What does the miry bog, the desolate pit, and the rock represent in Psalm 40?
How can we truly be a success in God’s eyes? What gives our life purpose?
Why should we delight to do God’s will? How was Christ obedient?
How did Psalm 70 inspire St Benedict of Nursia?
YouTube video for this blog: https://youtu.be/JbKQd6vP5qo
For book links, see our book reviews of the commentaries on the Psalms:
My Favorite Commentaries on the Psalms
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/my-favorite-commentaries-on-the-psalms/
https://youtu.be/kyJRf_JoGsI
INTRODUCTION
In a prior reflection, the evangelical George Sweeting asks: How does the Bible help us to confront the challenges of aging? Unfortunately, although we can be inspired by the lives of many patriarchs who lived very long lives, the Bible has scant advice for the elderly. However, there is one psalm where the psalmist seeks comfort in his old age.
Joys of Successful Aging, by Evangelical George Sweeting, Moody Bible Institute
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/joys-of-successful-aging-by-evangelical-george-sweeting-moody-bible-institute/
https://youtu.be/ngh_uIZ6r2o
The Hebrew manuscripts have headings for most psalms, but Psalm 71 has no headings, so many scholars append it to Psalm 70. Chapter and verse divisions are recent: the Bible has been divided into chapters since the early 13th century, while the modern chapter and verse divisions date back to the mid-16th century.[1]
Psalm 70 repeats Psalm 40:13-17. In the Bible, verses are often repeated for emphasis. So, we will first reflect on Psalm 40, as Christians of any age will be comforted by its plea to God for delivery from suffering and trials.
PSALM 40: DELIVER US FROM OUR SUFFERING AND OUR TRIALS
The Orthodox Study Bible notes that Psalm 40 is a psalm of the Incarnation, where the “Lord assumed a mortal body and a rational soul.” This psalm emphasizes the suffering our mortal bodies endure here on earth. “Christ destroyed death and decay, putting a new song in the mouth of the church.”[2]
Psalm 40[3]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
We are so quick to pray to the Lord to resolve our problems, and so quick to abandon our faith when we feel our inquiries go unanswered. St Augustine counsels patience, everlasting patience, refraining from judging God by our stopwatch:
“Whom did I wait for but for the Lord?
The Lord, who though He puts off the fulfilment of His promises,
yet never recalls them? He will make it good,”
because He has made many of his promises good already.
Of God’s truth we ought to have no fears,
even if as yet He had made none of them good.”[4]
Charles Spurgeon, the renowned Reformed Preacher, proclaims: “Patiently waiting upon God was a special characteristic of our Lord Jesus. Impatience never lingered in his heart, much less escaped his lips. All through his agony in the garden, his trial of cruel mockings before Herod and Pilot, and his passion on the tree he waited in omnipotence of patience. No glance of wrath, no word of murmering, no deed of vengeance came from God’s patient Lamb; he waited and waited on us; was patient to perfection.”[5]
40:2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
Cassiodorus proclaims: “Just as mud in a lake is foul-smelling and oppressive, so the sins of people are slimy, for they smell foul and drown us with their weight. Then he sets our feet on a rock when we walk in the commands of the Lord Christ, for he is our spiritual rock who does not allow the feet planted on it to sink.”[6]
St Augustine begins his book on Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount by the example in Matthew of the “perfect standard of the Christian life” represented by the house that has been built upon the rock:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them
will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;
and the rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat upon that house,
but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
But the house of the man who built his house upon the sand did not withstand the rain, the floods, and the winds, and it fell.[7] St Augustine tells us the fate of those who hear God’s words and do them. But those who do not, hearing is not enough. God’s words must be planted in our soul and bear fruit in our actions and deeds.
St Augustine on the Beatitudes from His Treatise, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustine-on-the-beatitudes/
https://youtu.be/xZeDjusUwPg
The Reformed Theologian Nikolaus Selnecker states that “rock means sure consolation, faith, hope, protection and divine help,” rescuing us “from the grave and muck in which we cannot stand or step. On this rock we remain sure.” “Our rock is Christ, true God and true man, the Son of the living God, leading us with the Holy Spirit. We believe in him; thus, we can tread securely.”[8]
St Ambrose rejoices: “Christ has heard the prayer of his own servants and has brought us out from the pit of misery and from the mire of dregs. We were drowning there; our whole flesh was clinging to the mire, trapped in the whirlpool of our sins. Our soul was powerless to save itself; fallen and ruined as it was by the multiplicity and dreadfulness of our offenses.”
