Companion: Deep Study
A condensed companion to the full study. For each section of the expanded outline: key insights, applications, and the application questions for discussion.
Section 1 — Waiting, Rescue, and a New Song (Psalm 40:1–3)
Key Insights
- Waiting I waited: the doubled Hebrew verb of verse 1 describes earnest, persevering expectation, not passive resignation.
- Praying patience: the psalmist’s waiting was full of prayer, for the LORD “heard my cry” (v. 1).
- Rescue is all of grace: God drew him “from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog” (v. 2) and set his feet on a rock.
- A new song for many: even the praise is God’s gift, and it is meant to lead many to fear and trust the LORD.
- Christ the waiting Son: Jesus waited on His Father through Gethsemane and the grave, was heard, and was raised to lead the new song (Hebrews 5:7).
Applications
- Keep crying to God while you wait, rather than sulking, scheming, or giving up.
- Tell others what God has done, so that your deliverances strengthen their faith.
- Stand on Christ the rock, and never turn this testimony into a timetable that shames those still waiting.
Application Questions
- When God delays His answer, do I keep crying to Him in prayer, or do I drift into silent resentment or self-reliant scheming?
- Who in my life has seen what God has done for me, and have I let my deliverances become a new song that helps others fear and trust the LORD?
Section 2 — The Blessedness of Trust and the Multitude of God’s Wonders (Psalm 40:4–5)
Key Insights
- The blessed man: true happiness belongs to the one “who makes the LORD his trust” (v. 4).
- Two false directions: the blessed man does not look to the proud or to those who go astray after the lie of idols and false refuges.
- Trust is hard for the flesh: Calvin notes that nothing is more difficult for us than to trust in God alone.
- Wonders beyond counting: God’s deeds and His thoughts toward His people are “more than can be told” (v. 5).
- Christ the blessed One: Jesus perfectly entrusted Himself to the Father and is the center of God’s purpose toward us (Ephesians 1:9).
Applications
- Identify what you are leaning on, and turn away from voices that teach self-trust.
- Practice rehearsing God’s works through thanksgiving, a written record of answered prayer, and conversation at home.
- Do not despise the gifted or prosperous as such, for the proud are those who exalt themselves against God.
Application Questions
- Whose example am I quietly imitating—the proud who trust in themselves, or those who make the LORD their trust?
- When did I last stop to rehearse God’s wondrous deeds and His thoughts toward me, and what does my silence about them reveal?
Section 3 — Behold, I Have Come: Obedience Better Than Sacrifice (Psalm 40:6–8)
Key Insights
- Not ritual but the heart: God did not ultimately delight in sacrifices but in an opened ear and a willing heart.
- The servant’s answer: “Behold, I have come” (v. 7) is the response of one presenting himself for God’s service.
- Delight and the law within: the servant says, “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (v. 8).
- Christ the obedient Son: Hebrews hears these words from Christ at His coming, and by His will we are sanctified “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
- The shadows end: Christ’s one offering does away with the old sacrifices to establish the new covenant.
Applications
- Bring God yourself, not only the outward forms of worship.
- Grow in delight by looking to Christ and asking the Spirit to write God’s law on your heart.
- Value the means of grace God appoints, since the psalm condemns formalism, not form.
Application Questions
- Am I offering God the outward forms of worship while keeping back my heart and will from Him?
- Do I experience God’s will as a burden I must carry or as a delight written within my heart, and what would help me grow in delight?
Section 4 — Glad News in the Great Congregation (Psalm 40:9–10)
Key Insights
- Good news proclaimed: the psalmist “told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation” (v. 9).
- The gospel word: the Hebrew verb basar stands behind the Greek word for preaching the gospel.
- God’s character named: he declared God’s righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and steadfast love rather than vague religious feeling.
- Not hidden in the heart: what God has written within comes out in open testimony.
- Christ the herald: the risen Christ declares the Father’s name in the midst of His church (Hebrews 2:12).
Applications
- Name and repent of the fear, shame, or laziness that keeps you silent.
- Speak of who God is and what Christ has done, not only of how you feel.
- Take part wholeheartedly in gathered worship, where the church tells God’s praise together.
Application Questions
- What keeps me from speaking of God’s faithfulness and salvation—fear of others, shame, or simple indolence?
- When I speak about God to others, do I talk mainly about my experience, or do I declare His righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and steadfast love?
Section 5 — Mercy Pleaded amid Iniquities beyond Number (Psalm 40:11–13)
Key Insights
- Confident pleading: the psalmist trusts that God “will not restrain your mercy from me” (v. 11), just as he did not restrain his lips.
- Evils beyond number: the counting language of verse 5 returns as evils and iniquities more than the hairs of his head.
- Honest confession: he names his own iniquities without excuse or blame, even after years of faithful service.
- Free mercy: the cry for God to be pleased to deliver him asks for favor, not reward.
- Christ the sin-bearer: Christ had no iniquities of His own, yet “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Applications
- Confess sins honestly and specifically, however long you have walked with God.
- When your heart fails, run first to God’s mercy in Christ, and seek pastoral and medical help when it is needed.
- Never tell sufferers that their trouble proves hidden sin.
Application Questions
- Have I come to think that because I have walked with God for years I no longer need to confess my sins honestly and specifically?
- When my heart fails me under the weight of sin or trouble, where do I turn first—to self-analysis, to distraction, or to the mercy of God in Christ?
Section 6 — Poor and Needy, Yet the Lord Takes Thought for Me (Psalm 40:14–17)
Key Insights
- Enemies handed to God: the psalmist asks that those who gloat over him be turned back, leaving vengeance in God’s hands.
- Two kinds of seekers: those who seek his life are set against those who seek God and love His salvation.
- A prayer for the whole church: his own deliverance becomes the joy of all who seek the LORD.
- Poor yet remembered: “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me” (v. 17).
- Christ became poor: the Son of David became poor for our sake, so that in Him the needy are remembered (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Applications
- Bring opposition to God in prayer, refuse revenge, and pray for your enemies’ repentance.
- Widen your prayers to include all who seek God, especially those under pressure.
- Cast your anxieties on the Lord who takes thought for you (1 Peter 5:7).
Application Questions
- When people mock or oppose me, do I hand them over to God’s justice and pray for their good, or do I nurse revenge in my heart?
- Do I actually believe that the Lord takes thought for me in my weakness, and how would that belief change the way I carry my anxieties this week?
The LORD who drew His Son up from the pit of death has, through Christ’s willing obedience and once-for-all offering, done His will for our salvation, so the poor and needy may wait for Him in hope.
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