{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov! Welcome back to Mishkan Katan. This morning, we are going to continue our study of the psalms by looking at Psalm 40. If you have your copy of the Scriptures, please grab it and turn there.
If you are not a musical person, this illustration will not be very meaningful; so, I’m warning you in advance. David was a very musical person. Therefore, he used musical analogies and word pictures to describe his emotions. He played the harp and he sang and even “danced before the Lord” on occasion.
For those of you watching (or reading later on my blog) who are musical, I ask you to think about those occasions where you have either had the opportunity to either sing or play a new song. Depending on the context, it was usually a very exciting and happy occasion for me. One of the reasons for my joy in beginning a new piece of music is that I am an excellent sight-reader. That is, I have no fear or trepidation about beginning to “unpack” a new piece of music, even if and always “when” I made inevitable mistakes doing so.
Musicians will often write or compose a new song to mark key moments in their lives. That is what is happening in Psalm 40. In Psalm 39, David plumbed the depths of his debilitating illness. But, in Psalm 40, the Lord his God has restored him to better health. He has recovered, not only physically, but also spiritually. His body AND his faith have been renewed and refreshed. And, as a result, he wrote a new song.
Even though the first 12 verses of this psalm are full of eloquence and ecstasy, the sages say David wrote this even while he was in danger and still in need of deliverance. This is seen in the last six verses of the psalm. David was a man who could extract rapturous joy while being in the depths of adversity, because he relied on his memories of those times Hashem had rescued and delivered him in the past. Those memories inspired and strengthened David.
Some sages see a parallel in this psalm to the nation of Israel, the combined nation, when it was not even yet a formal nation, but was yet still a people enslaved in Egypt. Hashem delivered them out of slavery and led them to the Sea of Reeds (aka the Red Sea), where after crossing over (Hebrew verb avar), they sang a new song too. It is called the Song of the Sea (Shirat HaYam), and is found in Exodus 15:1-18.
Is Psalm 40 quoted in the New Testament? Yes, it is. In Hebrews 10 we find a quote of verses 6-8 of this psalm. We’ll explore more in a few minutes.
Let’s read the first three verses: (CJB)
(1) I waited patiently for Adonai,
till he turned toward me and heard my cry.
(2) He brought me up from the roaring pit,
up from the muddy ooze,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my footing firm.
(3) He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will look on in awe
and put their trust in Adonai.
Another translation translated the first part of verse one like this: “I have hoped and hoped for Hashem”. In the Hebrew, there is an infinitive of emphasis form of this verb “kavah”, which means “wait for, look for, hope, expect”. An infinitive absolute is a form that is used to greatly emphasize the meaning of the verb. That is why in this verse in the other translation, it says, “hoped and hoped”. “Waited patiently” does not not fully convey it.
What I picture with this phrase is persistent, patient hope. It’s like my dog, Charlie, used to do. If he was in the kitchen while I was preparing dinner, he would sit and fix his eyes on me, particularly if I was working with meat. He would stare and stare, motionless, except for the stream of drool that would sometimes escape his mouth. He fervently hoped I would give him a morsel. And, he would remain Iike this until ALL hope was gone.
The psalmist seems to indicate here that his persistence hope in Hashem is what caused Hashem to bend his ear to David’s cry for deliverance. I’m reminded of the story told in the New Testament by Yeshua about the widow woman who brought her petition before a judge, and she just kept coming back to the judge over and over, with her plea until the judge gave her what she wanted because he was so worn out with her persistent pleading. This is recorded in Luke 18:1-8. In this parable of the persistent widow, the judge was not even a righteous judge! How much more will our Heavenly Father, Dayan HaEmet, the judge of all truth, incline His ear to His own beloved children, as they patiently hope in Him and wait for Him. This is a lesson to us all.
In verse 2, David reminds us that he was not teetering on the brink of doom. Rather, he was up to his elbows in it and sinking fast. In the previous psalm, #39, he used the word picture of drowning, the waters closing over his head. Here, he uses quicksand or deep bog to illustrate his terrible plight. Had not Hashem rescued him, he would have had no hope of escape from the filthy mire of sin and no hope of recovery.
Similarly, Hashem rescued the Hebrew nation out of a certain death from the waters of the Sea of Reeds.
What “rock” is being referred to at the end of verse 2? Hashem did not merely pull David from the mire. He then set his feet upon a rock and established his footing firmly. This “rock” is the rock of Hashem’s salvation.
From the commentator Matthew Henry:
“Doubts and fears about the eternal state, are a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a dear child of God. There is power enough in God to help the weakest, and grace enough to help the unworthiest of all that trust in him. The psalmist waited patiently; he continued believing, hoping, and praying. This is applicable to Christ. His agony, in the garden and on the cross, was a horrible pit and miry clay. But those that wait patiently for God do not wait in vain. Those that have been under religious melancholy, and by the grace of God have been relieved, may apply ver. 2 very feelingly to themselves; they are brought up out of a horrible pit. Christ is the Rock on which a poor soul can alone stand fast.”