St Ambrose continues: “Christ came to save us from the pit and slime of this world, from the mud and mire of this earth, from this body doomed to death.” “May that rock, which follows those who thirst, confirm the weak and unsteady; may that water never be lacking to those who long for it; and may that firm foundation never be wanting to those in danger of falling.”[9]
Charles Spurgeon marvels: “He brought me up out of a horrible it. When our Lord bore in his own person the terrible curse which was due to sin, he was so cast down as to be like a prisoner in a deep, dark, fearful dungeon, amid whose horrible glooms the captive heard a noise of rushing torrents, while overhead resounded the tramp of furious foes. Our Lord in his anguish was like a captive in the hidden dungeons, forgotten of all mankind, immured amid horror, darkness, and desolation.”[10]
What sort of desolate pits do we fall into, that God should draw us out? James Boice explores several pits people fall into, beginning with the pit of sin. King David fell into the pit when he “stayed home from battle in the season when kings were supposed to be at war. While enjoying himself in Jerusalem, he saw a woman named Bathsheba bathing herself on the roof of a home close to the palace.” He inquired, and his envy led to adultery, which led to theft, then deceit, then murder, and eventually rent his kingdom in half as his son Absalom rebelled. We reflected on this incident in our reflections on the sin of envy.
Playlist on: Do Not Covet, Do Not Envy:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJVlY2bjK8li1ULMrgL23X-iA5aCENq6i
James Boice reflects: “Maybe you are caught in the webs of sin. Perhaps one sin has led to another. You know what is happening, but cannot get out of it. That is no surprise. Sin is like that.”
James Boice describes the pit of bad habit, which can be “terribly destructive, like addictive drugs. Others are severely harmful, like an uncontrolled temper, patterns of self-pity, laziness, or overeating. Bad habits can be broken. New habits can take their place.” This can be done “if you turn to God and seek his help.”
The need to develop good habits is a favorite theme of the early monastic Church Fathers and the Stoic Philosophers.
YT
James Boice also describes the pit of defeat, the “pit of personal defeat, whether at work or school or in the home or in some other setting or relationship. Some people would say that their entire lives have been one long and unending defeat. They have never succeeded at anything.”[11]
What gives our life purpose? What does Jesus say is the cornerstone of our faith? That we should Love God with all of our heart and with all of our soul and with all of our strength, and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. In an eternal sense, what do we need to do to become a success? Simply be kind to someone today and tomorrow.
Hillel and Jesus, Reflections on Rabbi Telushkin’s Observations
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/hillel-and-jesus-reflections/
Comparing Hillel and Shammai to Jesus
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/comparing-hillel-and-shammai-to-jesus/
More Stories and Sayings of Hillel and Shammai
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/more-stories-and-sayings-of-hillel-and-shammai/
Jesus, Hillel, and Shammai, Loving God and Neighbor
https://youtu.be/ygxn2qqGnOI
We have many reflections on how the elderly can continue to find purpose in life in old age and retirement, both from psychologists and modern thinkers, and from Stoic philosophers and Plato.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJVlY2bjK8lhYGJAe3yctJqdRIWqwjtYm
40:3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
St Augustine asks: “For what things already received was he giving thanks? For the remission of sins, for the illumination of faith, for the strong support of hope, for charity,” or love. [12]
John Calvin ponders: “In whatever way God is pleased to comfort us, he asks nothing else from us in return but that we should be thankful for and remember it. As often, as he bestows benefits upon us, so often does he open our mouths to praise his name.”[13]
“Since God, by acting liberally towards us, encouraging us to sing his praises, so David with good reason” sings “the new song” that God had inspired him to compose.
40:4 Happy are those who make the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.
