Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 40
By Julian Duckworth
Psalm 40 contains a good number of beautifully-worded verses. ‘I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me and heard my cry’ (verse1). The psalm’s overall theme is that of a persevering faith especially during various trials. A large part of this psalm is in open praise of the Lord and what he has done.
The opening idea of ‘waiting for the Lord’ should not be linked with time, since the Lord does not act because we have waited long enough. Spiritually, it is about our faithfulness to the Lord by living his laws and commands, our ‘waiting’ on the Lord. It is this which brings us to know and see that the Lord is faithful to us. (See Arcana Caelestia 6138)
This is followed by an intense experience of the Lord saving us. The horrible pit and the miry clay spiritually describe our grief at not feeling the Lord with us, and the overwhelming power of our own desires. The ‘pit’ describes the darkness of false ideas, the ‘clay’ describes the clutch of evil. The Lord has brought up out of these and set our feet on a rock and ordered our steps. Spiritually the rock is the power of truth and ordered steps are the life of doing what is good.
Then, saved, the Lord brings us to praise, with a ‘new song’. Spiritually, a ‘song’ means gladness of heart in everything of the Lord. (Apocalypse Explained 326)
‘Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord’ means that everything within our being will be affected by what the Lord has done for us.
After this comes the blessedness of serving and trusting the Lord, because this brings us to realise the unnumbered blessings of the Lord’s goodness to us. All this is wonderful to us, which internally means the Lord’s providence which is over all things. (Apocalypse Explained 927)
Verses 6 to 8 deal with the deadness of mere sacrifice and offering to the Lord when it is not from the heart of loving to serve him in our lives. By contrast, the coming of the Lord – the One who serves us all – is mentioned and how this is spoken about in the Word. This section ends with an affirmation of delight in doing the Lord’s will and of how the law is in my heart. While this was true for the Lord in his work on earth, it is just as true for us. (Heaven and Hell 16)
After this come strong confident words about proclaiming the good news, declaring the Lord’s faithfulness and salvation in the great assembly, rather than restraining or concealing it. Spiritually, to ‘proclaim’ is to speak of everything about God, and literally this has the idea of the need and use of evangelisation. This is valid in itself, and is part of our love for the neighbour. Another and more spiritual meaning of proclaiming is for us to address our own will and our understanding and keep them mindful of the laws of God. (Arcana Caelestia 795.4)
From verse 11 to the end of this psalm comes a prayer for the Lord to preserve us from whatever oppresses us. Psalms usually describe this oppression as ‘those’ or ‘those people’ or even ‘men who’ seek to destroy me. This should be understood in terms of evil spirits infesting us. In this psalm it is de-personalised and kept more in the spiritual meaning of proprial (self-centered) states in ourselves causing our grief. “Innumerable evils have surrounded me” and “My iniquities have overtaken me so that I am not able to look up.”
In this section comes the phrase, “those who say to me, ‘Aha, aha!’ “ conveying the idea of evil or our own lower nature taunting us and tricking us. The word used conveys the feeling of malicious joy. In the gospels, the crucified Jesus was railed against,
“Aha, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross!” (Mark 15:29-30)
It graphically describes the pure malice and derision of evil. (Arcana Caelestia 6666.2 and Heaven and Hell 576)
The psalm ends appropriately with the confession of the Lord’s greatness and power and our own poverty and need. “Yet the Lord thinks on me…do not delay, O my God.”