The “rock” image, as being a place of stability and security is also echoed in other psalms we have already studied, psalms 18:2 and 27:5.
Interestingly, one more “note” about verse 3 - - - the sages say that when Hashem delivers via common, ordinary means, an existing song of praise is adequate, but when He performs a great miracle of deliverance, an entirely new song is called for. Of course, to Hashem, the ordinary and the miraculous are the same. He controls both with equal authority and ease.
The Midrash points out that most of the time the word “song” appears in Scriptures, it is in the feminine gender (shirah), connoting the truth that each victory is inevitably followed by fresh sorrows and pain, as in childbirth. However, the song of victory of the future Messianic kingdom is referred to as “shir”, the masculine form, because at that time our salvation will be complete. We will be in our glorified forms and will dwell with Him forever, at which time “sorrows and sighing” will flee away, to quote Isaiah 51:11 - -
“And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Let’s read the next few verses, 4 through 10.
(4) How blessed the man who trusts in Adonai and does not look to the arrogant or to those who rely on things that are false.
The Hebrew translated here as “man” is the word “GEHver”, which is more akin to the Hebrew word “Ghee-BOR”, which means mighty warrior. Even though a man’s exploits and history are mighty, he must not become like the arrogant person or look to such a one for inspiration or protection. He must seek and rely upon truth, being able to discern it from falsehood, and then humbly trusting in Hashem and in His truth.
(5) How much you have done, Adonai my God! Your wonders and your thoughts toward us — none can compare with you! I would proclaim them, I would speak about them; but there’s too much to tell!
How incomparable is Adonai, (the name which means “my masters”)! One of the sages, Alshich, has this to say about this verse:
“You Hashem, are not like human rulers and leaders whose performance varies with the size of their audience. Such leaders seek popularity and public good-will, and therefore will do much for the multitudes, but little for the few. You Hashem are different. You have done many things for me alone, for You are truly my God, concerned with my welfare, though I am but an individual.”
As Psalm 86:8 says, “There is one like You among the gods, my Lord, and there is nothing to match your deeds.”
Here now, we arrive at the three verses quoted in the NT book of Hebrews. As I read them, see if you can see the Messianic overtones of these verses:
(6) Sacrifices and grain offerings you don’t want; burnt offerings and sin offerings you don’t demand. Instead, you have given me open ears;
(7) so then I said, “Here I am! I’m coming! In the scroll of a book it is written about me.
(8) Doing your will, my God, is my joy; your Torah is in my inmost being.
Messianic prophecies aside, verse 6 sheds tremendous and somewhat surprising light (to some) about the system of offerings made at the Temple. These offerings were not “demanded”. In fact, if an offering was offered only because it was prescribed or demanded, then there was no point in offering it at all. As I recently taught in the Korbanot series last month, the offerings were all about the heart attitude of desiring to draw near to God, and were merely a vehicle to make such drawing near more tangible and real to the worshipper. Instead, David says here, those who belong to the one, true God have been given by Him ears to hear. In the Hebrew the literal translation is “ears have You dug for me.” Do you remember the story concerning when Yeshua put his fingers into the ear canals of the deaf man to heal his deafness, as recorded in Mark 7:32-35? The story is often cited as fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 35, which predicts the deaf hearing and the mute speaking. Perhaps this healing miracle touched on both. But, more importantly, this is why the Messiah, Yeshua, often said, “To him who has ears, let him hear…” Unless the Ruach HaKodesh gives opening and understanding, the truths of God go unheard.
King Saul, David’s predecessor, did not have such attentive ears. He did not listen well to the voice of Hashem. Accordingly, he disobeyed and brought about his own downfall. The prophet Samuel nailed it when he responded to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22.
“Does Hashem desire offerings and sacrifices as much as He desires the heartening to the voice of Hashem? Behold to heed is better than to sacrifice, to listen attentively surpasses offering of the fat of rams.”
Jeremiah 7:22-23 echoes verses 6-8 of Psalm 40, when it says this:
“For I spoke not to Your fathers, not commanded them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this I commanded them, saying, ‘Heed My voice and I will be Your God and You will be My people.”
Now, to Hebrews 10:5-18, from the CJB. The actual quotes of Psalm 40:6-8, is in these opening verses. It should sound familiar. Then, the best “commentary” on verses 5-7 are the verses following, in which the writer of the book of Hebrews explains and expounds upon verses 5-7. Hear the word of the Lord.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),
9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Verse 16-17 above quotes Jeremiah 31:33 and 34. Let’s look at those verses. They are so beautiful - - - “from the smallest to the greatest”. I’m starting in verse 31, actually.