St Augustine teaches us: “Let the Lord thy God be thy hope. Hope for nothing else from the Lord thy God, but the Lord thy God be your hope. For many hope to obtain from God’s hands riches, and many perishable and transitory honors; anything,” “except only God Himself. But instead seek after God Himself, despising all other things,” “remembering God!”[14]
Hebrews 10 credits the following verse to Jesus,[15] and it echoes the sentiment emphasized by Isaiah, Jeremiah and other prophets, and other psalms:
40:6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
The commentator Artur Weiser notes that “it is God and his revelation and not man that is at the center of the cult; so, man can only listen and obey. There is but one attitude of man which renders to this God what belongs to him of right, and that is the attitude of humbly receiving the grace of God and of bearing witness to it; it is the attitude of obedience and of submission to his will.”[16]
Here, David echoes what he has proclaimed in Psalm 51, rejoicing that God has given him a second chance, reminding us to keep our head up high, and never despair, for life is never over until it is over. The Church Fathers remind us that despair itself is a sin; we must never allow ourselves to be trapped in despair, and we must always pray for deliverance from the pit.
Ladder of Divine Ascent, Remembrance of Death, Joy Making Mourning, and Despondency, Steps 6,7, & 13
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ladder-of-divine-ascent-remembrance-of-death-joy-making-mourning-and-despondency-steps-67-13/
https://youtu.be/pFwC2nDf1CQ
Cardinal Cajetan celebrates that “the restoration of human beings is as much internal as external. Indeed, the psalmist sings about the restoration of all Creation.”[17]
James Boice exclaims: “How many people, even Christians, have plugged ears!” “How many hear with their ears only but do not hear with their hearts! That can’t hear what anyone, even God, says to them. They do not know the blessing of God this psalm speaks of, nor the deliverance from the pits of sin, defeat, bad habits, and circumstance.”[18]
Why should we delight to do God’s will? St Ambrose reminds us: “Christ accepted death and crucifixion to crucify the flesh. For my sake, he took on himself the combat, so that he might conquer for me. Though Christ’s flesh was strong and not liable to sin, he nevertheless took on my sins. He took on my weaknesses and infirmities, though he himself was without infirmity.” “He who is all pure took on our flesh to make it all pure. Christ, the immortal one, took on our flesh to make us immortal.”[19]
We should be obedient as Christ was obedient. Father Patrick Reardon teaches us that “this obedience of Christ our Lord is central to the New Testament. Christ Himself declared that He came, not to seek his own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him,” quoting John 5:30. “This spirit of obedience to God’s will is likewise essential to Christian prayer. “Your will be done” is central to the Lord’s Prayer. “The various sacrifices of the Old Testament” “have found their perfection in the one self-offering of Jesus the Lord.”[20]
The commentator Artur Weiser observes that “it is a manifestation of humble obedience, which can only flow from genuine piety, that the psalmist at first represses his egotistical desire, urging him to seek deliverance from his affliction, and focuses his eyes and thoughts on God, dwelling on the time during which his relationship with God was unimpaired.”[21]
Charles Spurgeon proclaims: “Our blessed Lord alone could completely do the will of God.” “Jesus not only did the Father’s will, but found a delight therein; from all eternity he had desired the work set before him; in his human life” he persevered “until he reached the baptism of agony in which he magnified the law, and even in Gethsemane itself he chose the Father’s will, and set aside his own.[22]
40:9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
James Boice asks: “Do you ever wonder why the speech of some people is so vile? It is because their hearts are vile. They need to get their inner lives cleaned out; then their speech will follow. But it works the other way too, which is the point made here. If our hearts are open to God’s Word and are being cleansed and reformed by it, then our mouths will be speaking God’s words and will be praising him.”[23]
40:11 Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe forever.
12 For evils have encompassed me without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.
In his commentary, St Augustine prays to God: “I would not dare to turn back to you if I were not confident of your forgiveness; I would not go on persevering were I not confident of your promise.” “I see you to be good, and I see you to be just; I love you, Lord, because you are good and fear you because you are just. Love and fear jointly are my guides.”[24] In many verses in the Bible, Love of God and Fear of God are mirror images of each other.
The commentator Artur Weiser observes that the “saving experience of communion with God forms the basis of the psalmist’s hope, the way which gives him access to God at the time of his separation from God and in the calamity which has overtaken him. He draws from that experience the strength and infers from it his right to pray for God’s mercy and grace at a time when his heart fails him in view of his sins and sufferings.” “This giving up of oneself, throwing oneself entirely upon God” is the central message of this psalm.[25]
Psalm 70,[26] which repeats Psalm 40:13-17
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering.
1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
O Lord, make haste to help me!
