Sermon Central
-
The Numberless Proofs Of The Goodness Of The Lord.
Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jan 17, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: The coming of Jesus to die for us.
THE NUMBERLESS PROOFS OF THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD.
The Psalmist is at great pains to demonstrate how “numberless” are the proofs of the LORD’s goodness (Psalm 40:5). What the LORD has done for us ‘hitherto’ (cf. 1 Samuel 7:12) becomes more and more difficult to enumerate: His mercies are ‘new every morning’ (Lamentations 3:22-23). As one songwriter put it: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.’
Psalm 40:6 is not a polemic against the sacrificial system. After all, the Temple cultus was established by the LORD. However, ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’ (1 Samuel 15:22; cf. Psalm 51:16-17).
So the Psalmist speaks of his “open ears” (Psalm 40:6) - an interesting term which embraces:
(i) an open ear to God’s word (cf. Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9; Mark 4:23; Revelation 2:7);
(ii) the ‘pierced’ ear of the willing slave, who surrenders his whole body to a well-loved master (Deuteronomy 15:16-17);
(iii) This in turn becomes, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, “a body thou didst prepare for me” - and is placed upon the lips of Jesus in Hebrews 10:5.
With the words of Psalm 40:6-8 upon His lips, Jesus was already on His way. He was heard announcing the incarnation: “a body You have prepared for me … Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me” (Psalm 40:7). His name is, in effect, the heading of the scroll: and after the resurrection Jesus opened up the Scriptures to show His disciples ‘the things concerning Himself’ (Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44-45).
He added, “I delight to do your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Thy will be done’ (Matthew 6:10) - yet it was also His prayer. He echoed this in the Garden of Gethsemane: ‘not my will, but yours be done’ (Luke 22:42).
The Psalmist reminds the LORD of his faithful preaching of righteousness in “the great congregation” (Psalm 40:9). Yet this also applies to Jesus, who is the subject of another acknowledged Messianic Psalm (cf. Psalm 22:25). It should also be true of us, that we should “not refrain our lips” (Psalm 40:9) from telling forth the LORD’s goodness (Psalm 40:10).