From the CJB - -
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
You see, Jeremiah wrote this AFTER the divided nation of Israel had been dispersed. The northern kingdom had been scattered all over the kingdom of Assyria 150 or so years earlier, and then, just recently, the southern kingdom of Judah had been hauled off in captivity to Babylon. Things looked so hopeless….
Yet, God. Jeremiah was allowed to see the new covenant that would appear, some 550 years after his time. And, the writer of Hebrews got to live it, in his real time. He got to see the fulfillment of it. And, bless God, WE get the privilege of living it too.
David said at the end of verse 8 - - “Your Torah is in my innards”, or as the Yiddish might say, “in my kishkes”, in my guts, in my most inward parts. David “got it”, didn’t he? No wonder Hashem loved him so! Accordingly, because the Torah, God’s righteous instruction for living, was in his “kishkas”, David went on to say in verses 9 and 10.
(9) I have proclaimed what is right in the great assembly; I did not restrain my lips, Adonai, as you know.
(10) I did not hide your righteousness in my heart but declared your faithfulness and salvation; I did not conceal your grace and truth from the great assembly.”
The great prophets, prophetesses and heroes of faith down through history have this testimony that David declared in verses 9 and 10. What an incredible privilege to teach the Word of God! What does this mean, “the great assembly”? The Talmud says that it means the multitude of students who studied the sagely words of David. The Talmud goes on to say that while his Torah teacher, Iyra Hayairi was alive, David did not teach Torah or issue a halachic decision, as this would have been a show of disrespect for his teacher. But, after his teacher died, David began to share the fountains of wisdom he had acquired.
Allright, I’m going to surprise you now and move on to Psalm 41.
As I mentioned last week, this is the last psalm in the series of four that David wrote to thank Hashem for healing him of serious physical illnesses. This last psalm in the grouping praises Hashem for physicians, those who wisely care for the sick, of which Hashem Himself is The Great Physician, the Ultimate Healer, not only of body, but also of soul and spirit. It is a long-held Jewish belief that physical sickness results from spiritual sickness, that sickness is inflicted upon a person to show him that God is displeased with his spiritual failures. Quoting Rabbi Yonah here: “Just as the body is susceptible to sickness, so is the soul. The illness afflicting the soul stems from its evil traits and its sins. God heals the soul through the ailments of the body.” Now, as evidence of this belief being pervasive in ancient Jewish culture, witness the words of the people to Yeshua in John 9:1-3. Here they are, from CJB:
1 As Yeshua passed along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His talmidim asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned — this man or his parents — to cause him to be born blind?”
3 Yeshua answered, “His blindness is due neither to his sin nor to that of his parents; it happened so that God’s power might be seen at work in him.
So, the Mashiach busted a myth here didn’t He?
There is no doubt that people DO become physically ill at times due to spiritual sickness, but the key point here is that - - - it’s not always the case.
This psalm is also the last one in David’s First Book of Psalms, his first compilation of praises to Hashem. The psalm is closely related to Psalm 30, since both those psalms discuss David’s return to health.
The sages say that David’s extended illness was a key factor in preventing him from getting to build the First Temple, a great ambition of his life. Hashem gave David the Tavnit, the pattern, the plans for building the Temple. But, his son, Solomon, was the chosen vessel to oversee the construction of it.
We have discussed how in verse 1 the Hebrew word “Dahl” can be translated “sick”, as in caring for the sick. But, another equally valid meaning for that word is “poor” or “disadvantaged”. It is also a bedrock principle of Judaism (as well as Christianity, I might add) that those who have wealth share it with those who do not. Quoting the Midrash Shemos Rabbah 31 here: “Fortunate is the man who withstands his personal test, for there is no creature whom God does not test. God tests the rich man to see if his hands will open generously to the poor. He tests the poor man to see if he will bear his afflictions patiently without complaining against God’s ways.”
So, in a broader sense, this psalm commends the person who is generous in his or her caring for those less-fortunate. That can mean contributing money, giving of resources, giving of time, making a meal for a shut-in, paying an electric bill, letting a poor person in dire straits store some items in your home temporarily or stay in your home temporarily, giving household items to a family whose home just burned down, etc. Let’s read about some of the benefits that this type of gracious, holy living brings to the generous tzaddik. Verses 1-3, CJB:
(1) How blessed are those who care for the poor!
When calamity comes, Adonai will save them.
(2) Adonai will preserve them, keep them alive,
and make them happy in the land.
You will not hand them over
to the whims of their enemies.
(3) Adonai sustains them on their sickbed;
when they lie ill, you make them recover.
David was likely a very generous man and ruler. It seems he is not only speaking of himself in these verses, but also of all generous givers who have the means to give. And, let’s face it, all of us can give something to help a fellow man in need. If the Body of Messiah did this routinely and graciously, we could wipe out poverty in a matter of a few short years.
