask you, then, at this time, to observe our divine Lord when in His greatest trouble. Notice, first, our Lord's behavior--"I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry": then consider, secondly, our Lord deliverance, expressed by the phrase, "He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay," and so forth: then let us think, thirdly of the Lord's reward for it--"many shall see, and fear, and trust in the Lord":--that is His great end and object, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 28: 1882 "Lo, I Come": Application
The times when our Lord says, "Lo, I come," have all a family likeness. There are certain crystals, which assume a regular shape, and if you break them, each fragment will show the same conformation; if you were to dash them to shivers, every particle of the crystal would be still of the same form. Now the goings forth of Christ which were of old, and his coming at Calvary, and that great advent when he shall come a second time to judge the earth in righteousness, all these have a likeness the one …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891 "Lo, I Come": Exposition
"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in (the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God." WE HAVE, in the use made of the passage by the inspired apostle, sufficient authority for applying the quotation from the fortieth psalm to our divine Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With such a commentary, we …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891 Some General Uses from this Useful Truth, that Christ is the Truth.
Having thus cleared up this truth, we should come to speak of the way of believers making use of him as the truth, in several cases wherein they will stand in need of him as the truth. But ere we come to the particulars, we shall first propose some general uses of this useful point. First. This point of truth serveth to discover unto us, the woful condition of such as are strangers to Christ the truth; and oh, if it were believed! For, 1. They are not yet delivered from that dreadful plague of …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life "He Hath Put a New Song in My Mouth, Even Thanksgiving unto Our God. " -- Psalm 40:3.
A NEW YEAR'S MORNING SONG. "He hath put a new song in my mouth, even thanksgiving unto our God." -- Psalm 40:3. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody, This new year's morning, call me from my sleep; A new, sweet song is in my heart for Thee, Thou faithful, tender Shepherd of the sheep; Thou knowest where to find, and how to keep The feeble feet that tremble where they stray, -- O'er the dark mountains -- through the whelming deep -- Thy everlasting mercy makes its way. The past is not so dark as …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations A New Song
"He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God."--Ps. xl. 3. R. Rolle, 1349. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 I know not the song of Thy praises, Till Thou teach it, my God, to me-- Till I hear the still voice of Thy Spirit, Who speaketh for ever of Thee-- Till I hear the celestial singing, And learn the new song of Thy grace, And then shall I tell forth the marvels I learnt in Thy secret place. Thy marvels, not mine, far surpassing All thoughts of my heart must they be-- I can but declare …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series) Life of St. Vincent de Paul
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL c. 1581-1660 By F.A. [Francis Alice] Forbes "Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day." --Psalm 40:2 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of …
Frances Alice Forbes—Life of St. Vincent de Paul Introduction to Expositio Fidei.
The date of this highly interesting document is quite uncertain, but there is every ground for placing it earlier than the explicitly anti-Arian treatises. Firstly, the absence of any express reference to the controversy against Arians, while yet it is clearly in view in §§3 and 4, which lay down the rule afterwards consistently adopted by Athanasius with regard to texts which speak of the Saviour as created. Secondly, the untroubled use of homoios (§1, note 4) to express the Son's …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius The History of the Psalter
[Sidenote: Nature of the Psalter] Corresponding to the book of Proverbs, itself a select library containing Israel's best gnomic literature, is the Psalter, the compendium of the nation's lyrical songs and hymns and prayers. It is the record of the soul experiences of the race. Its language is that of the heart, and its thoughts of common interest to worshipful humanity. It reflects almost every phase of religious feeling: penitence, doubt, remorse, confession, fear, faith, hope, adoration, and …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament Life Hid and not Hid
'Thy word have I hid in my heart.'--PSALM cxix. 11. 'I have not hid Thy righteousness in my heart.'--PSALM xl. 10. Then there are two kinds of hiding--one right and one wrong: one essential to the life of the Christian, one inconsistent with it. He is a shallow Christian who has no secret depths in his religion. He is a cowardly or a lazy one, at all events an unworthy one, who does not exhibit, to the utmost of his power, his religion. It is bad to have all the goods in the shop window; it is just …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture How when Tribulation Cometh we must Call Upon and Bless God
Blessed be thy name, O Lord, for evermore, who hast willed this temptation and trouble to come upon me. I cannot escape it, but have need to flee unto Thee, that Thou mayest succour me and turn it unto me for good. Lord, now am I in tribulation, and it is not well within my heart, but I am sore vexed by the suffering which lieth upon me. And now, O dear Father, what shall I say? I am taken among the snares. Save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour,(1) that Thou mightest …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ Like one of Us.
