40:1 [For the music director. A Psalm of David.]
I waited ①patiently for the LORD;
And He reached down to me and heard my cry.
▷ ①Or intently
40:2 He brought me up out of the pit of ①destruction, out of the mud;
And He set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm.
▷ ①Lit wasteland; i.e., the underworld
40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.
40:4 How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the ①proud, nor to those who become involved in falsehood.
▷ ①Or enemies
40:5 Many, LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.
40:6 You have not desired ①sacrifice and meal offering;
You have ②opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
▷ ①I.e., blood sacrifice ②Lit dug; or possibly pierced
40:7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is ①written of me in the scroll of the book.
▷ ①Or prescribed for
40:8 I delight to do Your will, my God;
Your Law is within my ①heart.”
▷ ①Lit inner being
40:9 I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
LORD, You know.
40:10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
40:11 You, LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
①Your mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
▷ ①Or May...preserve
40:12 For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has ①failed me.
▷ ①Lit forsaken
40:13 Be pleased, LORD, to rescue me;
Hurry, LORD, to help me.
40:14 May those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my ①life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight ②in my hurt.
▷ ①Or soul ②Or to injure me
40:15 May those be ①appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
▷ ①Or desolated
40:16 May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually say,
“The LORD be exalted!”
40:17 But I am afflicted and needy;
May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.