Psalm 40:1

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) I waited patiently.—As the margin shows, this is expressed by the common Hebrew idiom the infinitive absolute with the preterite. We may nearly express it by repetition: I waited and waited.

Inclined . . .—Either intransitive (comp. Judges 16:30), or with ellipse of the word “ear,” which usually is found with the verb in this conjugation. (See Psalm 17:6; Psalm 31:2.)

Benson Commentary

Psalm 40:1-2. I waited patiently for the Lord — Hebrew, קוה קויתי, kavvo kivviti, in waiting I waited, or, in hoping I hoped, which doubling of the word signifies that he waited or hoped diligently and earnestly, patiently and perseveringly, until God should be pleased to help him. And he inclined unto me — Or bowed himself, or his ear: see Jdg 16:30; Psalm 17:6; Psalm 31:2. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit —

From desperate dangers and calamities, signified by a similar phrase, Psalm 18:16; Psalm 69:1-2. I was not only on the brink, but in the very bottom of this pit; out of the miry clay — In which my feet stuck fast. As David often compares himself in distress to a sinking and drowning man; so here he compares the affliction from which he had been delivered to that of a man thrown into some loathsome and filthy dungeon. And set my feet upon a rock — A place of strength and safety; and established my goings — Or my steps; that is, kept me from stumbling, or falling again into misery.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

40:1-5 Doubts and fears about the eternal state, are a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a dear child of God. There is power enough in God to help the weakest, and grace enough to help the unworthiest of all that trust in him. The psalmist waited patiently; he continued believing, hoping, and praying. This is applicable to Christ. His agony, in the garden and on the cross, was a horrible pit and miry clay. But those that wait patiently for God do not wait in vain. Those that have been under religious melancholy, and by the grace of God have been relieved, may apply ver. 2 very feelingly to themselves; they are brought up out of a horrible pit. Christ is the Rock on which a poor soul can alone stand fast. Where God has given stedfast hope, he expects there should be a steady, regular walk and conduct. God filled the psalmist with joy, as well as peace in believing. Multitudes, by faith beholding the sufferings and glory of Christ, have learned to fear the justice and trust in the mercy of God through Him. Many are the benefits with which we are daily loaded, both by the providence and by the grace of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I waited patiently for the Lord - Margin, as in Hebrew, "In waiting I waited." That is, "I continued to wait." It was not a single, momentary act of expectation or hope; it was continuous; or, was persevered in. The idea is, that his prayer was not answered at once, but that it was answered after he had made repeated prayers, or when it seemed as if his prayers would not be answered. It is earnest, persevering prayer that is referred to; it is continued supplication and hope when there seemed to be no answer to prayer, and no prospect that it would be answered.

And he inclined unto me - That is, ultimately he heard and answered me; or he turned himself favorably toward me, as the result of "persevering" prayer. The word "inclined" here means properly "bowed;" that is, he "bent forward" to hearken, or to place his ear near my mouth and to hear me. At first, he seemed as one that would not hear; as one that throws his head backward or turns his head away. Ultimately, however, he bent forward to receive my prayer.

And heard my cry - The cry or supplication which I made for help; the cry which I directed to him in the depth of my sorrows and my danger, Psalm 40:2. As applied to the Redeemer, this would refer to the fact that in his sorrows, in the deep sorrows connected with the work of redemption, he persevered in calling on God, and that God heard him, and raised him up to glory and joy. See Matthew 26:36-46. Compare the notes at Hebrews 5:7. The time supposed to be referred to, is after his sufferings were closed; after his work was done; "after" he rose from the dead. It is the language of grateful remembrance which we may suppose he uttered in the review of the amazing sorrows through which he had passed in making the atonement, and in the recollection that God had kept him in those sorrows, and had brought him up from such a depth of woe to such a height of glory.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 40

Ps 40:1-17. 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 Ps 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 [584]Ps 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.

1-3. 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; 12:3; 1Pe 4:12-16).

inclined—(the ear, Ps 17:6), as if to catch the faintest sigh.

