Psalm 40

Psalm 40

~

Reading

God's Amazing Plans

for us!
~

In this Psalm

God is

giving us insights on:

HOW

to

Become a Champion for Christ!

As we speak out Psalm 40,

God is teaching us

to train our mind

and our heart

to speak

as a mature Christian.

God is instructing us in each of the verses of

Psalm 40.

God is teaching us and training us

to Become

Champions for Christ!

Verse 1

I waited patiently for the Lord;

And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

God is teaching us that we will have to wait sometimes.

Here God is teaching us the beginning steps in the godly art of waiting.

Waiting is sometimes one of our assignments from God.

A mature Christian learns to wait on God.

Verse 2

2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

God is training us to set (establish) our feet on the ROCK which is God and his Word.

No matter what is happening in our life, things will be better if we will keep our feet solidly on our ROCK of SALVATION!

In verse two, we are learning to make God's Word the Firm Foundation of our life. 

God is training us

to stand on God's Word

and

ignore the reasoning of the world

and

its rationalizations and temptations.

Verse 3

3 He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

God is training us to praise him.

God is training us to praise him both privately and publicly.

God is training us to be bold and evangelize.

Verse 4

4 Blessed is that man who

makes the Lord his trust,

And does not respect the proud,

nor such as turn aside to lies.

God is training us to learn to trust him deeply.

Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and not be afraid:

for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song;

he also is become my salvation.

Isaiah 12:2 KJV

Proverbs 3:5-6

Verse 5

5 Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works

Which You have done;

And Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

God is training us in the art of praise.

We praise him for what he has done. We praise him for his love toward us.

God teaches us to

Praise Him

and

Celebrate what he has done for us!

Verse 6

6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;

My ears You have opened.

Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

God is instructing us so that we begin to understand that sacrifice and offering are not the focus of God's desires.

What God really wants is for us is to "discover and grow passionate about" his plans for our life.

God wants me to choose to walk

HIS PATH

for my life.

Verse 7

7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

God is training us to hear his heart for us (his plans for us) and to respond properly.

More understanding on this verse:

This verse is saying that the psalmist read what God's word says for him to do, and he responded, "Behold, I come" or in other words, "I'm coming to do your will today!"

So Psalm 40 is God's will for us.

We are supposed to read Psalm 40, speak it out, and obey it.

Our proper response is, "I'm going to do your will today!"

(God's will is given in all the Scriptures of the Bible.)

In

2 Timothy 3:16

God tells us:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God,

and

is profitable for doctrine,

for reproof,

for correction,

for instruction in righteousness.

Verse 8

8 I delight to do Your will, O my God,

And Your law is within my heart.”

God is training us say, "I delight to do your will, God."

God is training us to learn to delight in following God.

God is telling us that he wants his law (his Scriptures) to be written on our heart.

In Psalm 40, God is teaching us to train

 - our mouth and our heart  -

to follow him closely.

Here is

Psalm 40 verses 7-8

in the ERV translation:

So I said, “Here I am,

    ready to do what was written about me in the book.

 My God, I am happy to do whatever you want.

    I never stop thinking about your teachings.”

Verse 9

9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness

In the great assembly;

Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,

O Lord, You Yourself know.

God is training us as New Testament believers to speak out and be  - BOLD - about sharing about Jesus.

The Bible teaches us to say:

"I believed therefore I spoke."

2 Corinthians 4:13 and Psalm 116:10

Psalm 40 verse 9 speaks to us

about

Proclaiming Righteousness

*

God gives us a promise

of special blessings in heaven

if we teach people the importance of Righteousness.

God tells us in the book of Daniel:

And they that

be wise

shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;

and

they that turn many to righteousness

as the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel 12:3 KJV

Our Assignment
of
Teaching and Correction:

Matthew 28:19-20, Galatians 6:1, James 5:19-20,
2 Timothy 2:24-26, Matthew 5:10, Titus 2:12,
Titus 2:15, Revelation 2:20, etc.

Verse 10

10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;

I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and

Your truth

From the great assembly.

God is training us to intentionally to speak out to individuals - and even to groups -  when he nudges us to do so.

You cannot follow God and never open your mouth to tell someone about Jesus.

For Parents -

Verses telling Parents
to teach
their children about God:

Deuteronomy 6:7 and 11:19, Ephesians 6:4,
2 Timothy 3:15, 2 Timothy 1:5,
Psalm 78:4-7, Isaiah 38:19

Ideas for Family Bible Devotions

Verse 11

11 Do not withhold Your tender  - mercies  - from me, O Lord;

Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth

continually preserve me.

God is training us to ASK him for

His Mercies.

Verses 12- 13 a

12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me;

My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to

look up;

They are more than the hairs of my head;

Therefore my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

In verses 12-13, God is emphasizing what to do when trouble comes. 

Here God is training us to ask him for help when temptations, problems, and trials are coming against us.

Verse 10

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

O Lord, make haste to help me!

God is training us to be intimate with him and feel comfortable enough with him to even ask him during prayer to "Hurry!"

When we respect God, the intimacy in our relationship with God gives us the right to ask God to "Hurry!"

Nevertheless, we also would be wise to take note that God wants us to turn our attention to learning to be patient after we pray our requests to the Lord.

Verses 14 - 15

14 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion

Who seek to destroy my life;

Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor

Who wish me evil.

15 Let them be confounded because of their shame,

Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

God is training New Testament believers to recognize and properly respond to the Spiritual Warfare that we are in.

New Testament believers are taught in Ephesians 6:12 that spiritual forces of darkness are our real enemies.

As New Testament believers we have been given

The Full Armor of God

to defeat the spiritual enemies of our soul.

Consider our page:

Full Armor Prayers

Verse 16

16 Let all those who seek You

rejoice and be glad in You;

Let such as love Your salvation say continually,

“The Lord be magnified!”

God is training us to rejoice and be glad in all situations.

Note:

We don't have to be glad about our problems,

but we are

being taught

by God

to find things in our life

that we CAN be thankful for!

Consider our page: Gratitude Prayers

Verse 17

17 But I am poor and needy;

Yet the Lord thinks upon me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Do not delay, O my God.

God is training us to be aware of our poverty of spirit and then to make a proper response.

As we truly understand our

Spiritual Neediness,

we get hungry for God and his Word.

We become energized to read God's Word,

to obey God,

and

to reach out to God for his help and his deliverance.

Psalm 96

is a great complementary page

to this page.

For a list of all our Psalm Pages - click

Bible Devotions

For a simple page, click: Psalm 150 the Fun Psalm

For a jump to the top

of the page - click Psalm 40