"But a body Thou hast prepared Me."-- Heb. x. 5. The completion of the Old Testament did not finish the work that the Holy Spirit undertook for the whole Church. The Scripture may be the instrument whereby to act upon the consciousness of the sinner and to open his eyes to the beauty of the divine life, but it can not impart that life to the Church. Hence it is followed by another work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the preparation of the body of Christ. The well-known words of Psalm xl. 6, 7: "Sacrifice …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Eligius, Bishop of Noyon.
THE life of this pious bishop is so much the more worthy our consideration, on account of his having passed many years in the position of an ordinary citizen, before he entered on the clerical office; because his life may thus afford us a picture of the pious citizens of his time. Eligius was born at Chatelàt, a mile from Limoges, A. D. 588. His family had been Christian for many generations, and he received a pious education, [8] the result of which extended throughout his life. In his youth, …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places The Lamb of God, the Great Atonement
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! G reat and marvellous are the works of the LORD God almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us, sufficiently proves our depravity. He is great in the very smallest; and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the Whole , if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Out of the Deep of Doubt, Darkness, and Hell.
O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night unto Thee. Oh! let my prayer enter into Thy presence. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draweth nigh unto Hell. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in a place of darkness, and in the deep.--Ps. lxxxviii. 1, 2. If I go down to Hell, Thou art there also. Yea, the darkness is no darkness with Thee; but the night is as clear as the day.--Ps. cxxxix. 7, 11. I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my calling. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep Of Internal Acts
Of Internal Acts Acts are distinguished into External and Internal. External acts are those which bear relation to some sensible object, and are either morally good or evil, merely according to the nature of the principle from which they proceed. I intend here to speak only of Internal acts, those energies of the soul, by which it turns internally to some objects, and averts from others. If during my application to God I should form a will to change the nature of my act, I thereby withdraw myself …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Distinction Between Exterior and Interior Actions --Those of the Soul in this Condition are Interior, but Habitual, Continued, Direct, Profound, Simple, and Imperceptible --Being a Continual
The actions of men are either exterior or interior. The exterior are those which appear outwardly, and have a sensible object, possessing neither good nor evil qualities, excepting as they receive them from the interior principle in which they originate. It is not of these that I intend to speak, but only of interior actions, which are those actions of the soul by which it applies itself inwardly to some object, or turns away from some other. When, being applied to God, I desire to commit an …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents The Mystery
Of the Woman dwelling in the Wilderness. The woman delivered of a child, when the dragon was overcome, from thenceforth dwelt in the wilderness, by which is figured the state of the Church, liberated from Pagan tyranny, to the time of the seventh trumpet, and the second Advent of Christ, by the type, not of a latent, invisible, but, as it were, an intermediate condition, like that of the lsraelitish Church journeying in the wilderness, from its departure from Egypt, to its entrance into the land …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500
In the second period of the history of the Church under the Christian Empire, the Church, although existing in two divisions of the Empire and experiencing very different political fortunes, may still be regarded as forming a whole. The theological controversies distracting the Church, although different in the two halves of the Graeco-Roman world, were felt to some extent in both divisions of the Empire and not merely in the one in which they were principally fought out; and in the condemnation …
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History "That the Righteousness of the Law Might be Fulfilled in Us. "
Rom. viii. 4.--"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." God having a great design to declare unto the world both his justice and mercy towards men, he found out this mean most suitable and proportioned unto it, which is here spoken of in the third verse,--to send his own Son to bear the punishment of sin, that the righteousness of the law might be freely and graciously fulfilled in sinners. And, indeed, it was not imaginable by us, how he could declare both in the salvation …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning The Man after God's Own Heart
"A man after mine own heart, who shall fulfil all my will."--ACTS xiii. 22. A BIBLE STUDY ON THE IDEAL OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE No man can be making much of his life who has not a very definite conception of what he is living for. And if you ask, at random, a dozen men what is the end of their life, you will be surprised to find how few have formed to themselves more than the most dim idea. The question of the summum bonum has ever been the most difficult for the human mind to grasp. What shall a man …
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life Links Psalm 40:4 NIV
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