Psalms 40:1-17 - Homilies By W. Forsyth

Grace and gratitude.

"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." So said the prophet ( Isaiah 51:1 ), and it is good for us betimes to follow this counsel. It will not only teach us humility, but bind us more firmly in love and gratitude to God. It is the depth that proves the height. It is the misery that measures the mercy. It is by the utterness of the ruin that we realize the completeness of the restoration. It is by contemplating the gloom and horrors of the abyss into which we had sunk through sin, that we can best comprehend the wonders of the redemption wrought for us through Jesus Christ. The psalmist dwells upon two things.

I. WHAT GOD HAD DONE FOR HIS SERVANT . "Pit;" "clay." These images mark:

1 . The greatness of the danger. The pit was "horrible," gloomy and terrible, the place of certain destruction if no help came ( Genesis 37:24-27 ). The clay is called "retry," to indicate that there was no solidity—nothing but a foul, seething mass, where no rest could be found ( Jeremiah 38:6 ).

2 . The greatness of the deliverance. It was free—in God's time ( Psalms 40:1 ); complete ( Psalms 40:2 ); joy-inspiring ( Psalms 40:3 ); morally influential ( Psalms 40:4 ); prophetical, typifying and giving promise of many other "wonderful works" of God ( Psalms 40:5 ; cf. Paul, 1 Timothy 1:16 ). It should also be noticed that the deliverance was wrought out

II. WHAT HIS SERVANT WOULD DO FOR GOD . "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?" is the question of the prophet; and he gives the answer, "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what cloth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" ( Micah 6:6-8 ). The same great truth had been taught long before by Samuel, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice" ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ).

1 . The sacrifice of the will. Without this all else is vain. There is death, not life; the letter, but not the spirit; the form of godliness, but not the power.

2 . The obedience of the life . Whatever way we interpret the obscure phrase, "Mine ears hast thou opened," the meaning seems to be the free and complete surrender of the soul to God. The right disposition leads to the life-devotion ( Romans 12:1 ; 2 Corinthians 5:14 , 2 Corinthians 5:15 ).

3 . The thanksgiving of the heart. Both privately and publicly, in our daffy life before God and before men, we are to serve in the spirit of love and joy. Amidst all the changes and chances of our mortal state, we should continue faithful to him who hath called us that we might show forth his praise. Thus we shall have part with these saints of God—

"Who carry music in their heart,

Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,

Plying their daily task with busier feet,

Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat?

W.F.