Psalms 40:9

9. I have preached The word preach is too modern and technical. The idea is, to announce, publish, make manifest. This was Christ’s distinctive office. See note on Psalms 22:22; Psalms 22:25; and compare Matthew 4:23.

Righteousness This was the subject announced called Psalms 40:10, “thy righteousness,” “thy faithfulness,” “thy salvation,” “thy lovingkindness and thy truth.” These are evangelical themes involving the justice and faithfulness of God in the methods of atonement and pardon. Romans 3:21-22; Isaiah 61:1.

Great congregation “Congregation” is the title of the collective body of the Hebrew nation as a religious community, an ecclesiastical rather than a civil designation. The Septuagint here is, εκκλησια , the New Testament word for church. In the closing line of this verse the Greek has it, great synagogue, another Jewish designation of a religious assembly. “Great congregation,” probably only stands opposed to local or partial gatherings, or to masses as opposed to representative elders or princes. The repeated asseverations, “I have preached,” “I have not refrained,” “I have not bid,” “I have declared,” “I have not concealed,” evince the earnest faithfulness of the psalmist in making known God’s mercy.