The Treasury of David

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1

"I waited patiently for the Lord." Patient waiting upon God was a special characteristic of our Lord Jesus. Impatience never lingered in his heart, much less escaped his lips. All through his agony in the garden, his trial of cruel mockings before Herod and Pilate, and his passion on the tree, he waited in omnipotence of patience. No glance of wrath, no word of murmuring, no deed of vengeance came from God's patient Lamb; he waited and waited on; was patient, and patient to perfection, far excelling all others who have according to their measure glorified God in the fires. Job on the dunghill does not equal Jesus on the cross. The Christ of God wears the imperial crown among the patient. Did the Only Begotten wait, and shall we be petulant and rebellious? "And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." Neither Jesus the head, nor any one of the members of his body, shall ever wait upon the Lord in vain. Mark the figure of inclining, as though the suppliant cried out of the lowest depression, and condescending love stooped to hear his feeble moans. What a marvel is it that our Lord should have to cry as we do, and wait as we do, and should receive the Father's help after the same process of faith and pleading as must be gone through by ourselves! The Saviour's prayers among the midnight mountains and in Gethsemane expound this verse. The Son of David was brought very low, but he rose to victory; and here he teaches us how to conduct our conflicts so as to succeed after the same glorious pattern of triumph. Let us arm ourselves with the same mind; and panoplied in patience, armed with prayer, and girt with faith, let us maintain the Holy War.

Psalm 40:2

"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit." When our Lord bore in his own person the terrible curse which was due to sin, he was so cast down as to be like a prisoner in a deep, dark, tearful dungeon, amid whose horrible glooms the captive heard a noise as of rushing torrents, while overhead resounded the tramp of furious foes. Our Lord in his anguish was like a captive in the oubliettes, forgotten of all mankind, immured amid horror, darkness, and desolation. Yet the Lord Jehovah made him to ascend from all his abasement; he retraced his steps from that deep hell of anguish into which he had been cast as our substitute. He who thus delivered our surety in extremis, will not fail to liberate us form our far lighter griefs. "Out of the miry clay." The sufferer was as one who cannot find a foothold, but slips and sinks. The figure indicates not only positive misery as in the former figure, but the absence of solid comfort by which sorrow might have been rendered supportable. Once give a man good foothold, and a burden is greatly lightened, but to be loaded and to be placed on slimy, slippery clay, is to be tried doubly. Reader, with humble gratitude, adore the dear Redeemer who, for thy sake, was deprived of all consolation while surrounded with every form of misery; remark his gratitude at being upborne amid his arduous labours and sufferings, and if thou too hast experienced the divine help, be sure to join thy Lord in this song. "And set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." The Redeemer's work is done. He reposes on the firm ground of his accomplished engagements; he can never suffer again; for ever does he reign in glory. What a comfort to know that Jesus our Lord and Saviour stands on a sure foundation in all that he is and does for us, and his goings forth in love are not liable to be cut short by failure in years to come, for God has fixed him firmly. He is for ever and eternally able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing that in the highest heavens he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Jesus is the true Joseph taken from the pit to be Lord of all. It is something more than a "sip of sweetness" to remember that if we are cast like our Lord into the lowest pit of shame and sorrow, we shall by faith rise to stand on the same elevated, sure, and everlasting rock of divine favour and faithfulness.

Psalm 40:3

"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God." At the passover, before his passion, our Lord sang one of the grand old Psalms of praise; but what is the music of his heart now, in the midst of his redeemed! What a song is that in which his glad heart for ever leads the chorus of the elect! Not Miriam's tabour nor Moses' triumphant hymn o'er Mizraim's chivalry can for a moment rival that ever new and exulting song. Justice magnified and grace victorious; hell subdued and heaven glorified; death destroyed and immortality established; sin o'erthrown and righteousness resplendent; what a theme for a hymn in that day when our Lord drinketh the red wine new with us all in our heavenly Father's kingdom! Even on earth, and before his great passion, he foresaw the joy which was set before him, and was sustained by the prospect. "Our God." The God of Jesus, the God of Israel, "my God and your God." How will we praise him, but, ah! Jesus will be the chief player on our stringed instruments; he will lead the solemn hallelujah which shall go up from the sacramental host redeemed by blood. "Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." A multitude that no man can number shall see the griefs and triumphs of Jesus, shall tremble because of their sinful rejection of him, and then through grace shall receive faith and become trusters in Jehovah. Here is our Lord's reward. Here is the assurance which makes preachers bold and workers persevering. Reader, are you one among the many? Note the way of salvation, a sight, a fear, a trust! Do you know what these mean by possessing and practising them in your own soul? Trusting in the Lord is the evidence nay the essence of salvation. He who is a true believer is evidently redeemed from the dominion of sin and Satan. THE ARGUMENT

This Psalm is a celebration of God’s great goodness and mercy vouchsafed unto him and all his people. It is certain and evident that David speaks some things in this Book of Psalms in his own name and person, and some things ill the name and person of Christ, or whom he was an eminent type; and that sometimes he speaks in both these capacities in the same Psalm, as hath been noted before. And this seems to be the condition of this Psalm; wherein there are some passages which cannot belong to Christ, as Psalm 40:13, and some which do not properly belong to David, or to that time and state of the church, but only to Christ, and to the times of the New Testament, as Psalm 40:6,7.

