Salmi 40:4 Commento

It should seem David penned this psalm upon occasion of his deliverance, by the power and goodness of God, from some great and pressing trouble, by which he was in danger of being overwhelmed; probably it was some trouble of mind arising from a sense of sin and of God's displeasure against him for it; whatever it was, the same Spirit that indited his praises for that deliverance was in him, at the same time, a Spirit of prophecy, testifying of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow; or, ere he was aware, he was led to speak of his undertaking, and the discharge of his undertaking, in words that must be applied to Christ only; and therefore how far the praises that here go before that illustrious prophecy, and the prayers that follow, may safely and profitably be applied to him it will be worth while to consider. In this psalm, I. David records God's favour to him in delivering him out of his deep distress, with thankfulness to his praise (Psa 40:1-5). II. Thence he takes occasion to speak of the work of our redemption by Christ (Psa 40:6-10). III. That gives him encouragement to pray to God for mercy and grace both for himself and for his friends (Psa 40:11-17). If, in singing this psalm, we mix faith with the prophecy of Christ, and join in sincerity with the praises and prayers here offered up, we make melody wit our hearts to the Lord. To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 40 To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. Jarchi interprets this psalm of the Israelites, and of their deliverance and song at the Red sea. The title of it, in the Syriac version, is, "A psalm of David according to the letter, when Shemaiah brought the names of those who minister in the house of the Lord;'' see Ch1 24:6; according to Kimchi, the subject of this psalm is the same with that of the two preceding; and R. Obadiah thinks it was composed by David, when he was recovered of a leprosy; but though it might be written by David, it was not written concerning himself, or on his own account, but of another. The title of this psalm is somewhat different from others in the order of the words; whereas it is usually put "a psalm of", or "for David"; here it is, "for David, a psalm"; and may be rendered, as Ainsworth observes, "a psalm concerning David"; not literally, but typically understood; not concerning David himself, but concerning his antitype and son, who is called by his name, Eze 37:24; and that it is to be interpreted of him is evident from the application of Psa 39:6, unto him by the apostle in Heb 10:5; and the whole of it is applicable to him; some apply it to Jeremiah in the dungeon, and others to Daniel in the den, as Theodoret observes.

Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust,.... For such are safe and secure in him, are possessed of all blessings of grace through him, have peace in their own souls now, and shall enjoy eternal happiness with him hereafter; and respecteth not the proud; such as the Pharisees, and all self-righteous persons, who trust in themselves and their own righteousness, submit not to the righteousness of Christ, and despise others; to these such who trust in Christ have no respect; they neither esteem them, nor imitate them; nor such as turn aside to lies; to idols, the lying vanities of the Gentiles; or to any doctrines injurious to the person, office, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and grace of Christ; which are no other than lies, and which those who believe in Christ have no respect to, but abhor both them and the abettors of them.

"Blessed is that man that makes the name of the Lord his trust, and has not respected vanities or lying madnesses" [Psalm 40:4]. Behold the way by which you would fain have gone. Behold the "multitude that fill the Broad way." It is not without reason "that" road leads to the amphitheatre. It is not without reason it leads to Death. The "broad way" leads unto death, [Matthew 7:13] its breadth delights for time: its end is straitness to all eternity. Aye; but the multitudes murmur; the multitudes are rejoicing together; the multitudes are hastening along; the multitudes are flocking together! Do not thou imitate them; do not turn aside after them: they are "vanities, and lying madnesses." Let the Lord your God be your hope. Hope for nothing else from the Lord your God; but let the Lord your God Himself be your hope. For many persons hope to obtain from God's hands riches, and many perishable and transitory honours; and, in short, anything else they hope to obtain at God's hands, except only God Himself. But do thou seek after your God Himself: nay, indeed, despising all things else, make your way unto Him! Forget other things, remember Him. Leave other things behind, and "press forward" [Philippians 3:14] unto Him. Surely it is He Himself, who set you right, when turned away from the right path; who, now that you are set in the right path, guides you aright, who guides you to your destination. Let Him then be your hope, who both guides you, and guides you to your destination. Whither does worldly covetousness lead you? And to what point does it conduct you at the last? Thou at first desired a farm; then you would possess an estate; you would shut out your neighbours; having shut them out, you set your heart on the possessions of other neighbours; and extended your covetous desires till you had reached the shore: arriving at the shore, thou covet the islands: having made the earth your own, you would haply seize upon heaven. Leave thou all your loves. He who made heaven and earth is more beautiful than all.

