I Delight To Do Your Will, My God, Psalm 40

Dan Doyle

This psalm has always struck me as a recognizable expression of the conscience. It begins with thanksgiving for God’s intimate, unwavering care for us. It describes with intimate, poetic richness the joyful relief of being rescued by God from the very real consequences of our choices. It ends, then, with a prayer for God’s protection, recognizing our weakness and our need for God’s help as we continue our journey through life. It starts saying: “Surely, I wait for the Lord; who bends down to me and hears my cry / Draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the muddy clay, / Sets my feet upon rock and steadies my steps, / And puts a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God” (vs. 2-4).

These are lovely images. They express a profoundly intimate view of God’s faithful love for each one of us. The psalmist says that God “bends down to me” having heard my cry for help. Think of that for a moment. Each of us is just one person among seven or eight billion human beings on this planet; this planet, in comparison, is no bigger than a single molecule or an atom in the seemingly infinite expanse of the universe, but God, who created and is mindful of all of it, “bends down to me” when He hears my cry for help. What an image! The God of all Creation hears my cry, one in eight billion others, and responds. He is not only intimately conscious of me at all times, but His love for me is so deeply intimate that he willingly ‘bends down to me’ and lifts me out of the mud and muck of my errors, like a father would lift his beloved child who has fallen, and gently sets him back on his feet again.

The psalmist, filled with the joy of reconciliation, writes: “You, yes you, O Lord, my God, have done many wondrous deeds! And in your plans for us there is none to equal you. Should I wish to declare or tell them, they are too many to recount” (v. 6). He also recognizes that there is only one way to truly give thanks for all that God has done for him. He writes: “Holocausts and sin-offerings you do not request” (v. 7). Rather, true thanksgiving is to do God’s will. “I delight to do your will, my God; your law is in my inner being” (v. 9)! True thanksgiving is in revealing God’s righteousness both in word and in deed, that is, by living according to his law openly, not keeping it to myself. And then the psalmist continues his prayer, saying: Lord, may you not withhold your compassion from me; May your mercy and your faithfulness continually protect me” (v. 12).

You see, the psalmist, like we ourselves, while recognizing God’s faithful love for us, is also cognizant of his own human frailty and weakness as he writes: “But evils surround me until they cannot be counted. My sins overtake me, so that I can no longer see. They are more numerous than the hairs of my head; my courage fails me” (v. 13). There are always those around us in the world who, for one reason or another, will challenge our faith, who will try to undermine, or to ridicule, even to condemn our faithfulness to God. Indeed, so much in life will challenge our faithfulness to God’s law that we also recognize, to use a New Testament quote, “[We] need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised” (Heb. 10:36).

Finally, in true humility, the psalmist prays for God’s continued protection: “Though I am afflicted and poor, my Lord keeps me in mind. You are my help and deliverer: my God, do not delay” (v. 18). This psalm has always struck me as being eminently and personally recognizable. It is as if the psalmist knows my innermost awareness of my own weakness, my own poverty of courage and self-control at times. It is as if his cry for help is my very own cry. His expression of joy for being saved from his own sinful indiscretions by the incredible, infinite, unconditional love and mercy of God resonates within me like a deep, clear-sounding bell.

Let us all pray for the faith and wisdom to give thanks to God at all times and to live our thanksgiving by saying to him, “Not my will but yours be done.” For, in doing his will alone, real joy and true peace can be ever ours.