Psalm 40
“Yahweh Be Magnified”
Sermon Transcript • Psalms of Worship #5 • August 11, 2024
Well, welcome to everybody. We find ourselves once again in the Psalms of Worship. As I begin, I want to ask you to bear with me just a little bit.
Sometimes, every once in a while, around our household, there’s the need to throw a piece of trash in a trash can. So, I’ll take a piece of paper, wad it up, scrunch it as tight as I can, and then hurl it from across the kitchen to see if I can find that receptacle in the corner. As I do that, I am aware that my body is going through a process. It’s an amazing thing, even in something that simple. My body is making calculations, analyzing all kinds of little bits of information. It starts with the piece of paper: my hands are weighing it. How much does it weigh? What’s the solidness of it? How far away is that basket? What’s the trajectory? If it’s a bank shot, I’m thinking about angles. If I’m moving, I’m thinking about timing. In that simple twelve-foot shot of paper into the basket, my body is projecting all kinds of conditions.
It’s much like sports. The same stuff takes place there. Now I have a confession: I used to have quite a palate for sports. I loved watching football, baseball, tennis, and golf. I don’t have quite the same palate anymore because of the imposed ideology that so often comes into the shows—the ideology promoted that uses sport as a platform against the created order of God.
One of the best things about sports is that it should promote the glory of God in the human body. The human body has been designed and created by God, and sports is a way we are able to see that. In basketball, someone is dribbling, doing amazing things; inside that body all kinds of calculations are happening. They weigh the ball, judge the trajectory over defenders, the thrust and energy needed, and if it’s a bank shot, the angles. In baseball, the pitcher propels a ball sometimes over a hundred miles an hour, and the batter tries to hit a ball moving at ninety or a hundred. In football, a quarterback rolls out—he’s not stationary like a batter or set like a shooter—and throws to a target that isn’t there yet. He’s calculating thrust, distance, angle, trajectory, and timing all at once.
We need to be able to look at that and say, “God made that body, and that body can do that”—whether swimming, running, or hitting a golf ball. That’s one of the beauties of it. I wish sports would propel that focus on God rather than individuals being sponges for any kind of glory.
I think of Eric Liddell and his willingness to honor God by not racing on Sunday, choosing to honor the Sabbath. With all the tension of the Olympics, it hasn’t drawn me much, but at times there is something special when people intentionally give God the glory. There was a young lady this week—Sydney McLaughlin. She set a new world record and received the gold medal. I looked it up on YouTube. She came out of the blocks in the 400-meter hurdles and accelerated, accelerated, accelerated. The others looked like they were dragging steel balls or concrete. Her legs looked like pistons, like engines pumping. By the finish line the camera showed her crossing with no other competitor in the picture.
Her words reflected her faith: “Records come and go; the glory of God is eternal. I no longer run for self-recognition, but to reflect His perfect will that is already set in stone. I don’t deserve anything, but by grace through faith, Jesus has given me everything.”
In a world of glory-prone athletes, I love that in her heart. God gave her the kind of body she could discipline and buffet to compete. That picture echoes what Paul said about running the race to win, racing for the crown. First Corinthians 9: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
It’s very easy to apply this to our sermon series and to today. What does it mean to worship? Can we worship during a sporting event? The idea of worship is a broad-spectrum word. It encompasses praise, thanks, and appeal to God. It encompasses obedience, singing accolades, exalting God, proclaiming God, pursuing God, elevating God. In short, it’s coming to God with a soul that is in line with the will of God—a soul drawn to His majesty.
Those components of worship are held in great part in our psalm today, Psalm 40. I invite you to open to Psalm 40.
Verse 1
“I hoped earnestly for Yahweh, and He inclined to me and heard my cry for help.”
David is writing another greatest hit in Psalm 40. He says, “I hoped earnestly for Yahweh, and He inclined to me and heard my cry for help.” This is certainly not a deist kind of prayer. This is not a prayer that says we don’t believe God cares about His creation. David knows he is praying to a God who will incline and hear the cry for help.
Many people believe God created the earth and His people and is now done with it, letting whatever happen. Pagans wait for something to happen, for coincidence, for chance. David knows there is a God who will hear him. “I hoped earnestly for Yahweh”—may I say that this is true worship. There is an eager expectation. “Hoped earnestly” is one word in the Hebrew; it is the idea of waited, looked for, but more than that—eagerly waiting or hoping earnestly. There is an optimistic, eager expectation for someone outside human agency to engage. David knows there is a God who is listening. There is a cry for help from David for deliverance, for engagement from this God. He is directing his plea toward the one and only true God who can hear him and will incline to him.
“And He inclined to me and heard my cry for help.” That word “incline” is just as we would expect: a leaning into, a bending toward. It is this God who is able to deliver. Quite broadly, David is appealing to the well of grace that only God can provide.
