By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Psalm
39-40
Psalm
40:16
Let
all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
(NKJV)
We live in a world full of
violence, hatred, and evil. In such an environment, it is easy for fear to
creep in, causing us to lose faith and trust in God. David experienced the full
spectrum of evil during his life on earth, but in the psalms of this text, he asks
for wisdom and forgiveness so he can persevere in the trials of life. We can
learn much from these psalms and find what we need to persevere in our lives.
David wrote Psalm
39 for the chief musician, Jeduthun. It begins with David vowing to guard
his ways, especially his tongue (Psalm
39:1). David remained mute and silent, holding his peace, even from good,
but when his heart burned within him, he spoke (Psalm
39:2-3). David asks the Lord to reveal his end and the number of his days
so he can know how frail he is, knowing that his life is but a handbreadth and
a vapor (Psalm
39:4-5). Every man is like a shadow, busying themselves in vain, gathering
up riches without knowing who will gather them (Psalm
39:6).
David then asks himself
what he is waiting for because his hope is in the Lord (Psalm
39:7). David asks the Lord for deliverance from his transgressions, not
wanting to be a reproach to the foolish (Psalm
39:8). David remained silent and mute until the Lord opened his mouth (Psalm
39:9). David asks for the Lord to remove the plague of sin from him with
him consumed by the blow of the Lord’s hand (Psalm
39:10). When the Lord rebukes in correction of a man’s iniquity, his beauty
melts away for surely a man is a vapor (Psalm
39:11). The psalm concludes with David asking the Lord to hear his prayer and
to remove his gaze so he can regain strength before going away and being no
more (Psalm
39:12-13).
David also wrote Psalm
40 for the chief musician. It begins with David waiting patiently for the
Lord and having Him hear his cry (Psalm
40:1). The Lord has delivered David from a horrible pit of miry clay and
set his feet upon a rock, putting a new song of praise to God in his mouth that
many will see and fear, putting their trust in the Lord (Psalm
40:2-3). David knows that one is blessed who places his trust in the Lord,
not respecting the proud nor turning to lies (Psalm
40:4). The works of the Lord are numerous with His thoughts toward us innumerable
(Psalm
40:5).
It is not sacrifice or
offering that the Lord desires or requires, but He delights in one delighting
in doing the will of God with his law written on his heart (Psalm
40:6-8). David has not been silent in the great assembly, boldly declaring
the Lord’s righteousness, which is not hidden in his heart but boldly declared
by David’s lips (Psalm
40:9-10). Innumerable evils surround David, with him overtaken by his
iniquities, causing his heart to fail (Psalm
40:11-12). David asks the Lord to quickly come to deliver him, asking that
those seeking his destruction be driven backward, confounded, and brought to
dishonor (Psalm
40:13-15). The psalm concludes with David asking for those seeking the Lord
to rejoice and be glad, magnifying the Lord (Psalm
40:16). David is poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks of him and is his helper
and deliverer, with David asking the Lord not to delay (Psalm
40:17).
David was a great king
who faced many trials in his life. In Psalm
39, he asks for wisdom and forgiveness, while in Psalm
40, he asks for faith and perseverance in trials. Psalm
39 begins with David asking the Lord to guard his ways and his tongue. James
3:1-12 teaches that the tongue is untamable, defiling the whole body and
setting on fire the course of nature (James
3:6). This is why David remained silent until the fire burned in his heart
to speak out (Psalm
34:3). This burning in his heart was the Lord, with the Lord speaking
through him when he opened his mouth (Psalm
34:9).
Psalm
40 begins with David waiting patiently for the Lord, with the Lord
inclining His ear to listen to him (Psalm
40:1). David has a new song in his mouth, a song of praise unto the Lord
that many will hear and put their trust in the Lord. David knows that the Lord
does not desire burnt and sin offerings, but our praise and worship. David has the
boldness to declare the righteousness of God in the great assembly (Psalm
40:9-10). David can have this boldness despite the innumerable evils
surrounding him (Psalm
40:12). David demonstrated perseverance in the numerous great trials in his
life.
Like David, the fallen
world in which we live presents trials and tribulations, with even Jesus
reminding us of this (John
16:33). While this is not encouraging, it is encouraging to know that God
is with us through them all. The world is full of chaos and evil, with
temptations everywhere. This can cause great fear, which is a weapon of Satan
and not from God (2
Timothy 1:7). Satan used fear to cause King Saul to lose patience in
waiting for Samuel, going ahead, and making the sacrifice (1
Samuel 13:1-15). Fear that God was withholding knowledge from them is what
led to Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden (Genesis
3:1-5). Fear of rejection led to Peter’s denial of Jesus (John
18:15-18). To persevere in our faith, we must place our total trust in the
Lord and not allow fear to keep us silent.
In boldness and without
fear, I want to invite everyone reading this to experience forgiveness of sin
and eternal life by praying with me.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
If you just prayed, rest
assured that God has totally forgiven you and that you are a child of God (2
Corinthians 5:21; John 1:12). Find a Church that teaches the truth of the
Bible so you can learn more about the Lord. May God convict, challenge, and
bless everyone reading this post.
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