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Psalm 40: He put a new song in my mouth

Ryan Boyer
04/06/25 - Sun PM

Psalm 40 is both a song of praise for past salvation (vv. 1-10), and a plea for help (vv. 11-17), but neither of these is the main purpose of this psalm. (This is one reason why it may not be the best idea to hyper-focus on trying to label the category of each psalm.) The main purpose of this song is to inform the readers that God desires public praise, and it is demonstration of how to do it.

Psalm 40:1-5 is an overview of the entire message.

1. v. 1a - I waited patiently. The Hebrew here says, “Waiting I waited…”, which, in my opinion, goes harder than patient waiting. It’s more like saying, “I waited, and waited, and waited…”
2. God’s response came in three forms. First, God heard my cry (v. 1b). Second, he saved me (v. 2ab). Third, he secured me (v. 2cd). While the pit from which the author was saved could be death (Sheol), I think it’s better to just think about the pit as rotten or difficult circumstances. It would be worthwhile to compare the pit to Joseph being saved from the pit (Gen. 37:20, 22, 24, 28, 29; 40:15; 41:14), and Jeremiah’s similar experience (Jer. 37:16; 38:6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13; Lam. 3:53, 55).
3. The next thing that happened is the main point of this psalm, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” (v. 3ab). We will watch for this public song of praise as we move through the psalm. Goldingay says, “An act of deliverance is never complete until it has led to the worshipper offering the kind of testimony that we are reading.”
4. The result of public praise is that, “Many will see and fear, and put their trust int he Lord” (v. 3cd). Again, Goldingay says, “In turn yet again, one person’s praise song has not completed its task until it has drawn in other people.”
5. Verse 3d-5c is the desired result of public praise. These verses ARE the new song the God has put into his people’s mouths. Make sure to emphasize “the LORD” throughout this section as opposed to any other source of salvation. No thing and no person is able to fully hear, saved and secure the one who cries out to them as the Lord can.
6. And so, because of everything we’ve just talked about, “I will proclaim and tell of” the innumerable wonderous deeds of God (v. 5de).

Psalm 40:6-10 informs us that public praise is what God wants. He is not interested in heartless rote sacrifices found in Lev. 1-4. (Take some time to compare v. 6 with 1 Sam. 15:1, 14, 19-22). The author desires deeply to do what God wants (vv. 7-8). But what does God want! The answer in vv. 9-10 is the central message of this song:

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

If, while trying to make application from this psalm, you wonder what to publicly praise God for, then you might use these words as a starting place: God’s deliverance [or righteousness], his faithfulness, salvation, and/or his steadfast love.

The psalm takes a turn in vv. 11-17. The author is in the pit again. Dale Davis rightly notes, “To be lifted out of the muck doesn’t mean there won’t be more muck.” So, in vv. 11-15 the author asks for salvation again from troubles without (v. 12ab) and within (v. 12cd).

The last paragraph is enough to describe the situation, but there are a few connections in these verses that I don’t want to skip. Compare the word “restrain” in vv. 9 and 11. The author did not restrain his lips in praising God, so he asks God to not restrain his mercy from him. Verses 5 and 17 both describe unmeasurable things. In v. 5, God’s wonderous deeds have multiplied and they are more than can be told. In v. 12, evils without are beyond number and evils within are more than the hairs of my head. In his podcast, Carefully Examining the Text, Tommy Peeler says something along the lines of, “Our sins have met their match with God’s mercy and grace.” A third connection is a common Hebrew root. In v. 8, the author delighted to do God’s “will,” and in v. 13, he asks God to, “be pleased” to deliver me.

Verses 16-17 connect the plea for help in the second half of the psalm to the overall message of public praise. Verse 16 implore us to seek God, rejoice and be glad in him, love his salvation, and then, “say continually, ‘Great is the Lord!’” I used v. 17 as a title for this second section (vv. 11-17), “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.” That is, even while in the pit yet again the author will still point people to God with his words, and praise him as, “my help and my deliverer.”

There are three final notes I want to say before we wrap this psalm up. First, cross reference this in your Bible so you can remember it later - Ps. 40:13-17 are the same words as Ps. 70:1-5. Second, Ps. 40:6-8 is quoted in Heb. 10:5-7. It would be a good idea to read. Heb. 10:1-10 for context. The Hebrew writer uses this text to say that God’s ultimate desire was never for the OT sacrifices, but that they point us to the perfect sacrifice (i.e. body) of Jesus who willingly gave himself once for all for the sins of the world.

My last note is that I have been studying these psalms to try to improve my own prayers. Instead of improving my private prayer, though, this psalm points me to public praise. This psalm should direct us to proclaim and tell of God’s wonderous deeds, to tell the glad news of his deliverance, faithfulness, and steadfast love. To not restrain our lips or hide these things in our heart and conceal them. Maybe even while still in the pit, I want to say continually, “Great is the Lord!” In other words, let God’s goodness put a new song of continual praise in my mouth.

The heavenly court sings a similar new song in Rev. 5:9-10, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’”