Psalms 40:6

THE GREAT PROPHECY OF MESSIAH

"Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in;

Mine ears hast thou opened:

Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.

Then said I, Lo, I am come;

In the roll of the book it is written of me:

I delight to do thy will, O my God;

Yea, thy law is within my heart."

"Sacrifice ... offering ... burnt-offering ... sin-offering" (Psalms 40:6). As Yates noted, "These are the four basic sacrifices"[13] of the Law of Moses. Their giving God `no delight' (Psalms 40:6), and being `not required' (Psalms 40:6) make it absolutely certain that we have here a reference to the New Covenant; because under the Old Covenant, the sacrifices mentioned here were absolutely required.

Many of the commentators have softened what is said here by saying that, "Even in the Old Testament more was required than all forms of worship";[14] "This means that, apart from a spirit of obedience,"[15] such sacrifices are not required. No! This is not what our text says, nor is such a thing what is meant. What is said here is that no kind of animal sacrifices whatever will characterize the worship of Messiah.

"Mine ears hast thou opened" (Psalms 40:6). In the New Testament, this clause is rendered, "But a body didst thou prepare for me." Of course this is the well known problem posed by the difference in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and the LXX, the latter being evidently followed in the New Testament quotation. As Jamieson pointed out, "Paul laid no stress on that clause, and his argument is complete without it."[16] Griffith, however, stated quite firmly that, "On the principle that the Greek reading is the harder, it may be regarded as the original."[17]

Leupold thought that, "The author of Hebrews apparently felt that the basic import of the passage had not been changed (the whole body for a part); and he was thus content to quote the passage as he found it."[18]

The whole point in the Hebrews quotation of this passage was stated thus by Ash: "Christ has abolished the offerings of the Old Law, to establish the offering of the body of Christ,"[19] as a completely adequate atonement for the sins of the whole world.

"Then said I, Lo, I am come ..." (Psalms 40:7). Lenski commented on this as follows:

"These lines are a part of all that David the type says of the antitype, the Messiah. These lines are the voice of Messiah himself speaking to God ... before the First Advent."[20]

The fact of these words being introduced in Hebrews with the qualifying clause, "When he cometh into the world," ties them closely to Christ. David did not say anything `before' he came into the world. It is also important to note, as Westcott said, that, "These words assume the pre-existence of Christ."[21]

"In the roll of the book it is written of me" (Psalms 40:7). Without any doubt whatever, "We obviously here have a reference to the Law of Moses (The Pentateuch), which was in existence at that time, as numerous passages indicate."[22] It is also significant that the Pentateuch has not a single word in it about David, but it contains many magnificent prophecies of Jesus Christ, such as Genesis 3:15; 49:10 and Deuteronomy 18:15-19, etc. The fact that certain qualities of kingship are mentioned in the Pentateuch cannot be construed as having been "written about David." This verse limits the application to Christ alone.

"Lo, I come to do thy will" (Psalms 40:7). As the writer of Hebrews pointed out, the inferences here are tremendous. (1) This means that God's will had not been done previously. (2) It means that the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant were not effective in removing sin. (3) It means that God would take away the old Law, or the Old Covenant, and (4) that God would establish a New Covenant (Hebrews 10:9).

"Thy law is in my heart" (Psalms 40:8). This is a unique quality, or ear mark, of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:33), and the wildest imagination cannot suppose that David manifested such a quality centuries before Christ came. This again binds the passage securely to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before leaving this passage, we should observe the importance of references here to the Torah, or Pentateuch. F. Delitzsch wrote, "All of the Psalms of the times of Saul abound in retrospective references to the Torah."[23] Of course, this is the unanswerable refutation of the critical claim of a late date for the Pentateuch.