David by his own experience showeth the benefit of trusting in God, Psalm 40:1-5. Christ’s obedience and sacrifice, Psalm 40:6-10. His sufferings for sin; his fervent prayer, Psalm 40:11-17.

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I waited patiently for the Lord,.... Or "waiting I waited" (i); which denotes continuance, constancy, and patience; and which Christ exercised in the garden, when he submitted himself entirely to the will of God; and on the cross, when he continued in sure hope and firm expectation of his help and assistance, though he was for a while forsaken by him; see Isaiah 50:7;

and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry; both in the garden, by delivering him from fear of death; and on the cross, by upholding, helping, and assisting him, by carrying him through his sufferings and death, and raising him from the dead; see Isaiah 49:8.

(i) "expectando expectavi", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus Musculus, Rivetus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Geneva Study Bible

<> I waited {a} patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

(a) Though God deferred his help, yet he patiently abode till he was heard.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. I waited patiently] Such renderings as I waited, yea I waited, or, I waited waitingly (Vulg. expectans expectavi) are closer to the original. Cp. Psalm 38:15; Psalm 39:7 : and the confession of the Church in the day of Redemption, Isaiah 25:9.

he inclined unto me] As it were, ‘bent down towards me.’ To ‘incline’ or ‘bow down the ear’ is the usual phrase (Psalm 31:2; Psalm 116:2).

my cry] Cp. Psalm 39:12; Psalm 18:6.

1–3. The reward of patient waiting upon God.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - I waited patiently for the Lord; literally, waiting, 1 waited - a common Hebrew idiom, when an idea is to be emphasized. No writer enforces upon us more earnestly than David the duty of awaiting God's pleasure (Psalm 27:14; Psalm 37:7; Psalm 62:1, 5; Psalm 69:3, etc.). And he inclined unto me; literally, bent towards me - an anthropomorphism, but most expressive. And heard my cry; i.e. answered it - gave me what I prayed for. Psalm 40:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

David, who, though not without some hesitation, we regard as the author, now finds himself in a situation in which, on the one hand, he has just been rescued from danger, and, on the other, is still exposed to peril. Under such circumstances praise rightly occupies the first place, as in general, according to Psalm 50:23, gratitude is the way to salvation. His hope, although תּוחלת ממשּׁכה (Proverbs 13:12), has not deceived him; he is rescued, and can now again sing a new song of thanksgiving, an example for others, strengthening their trust. קוּה קוּיתי, I waited with constancy and perseverance. יהוה is the accusative as in Psalm 25:5; Psalm 130:5, and not the vocative as in Psalm 39:8. אזנו is to be supplied in thought to ויּט, although after the analogy of Psalm 17:6; Psalm 31:3, one might have looked for the Hiph. wayaT instead of the Kal. בור שׁאון does not mean a pit of roaring (of water), since שׁאון standing alone (see, on the other hand, Psalm 65:8, Isaiah 17:12.) has not this meaning; and, moreover, "rushing, roaring" (Hengstenberg), tumultuous waters of a pit or a cistern does not furnish any idea that is true to nature; neither does it mean a pit of falling in, since שׁאה does not exhibit the signification deorsum labi; but the meaning is: a pit of devastation, of destruction, of ruin (Jeremiah 25:31; Jeremiah 46:17), vid., supra on Psalm 35:8. Another figure is "mire of the marsh" (יון found only here and in Psalm 69:3), i.e., water, in the miry bottom of which one can find no firm footing - a combination like מטר־גּשׁם, Zechariah 10:1, אדמת־עפר, Daniel 12:2, explained in the Mishna, Mikvaoth ix. 2, by טיט הבורות (mire of the cisterns). Taking them out of this, Jahve placed his feet upon a rock, established his footsteps, i.e., removed him from the danger which surrounded him, and gave him firm ground under his feet. The high rock and the firm footsteps are the opposites of the deep pit and the yielding miry bottom. This deliverance afforded him new matter for thanksgiving (cf. Psalm 33:3), and became in his mouth "praise to our God;" for the deliverance of the chosen king is an act of the God of Israel on behalf of His chosen people. The futures in Psalm 40:4 (with an alliteration similar to Psalm 52:8) indicate, by their being thus cumulative, that they are intended of the present and of that which still continues in the future.