Psalm 40

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Psalm 40 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Gratefulness.

Some days it seems to escape us. Our day starts off on the wrong foot and we struggle to regroup. Problems pile up and we find every reason to gripe and complain about how miserable we are in life. Sometimes we do it without even realizing it. This is true for me. When I am struggling with something physical or spiritual it is often hard for me to be grateful for what I do have. I stumble into the pit of cynicism. The irony is that for some reason we believe it will make us feel better to complain but the reality is, it only drives us further into despair.

“Sin is cosmic ingratitude. It gives you the delusion that you have the ability to conduct and hold your life together. Actually, every day that your heart keeps pumping, your country is not invaded, and your brain keeps functioning is wholly an undeserved gift of God. We ought to live simple, normal, uneventful days full of amazed, thankful joy.”

Tim Keller

So what does this have to do with Psalm 40?

Happy are those who trust the LORD, who do not turn to idols or join those who worship false gods. 5 You have done many things for us, O LORD our God; there is no one like you! You have made many wonderful plans for us. I could never speak of them all— their number is so great!

Psalms 40:4-5 GNB

Gratitude leads to thankfulness. Thankfulness leads to praise. Praise leads to joy. Joy transforms our perspective on life and aligns us toward God’s heart. The psalmist goes on to connect our joy in Him to obedience.

Psalms 40:6-7 GNB You do not want sacrifices and offerings; you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar or for sacrifices to take away sins. Instead, you have given me ears to hear you, 7 and so I answered, “Here I am; your instructions for me are in the book of the Law.

This is an interesting concept. Obviously, things have changed for us spiritually since these words were penned. Jesus stepped onto the scene and took away the dead religion of animal sacrifices. But, we can certainly apply this context to our current spiritual condition. The psalmist is making the point that God’s desire is not for us to stay in the same rut day after day. For some of that time, it was acceptable to fall into the repetitive pattern of sinning and offering sacrifices.

This “bare minimum attitude” produced hypocrites with clipboards and checklists. It may not have seemed like a big deal to break the law because the sacrifices would atone for the sin. The people forgot that the sacrifices were not constructed for their comfort, they were put in place so they could live and grow in their relationship with God!

What does that mean for us today? Well, some are still content to do the bare minimum. Many Christians today come to church and go about their week trying to be “good people.” They don’t meet with Jesus or engage in regular prayer. They don’t meditate on His Word and apply it to their lives. They are content to stay the same people and rely on grace to cover their repetitive disobedience. Don’t get me wrong – Jesus’ blood DOES cover all sin. But this kind of attitude directly opposes the writings of James and Paul.

Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice. 23 If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are. 24 They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like. 25 But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do.

James 1:22-25 GNB

What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God’s grace will increase? 2 Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in it? 3 For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death.

Romans 6:1-3 GNB

God does not want us to continue in sin. How do we break this cycle? Using the pattern of Psalm 40, we can start with grateful hearts. Gratitude leads to thankfulness. Thankfulness leads to praise. Praise leads to joy. Joy transforms our perspective on life and aligns us toward God’s heart. This is what it means to obey. What are you grateful for today?