Verse 2
“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a high rock. He established my steps. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.”
We understand why David is entreating Yahweh. It seems he has been plunged into desperation of some sort, with minimal footing. He was unable to find a grip on silty, miry clay that was wet and would not allow his feet to gain purchase. Notably, he is reflecting upon multiple previous situations where he had called for help and was delivered. It was a work of mercy to give him footing, traction, life—physical and spiritual.
“He established my steps. He set my feet upon a high rock.” That word “established” is the picture of setting in order, placing in order, or arranging his steps. It reminds me of Proverbs 16:9: “The heart of man plans his way, but Yahweh directs his steps.” This is the person to whom David is praying.
Verse 3
“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.”
God, out of His grace, places a new song in his mouth—a song of praise to our God. I would suggest that God has placed this spirit of celebration in the heart of David that comes out of the mouth. To worship God, to praise God, to exalt God is an act of grace given by God Himself. It is divinely apportioned. God places within us the ability to respond appropriately. It’s a celebration. David has a vocalized, out-loud appreciation for that work of grace.
The end of verse 3: “Many will see and fear and will trust in Yahweh.” David asserts that his witness is seen. He gives witness to the works of Yahweh. People, as they see that, will see and fear. They will revere God and see His goodness. By the way, that extends to us as Christians. We are called to be vocal, to be a witness. As people look upon us and see that level of trust, are people hearing the new song in our mouths? Are people hearing a song of praise to our God? In the midst of it all, will they hear our praise?
He concludes: “Many will see and fear and will trust in Yahweh.” There’s a witness that leads to some element of conviction or awareness, and they will trust in Yahweh. They will place their confidence in Yahweh. This is the fruit of our witness—that people see and hear and respond accordingly.
Verse 4
David focuses on the object of that faith, that trust, the person of that trust. “How blessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust.”
How blessed is the person who has made Yahweh his confidence, his faith. That seems like coffee-mug perfection, bumper-sticker perfection. But we don’t want that limited to a coffee cup or our cars. We want that truth emblazoned upon our hearts.
“Blessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust, and does not turn to the proud, nor to those who stray into falsehood.” Pride and turning aside are linked. Those who out of pride turn away to an unconscionable doctrine or lifestyle. Blessed are those who have their trust in Yahweh, who have not turned to the proud nor to those who stray into falsehood. We are surrounded by influencers, by bad preachers, by so-called Christians writing all kinds of Christian pulp fiction. More and more they offer less and less.
Verse 5
“Many, O Yahweh my God, are the wondrous deeds You have done and Your thoughts toward us. There is none to compare with You. I would declare and speak of them, but they are too numerous to recount.”
He goes back to the deeds of Yahweh, because God is always doing deeds for His people—for our benefit and for His glory. “And Your thoughts toward us.” This is not a deist religion; this is a relationship. Last week we talked about David looking upon the creation of God and asking, “What is man that You would consider him?” Another question is, “Who is this God who so loved the world that He would send His only Son?”
“And Your thoughts toward us.” I like one of the older translations that says, “and Your thoughts are usward.” God is considering us. There is no one that compares to Him. David said, “I would declare and speak of them”—the good deeds—“but they are too numerous to recount.” My entire conversation could be consumed by the deeds of the Lord in my life. They are so abundant. Make a mental note of that: “too numerous,” as we move on.
Verse 6
Verse 6 is his response—and should be our response to God’s grace. “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired. My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.”
If we get it, if we understand God’s work in our lives, the right response is worship—genuine worship. David is saying that the sacrificial and meal offering and burnt offering and sin offering are not desired, not required. That is not to say the sacrificial system is not commanded, but that system does not work apart from remorse, repentance, and subsequent obedience. The Israelites were commanded to make offerings, but the intent was not that they go into the courtyard, send the priest in to offer sacrifices, then leave the temple and continue in sin. The sacrifices in and of themselves are only part of the equation. Altogether absent the engagement of the heart, they were meaningless without the inside correction, without heart transformation. The Israelites had turned this process into an act of virtue signaling—going to the temple to make a sacrifice—but their hearts were not in it. The sacrifices were to direct their hearts to the cost of sin.
Quoting Isaiah in Matthew, Jesus says, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. In vain they do worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.” They got a lot of the commands right, but they did not apply them to their own life. They talked a good game, but when they came, they were not engaged in genuine worship.
In Hebrews, speaking of Christ: “Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come—in the scroll of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.’” Jesus is quoting this passage in Psalm 40.
Verses 7–8
“Then I said, ‘Behold, I come. In the scroll of the book it is written of Me. I desire to do Your will, O God. Your law is within my inner being.’”
