PSALM 40:6-10

Let us continue our search of the Scriptures of Psalm 40, verses 6-10 which says, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”  I have found the theme to be “When He Reached Down His Hand For Me”.

            These verses before us today seem to me to be a ‘Personification Of Willingness Of His Hand’.  It is in these verses like none other that we see the display of Christ who is pictured as God’s right hand.  On several occasions we are confronted with the thought that God brought them out with a mighty hand.

            As we walk down through our text let us look at verse 6 where we see ‘The Hand’s Mission’.  I notice in verse 6a and 6c there is the mission of a ‘loving sacrifice’.  The Old Testament rituals are mentioned of sacrifice, burnt offerings, and sin offerings.  The text says that God does not desire or require these any longer.  What will satisfy the just demands of God?  The only thing that will withhold God’s judgment from the sinner is ‘a perfect living sacrifice’.  Christ has given himself and His death has satisfied the just demands of God against my sins.  My heart is warmed in verse 6b where I see the mission of a ‘living servant’.  The text says “…mine ears hast thou opened…” These are the words of a bond slave who has exchanged His will for the Father’s will and is a willing servant.  Our Lord said of the cup of God’s judgment, “Not mine will but thine be done”.  The Old Testament bond slave always had his ears pierced with an awl.  In our text the Lord literally says ‘Mine ears hast thou dug out’.  He is the all powerful bond slave of the Father.

            As we walk down this text we find in verses 7-8 ‘The Hand’s Manner’.  In verse 7 we have in His manner ‘The Word Revealed’.  The Bible is a book that contains the story of Christ.  He is the incarnate word revealed to us through the inspired word.  John said it so profoundly when he said, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Our Bible from cover to cover is not all there is to know about Christ but only what the Father desires us to know.  All the books could not contain what can be known of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In verse 8 we find ‘The Will Regarded’.  Christ, God’s hand, said in verse 8a “…I delight to do thy will…” The word ‘delight’ means ones bent or ones highest pleasure.  Christ found His highest pleasure was to please the Father.  In verse 8b we find Christ is the embodiment of the law.  Our Lord did no sin because He had no ability to sin.  When He comes to dwell in us we then have a nature in us that has no ability to sin.  May we who personally know Christ the hand of God bow to His will alone and find great strength through much consumption of the Word of God.

            In verses 9-10 we have ‘The Hand’s Message’.  We find in verse 9 the ‘Message Preached’.  Christ said He preached righteousness in the great congregation.  Paul tells us that Christ is made unto us righteousness.  Christ didn’t refrain His lips from proclaiming ‘Himself’ to all that He met.  Let us, who have been declared righteous by Christ, not refrain our lips from telling the gospel story over and over.  This is one of my weak points in telling all that I meet that Jesus saves.

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