Among other things, the Lord’s name is eternal Savior. The one who puts his trust in the Lord’s name is the one who believes that he must be saved by the Lord’s grace rather than by his own merits.

The fruit will be beatitude; hence he says, "Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord." And first the fruit is presented, which is beatitude, and to whom it is owed, namely to those who cling to God. And therefore he first presents the true opinion and excludes the false. The true opinion is that beatitude is only in those who have hope in him: Is. 30: "Blessed are all who wait for him"; and therefore he says, "Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord." This name, Jesus, is the true hope, because in him is salvation. Hence that person is blessed who does not expect temporal things from him, but the eternal salvation which his name indicates. Hence those who await the salvation of God are beatified. Or, "Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord," that is, whose hope is the invocation of the name of the Lord: Ps. 19: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses; but we invoke the name of the Lord our God." The false opinion is that beatitude consists in temporal things or in the worship of idols; and he excludes this when he says, "He has not looked upon vanity," that is, upon temporal things and pleasures--in which are included all things pertaining to pleasures and temporal goods: Eccl. 1: "Vanity of vanities," etc. The second he excludes when he says, "Nor upon false madness," that is, the worship of idols, in which certain false things were fabricated, such as that men would become gods. Likewise, there were many wanton practices and impurities and cruelties exercised there: Wis. 14: "While they rejoice, they go mad." Likewise, they were false because they were based on falsehood and not founded upon divine power, which did not befit them: Amos 3: "Assemble upon the mountains of Samaria and see the many madnesses in the midst of it." To this category belong all vain and harmful superstitions, such as necromancy, divinations, and auguries. Or, "madness" means anger, quarreling, or the vain spectacles of games.

In this Psalm a celebration of God's deliverance is followed by a profession of devotion to His service. Then follows a prayer for relief from imminent dangers, involving the overthrow of enemies and the rejoicing of sympathizing friends. In Heb 10:5, &c., Paul quotes Psa 40:6-8 as the words of Christ, offering Himself as a better sacrifice. Some suppose Paul thus accommodated David's words to express Christ's sentiments. But the value of his quotation would be thus destroyed, as it would have no force in his argument, unless regarded by his readers as the original sense of the passage in the Old Testament. Others suppose the Psalm describes David's feelings in suffering and joy; but the language quoted by Paul, in the sense given by him, could not apply to David in any of his relations, for as a type the language is not adapted to describe any event or condition of David's career, and as an individual representing the pious generally, neither he nor they could properly use it (see on Psa 40:7, below). The Psalm must be taken then, as the sixteenth, to express the feelings of Christ's human nature. The difficulties pertinent to this view will be considered as they occur. (Psa. 40:1-17) The figures for deep distress are illustrated in Jeremiah's history (Jer 38:6-12). Patience and trust manifested in distress, deliverance in answer to prayer, and the blessed effect of it in eliciting praise from God's true worshippers, teach us that Christ's suffering is our example, and His deliverance our encouragement (Heb 5:7-8; Heb 12:3; Pe1 4:12-16). inclined--(the ear, Psa 17:6), as if to catch the faintest sigh.

Blessed-- (Psa 1:1; Psa 2:12). respecteth--literally, "turns towards," as an object of confidence. turn aside--from true God and His law to falsehood in worship and conduct.