Psalm 40
Read the first three verses and find the verbs.
I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
How many have me as the actor? How many God?
Where does most of the action take place? On my end or God’s?
I waited patiently…
He inclined to me
He heard my cry
He brought me up
He set my feet
He established my steps
He put a new song
The action the Psalmist took was… to wait.
What does that mean?
It did not mean silence, because he wrote this Psalm (obviously).
God heard his cry (1c) so he was crying aloud to the Lord.
Waiting is praying.
Waiting is an act of faith if the waiting is filled with expectant, heart-felt prayer.
When the waiting ends and the song is finally sung (3ab), what is the theme of the song?
It is praise to our God. It has to be!
It cannot be a song about my activity in any way bringing praise to me.
All I did was wait.
It must be a song about God and His activity for we have the six-fold verbal expression of God’s actions in these three verses.