Going back to verse 6: “My ears You have opened.” We get the imagery of the ears being bored out—maybe they weren’t hearing so well. David says, “My ears You have tunneled.” One translation says, “My ears Thou hast digged.” You have drilled a hole into my ears. There’s another understanding that suggests this is the idea of a master boring a hole through the ear to identify servitude or slavery. David had not been willing to listen. Now we get the picture that he is ready to yield obedience.
After his ears are open, he says, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I come. In the scroll of the book it is written of Me.’” In the scroll, in the volume, in the book of the law, of the divine decree, in the book of life—the covenant of redemption was recorded. Matthew Henry says there was peace to be provided ultimately between the Father and the Son, and peace between David and the Father by the work of the Son.
David assumes the responsibility of the law being written that includes him, and in actuality it applies to all those whose names are in the book of life. But David is taking this at this point that it is written to him singularly. He takes responsibility. And he responds again in worship. He accepts the instruction. God is more interested in the attitude of the heart rather than the sacrifices.
David’s act of worship is a confession. Verse 8: “I desire to do Your will, O my God. Your law is within my inner being.” The heart is engaged. To approach God in true worship, as David is yielded and desiring God’s will. “I desire to do Your will, O my God.” This is greater than the obedience of sacrifice. He desires, he delights to do the will of God. This is what touches the heart of God. It’s not just the law upon the lips, but written upon the heart. David would write in Psalm 119, “Your word have I written upon my heart, that I might not sin against You.” And he says here, “Your law is within my inner being.” The law is upon the heart as David is being conformed into an understanding of God’s will and God’s law.
David is giving us a sample, a model of worship: we come in and we desire to do God’s will. We desire to know God’s law, statutes, precepts, testimonies, commands—to know His will.
Verses 9–10
“I proclaim good news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I do not restrain my lips. O Yahweh, You know I do not conceal Your righteousness within my heart. I speak of Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I do not hide Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.”
I hope you can read these words and see jumping off the page the idea of good news, of good tidings—a foreshadow referencing the gospel. He gives praise to God and is gushing in the righteousness of God that God has provided, and his desire is to share that—the good news, the evangel—with the community, the great assembly. “I will not restrain my lips.” I will not restrain my evangelism. I will not restrain the good news from my lips toward the brethren, because the gospel is always good news to the Church of Christ, always encouragement to the Church of Christ. There is always a time to be reminded of who we were, what God has done and made available to those He has chosen, and how we receive that by faith. It is always a good time to be reminded of the gospel.
David says he is not going to conceal that righteousness within his heart. It’s a personal appreciation of righteousness, but he is not going to be silent. He is going to speak of that faithfulness of Yahweh and the salvation of Yahweh. “I do not hide Your lovingkindness, Your mercy and Your truth from the assembly.” This is an act of worship. It is a witness, notably as we gather corporately. We’re going to share those stories of how God has worked in our lives, what God is doing in our lives, as the gospel is still being appreciated and realized in our lives.
Verse 11
“You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me. Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.”
I hope that now, several weeks into this Psalms of Worship series, you see a common theme: the understanding of God’s mercy and compassion. They go together. They are built into God’s inclining Himself to our cries. And there is that truth. I see these as some of those agencies along in Psalm 23:6: “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life.” Certainly God’s goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. Not just follow, but pursue. God’s agencies are pursuing us—the Holy Spirit, members of the church, God’s truth is pursuing us, at our heels to move us in the correct direction. The agents of grace are propelling us to stay close on the heels of a good shepherd.
We get the feeling here that David is moving in a direction of supplication, of appeal to Yahweh. “You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me. Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.”
Verse 12
“For evils beyond number have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me so that I am not able to see. They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me.”
Keep in mind the wondrous deeds from verse 5, “too numerous to recount.” David is appealing once again. In contrast to the too-numerous wondrous deeds of Yahweh, he recounts that the evils are beyond number, and the iniquities are more than the hairs of my head. He is being assaulted. They are in great number, but they do not exceed the wondrous deeds of Yahweh. David even says, “My iniquities have overtaken me.” Isn’t it interesting he takes responsibility? That part of the problems and the miry clay are his responsibility.
Verses 13–15
“Be pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me. Make haste, O Yahweh, to help me.”
It is a supplication to the pure kindness and mercy from God.
“Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who seek my life to sweep it away. Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in evil against me. Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, ‘Aha, Aha.’”
Let those be ashamed, humiliated, turned back, dishonored, and appalled. Sounds a little bit like an imprecatory psalm. David is asking that the wondrous deeds of God be seen, and that those who hate God and His word and His will and His way and His law be brought down. That their ways would be thwarted, that their plans would come to ruin and confusion. Let those be appalled, desolated, convicted, remorseful, embarrassed.