Instead, that is not what we often see, and I taught on this last week. We build more “barns” (think storage units) to houses our “things”. Even if we have space to house someone less fortunate, we don’t open our homes. Don’t get me wrong. Some do! But, it’s not the norm, even among the Body, even among those whose spiritual heritage is Acts 2:44, where the people of The Way “held all things in common”. Mi Casa Su Casa - - my house is your house.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua taught about how to be “blessed”, to be happy, and you know? Right around lunch or dinner time, “magically” there was enough food brought out of coats and pockets and travel bags, to feed 5000 men, women and children, with 12 baskets of leftovers! Did Yeshua multiply the food from His own hands, enough to feed several thousand people? Possibly. I’m not saying that did not happen. But, it is also equally possible that the true miracle was that the people all shared what they had brought, the little boy with the loaves and fishes being the prototype. Almost everyone had brought some food, and they all shared it together. Holy cow! If you’ll pardon the pun. Can you imagine this happening on a worldwide scale?
Again, I challenge you to give, out of your abundance, or even like the story of the widow’s mite, out of your scarcity! She threw two “mites” into the Temple’s offering receptacles, giving all she had, according to Yeshua. Everyone can give something.
The sages comment that in the first three verses, the speaker is the well-meaning, benevolent visitor who comes to the aid of the sick/poor. In verse 4, the speaker becomes the sick or poor person himself or herself.
Verse 5 also has Messianic overtones, predicting the reaction of the religious rulers of Yeshua’s day. They definitely wished Yeshua would “disappear”, and basically worked with the Roman government to make that happen. Listen to the thoroughly Jewish commentary on verse 5. I found it very interesting. This is from Alshich, one of the sages.
“…when God makes the righteous suffer as an atonement for the sins of their generation, their ordeal is not only a shield for their contemporaries whose sins were responsible for these afflictions. It is also a benefit to the righteous, for they become instrumental in atoning for so many others. However, this is true only when the sinners admit their guilt and recognize the great kindness the tzaddik does by suffering for them. David laments that his personal suffering will not accomplish this because his wicked contemporaries attribute the evil to his sins, rather than to theirs. Therefore they do not appreciate his sacrifice on their behalf. Furthermore, they would prefer to see him dead.”
Isn’t this basically what was done to Yeshua? He, of course, knew no sin, but allowed Himself to be “made sin” for us, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21. And, did not his wicked contemporaries in the religious hierarchy attribute the evil of their sins to him? Amazing.
Unfortunately, verse 6 reveals that not only the benevolent friends came to minister to David in his illness, but so did his enemies. The latter did so, not to help David, but instead to gloat over his “misfortunes.” In the case of Yeshua, frequently the religious leaders came to “test” Him, to try to trip Him up, and thereby spread malicious, false information about Him. He passed all their tests, and usually blew their minds with the depth of His spiritual understanding. Still, they went out and continued to plot His downfall.
There is another Messianic reference in verse 9 here. We see in John 13:18 that this verse predicts the false disciple, Judas’s, betrayal of Yeshua. Here is John 13:18, in the CJB:
18 “I’m not talking to all of you — I know which ones I have chosen. But the words of the Tanakh must be fulfilled that say, ‘The one eating my bread has turned against me.’
So, here we see Yeshua Himself stating that Judas’ actions fulfill this Messianic prophecy. In a similar way, the last few verses, 10-13 can be applied to Messiah Yeshua’s life also. So, you see, Psalm 41 is quoted in the New Testament. (You thought I had forgotten to check on that, didn’t you?)
Well, our hour together is coming to an end. The time always flies by for me!
Let’s close today by reading Psalm 41 through now.
(1) How blessed are those who care for the poor! When calamity comes, Adonai will save them.
(2) Adonai will preserve them, keep them alive, and make them happy in the land. You will not hand them over to the whims of their enemies.
(3) Adonai sustains them on their sickbed; when they lie ill, you make them recover.
(4) I said, “Adonai, have pity on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
(5) My enemies say the worst about me: “When will he die and his name disappear?”
(6) When they come to see me they speak insincerely, their hearts meanwhile gathering falsehoods; then they go out and spread bad reports.
(7) All who hate me whisper together against me, imagining the worst about me.
(8) “A fatal disease has attached itself to him; now that he lies ill, he will never get up.”
(9) Even my close friend, on whom I relied, who shared my table, has turned against me.
(10) But you, Adonai, have pity on me, put me on my feet, so I can pay them back.
(11) I will know you are pleased with me if my enemy doesn’t defeat me.
(12) You uphold me because of my innocence you establish me in your presence forever.
(13) Blessed be Adonai the God of Isra’el from eternity past to eternity future.
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