There are those who are moving progressively away from the truth, and they get to a point where they say, “Aha, aha,” as though they’ve figured it out—that we don’t need to rely on an almighty God anymore. They promote science and scholasticism and intellect and intelligence as the ultimate reality and truth. But even with the craziness of the thoughts of gender and sexuality, we see that inevitably their own ideology is a house of cards that falls down upon itself.
I think David is simply saying, to those who say, “Aha, aha, I’ve got it, I know better,” let them be confounded together and be driven backward. I can’t help but think of Jonathan and his armor-bearer going after the Philistines; the Philistines get confused and take up arms upon each other. They can’t quite figure it out, and there is confusion in their minds. Let the weight of their insanity collapse.
Verse 16
“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. Let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Yahweh be magnified.’”
If you’re into marking your Bible, make a note of verse 4: “How blessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust.” Make a note of verse 8: “I desire to do Your will, O my God. Your law is within my inner being.” How about if we think that and speak that as we approach the house of the Lord? To communicate to God, “My heart is open as I approach You, Lord. My desire is to do Your will, and Your law is deep within me, within my inner being.”
And then verse 16, make a note: “Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. Let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Yahweh be magnified.’”
What is the fruit of worship? The fruit of worship is that Yahweh be magnified. The joy of David’s salvation, of deliverance, prompts the true worship of the heart, which is the exclamation, “Yahweh be magnified.” Let all the people of God in the church hold to this posture: to rejoice and be glad and exalt Yahweh.
David’s Closing (Verse 17) and Our Response
David finishes in a typical Davidic fashion: “As for me, I am afflicted and needy.” I don’t think I have to press it too hard to say that David is speaking for the human race. As for me, I am afflicted and needy. As always, David is doing a self-assessment and acknowledging he finds himself in need. He is afflicted, he is in need, and he hopes earnestly for Yahweh. And he knows that Yahweh will incline to him and hear his cry for help.
“As for me, I am afflicted and needy. May the Lord think of me. May the Lord consider me. May the Lord count me.” He has just exalted Yahweh— “Yahweh be magnified”—and now he desires God to glorify Himself even in the answer of David’s supplication. David does not want to be exalted. He does not want to receive the glory. “May the Lord think of me.”
David says, “You are my help and the One who rescues me.” David is appealing that God would receive the glory by rescuing him once again. We are to be announcing that Yahweh would be magnified, but that’s not to be an insincere chant; that’s to be inscribed upon our heart and our heart’s desire.
David knows that the rescue needs to come from the outside, and David has the boldness to say, “Do not delay, O my God.” There’s a boldness for God to rescue, to incline, to hear, and to respond.
What another great psalm of worship to inform us of our posture—because we are needful, and because the object of our hope is Yahweh, and because the Person who rescues is Yahweh, and the object of our faith is Jesus Christ.
All those sacrifices in the Old Testament gave a temporary form of atonement. They were a reminder, a foreshadow of what God would do about our deficient status as we stood before Him. The great sacrifice was made for us by Christ. Again reading from Hebrews: “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book it is written of Me to do Your will, O God.’”
In the book of Hebrews, Jesus has appropriated Psalm 40:7–8 to Himself—that He would do the will of God. Jesus is obedient to the Father. He honors God. He has come to be faithful, to be poured out upon the cross, that He might be the perfect sacrifice and the only sacrifice who could perpetually and eternally offer us that eternal redemption.
Why would we say, “Yahweh be magnified”? Because He has invited us into the Holy of Holies, through the veil, by the blood of Christ. Yahweh be magnified.
Our appropriate response to this magnitude of grace is worship. How do we respond to the grace of Yahweh? “How blessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust. I desire to do Your will, O God. Your law is within my inner being. Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. Let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Yahweh be magnified.’”
Is there anyone here that does not love His salvation? The One who rescues is and always will be Yahweh. Yahweh be magnified.
Let the people of the Lord say: Yahweh be magnified. Yahweh be magnified. Yahweh be magnified. Yahweh be magnified.
Closing Prayer
Father, we have our working orders, and it’s a privilege to receive them. We thank You, Lord, that You have conscripted us into Your service for Your glory, to echo that grace that You’ve poured out upon us. I need to do better, Lord. I need to be freer to speak—to the hostile communities, to be a witness with truth and grace. I need to do better because I desire to glorify You and respond appropriately to Your grace. And when I fail, You still love me.
I pray for all of us: that we would look for those opportunities to encourage one another, to speak truth to the community around us, to desire to do Your will, to study Your Word, to love Your Word, to write it upon our hearts, to have Your will in our innermost being, and to boldly proclaim, “Yahweh be magnified.” Let that be the privileged song that we sing all the way home on this journey. We exalt You and we thank You, and we do indeed give You the glory. In Jesus’ name, and God’s people said, Amen.