2 Let those be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire to hurt me.
The Orthodox Study Bible notes that Psalm 70 is a prayer of Christ, and that the plea to “make haste to help me” is a text of ceaseless prayer, and is a precursor to the Jesus Prayer which the Orthodox repeat in their devotions: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”[27]
In the sixth century, the Rule of St Benedict prescribed that each of the seven daily prayers begin with this entreaty. The desert Father Abba Isaac teaches us that it “contains an invocation of a devout confession, the watchfulness of concern and of constant fear, a consciousness of one’s own frailty, the assurance of being heard, and confidence in a protection that is always present and at hand, for whoever calls unceasingly on his protector is sure that he is always present. It contains a burning love and charity, an awareness of traps, and a fear of enemies.”[28]
John Calvin encourages us: “We are here taught that when our enemies have persecuted us to the uttermost, a recompense is also prepared for them; and that God will turn back and cause to fall on their own heads all the evil which they had devised against us; and this doctrine ought to act as a restraint on us, that we may behave compassionately and kindly toward our neighbors.”[29]
Quite often, our persecutors and oppressors will never be punished. Instead, we need to rather be consoled by the Stoic principle that evil is its own punishment.
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St John Cassian teaches us that these verses “contain an invocation of God in the face of any crisis, the humility of a devout confession, the watchfulness of concern and of constant fear, a consciousness of one’s own frailty, the assurance of being heard and confidence in a protection that is always present and at hand, for whoever calls unceasingly on his protector is sure that he is always present.”
St John Cassian continues: “These verses are necessary and useful for each one of us in whatever condition we may live. For whoever desires to be helped always and in all things shows that he needs God as a helper not only in hard and sad affairs but also and equally as much in favorable and joyful ones, so that just as he may be snatched from the former, he may abide in the latter, he may know that in neither instance can human frailty endure without his assistance.”[30]
70:3, and 40:15 Let those who say, ‘Aha, Aha!’
turn back because of their shame.
4 Let all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
say evermore, ‘God is great!’
5 But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
St Augustine, in his sermon, teaches us: “Overcoming well means overcoming all the machinations of the devil. Although he serves up enticements, he is overcome by self-restraint; although he inflicts pains and tortures, he is overcome by patience; although he suggests errors, he is overcome by wisdom.”
”As a last resort, when all these ploys have been defeated, the devil suggests to the soul, ‘Well done, well done, how much you have been able to do’” on your own! How valiant are your efforts!
“The holy soul must answer the devil, ‘Let them be put to confusion and shame, those who say to me, Well done, well done!’ So when do you overcome, if not when you say, ‘It is in the Lord that my soul shall be praised; let the gentle hear and rejoice?’”[31]
In another work, St Augustine encourages the Christian: “Since God cared for you before you even existed, how can he fail to care for you now that you are” “a believer, walking the path of righteousness.” After all, God “makes his sun rise over both the good and the bad, and sends his rain on just and unjust alike.”[32]
Next, we will reflect on Psalm 71, which encourages us in our old age.
Psalm 71: Encouraging Us In Our Old Age
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/psalm-71-encouraging-us-in-our-old-age/
https://youtu.be/NrzVItznE1E
DISCUSSING THE SOURCES
We have a separate reflection, My Favorite Commentaries on the Psalms. We used both the Ancient Christian Commentary by the early Church Fathers and the Reformation Commentary, as well as consulting other Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish commentaries.
Among our sources is Cassiodorus, who was a Roman statesman serving King Theodric the Great after the fall of Rome. He founded a monastery on his retirement, writing many religious works.[33]
St John Cassian was the disciple of the Eastern Church Father Evagrios, who inspired many monastics in the Egyptian desert. After he moved to Gaul, in today’s Southern France, he influenced Western thought, influencing the monastic rule of the later St Benedict.[34]
John Cassian and the Vice of Gluttony, Blog 1
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/john-cassian-and-the-vice-of-gluttony-blog-1/
St John Cassian on the Other Seven Vices, Blog 2
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-john-cassian-on-the-other-seven-vices-blog-2/
St John Cassian, Philokalia, Link Between East and West
https://youtu.be/BDzxATWWdyY
St Ambrose was one of the last Western Church Fathers to compose his commentaries in Greek. He baptized St Augustine into the faith. Although he was well acquainted with his mother Monica, he did not develop close ties with her son, St Augustine.
St Augustine’s Confessions, His Conversion, Baptism, St Monica’s Death, and Philosophy, Books 8 & 9
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustines-confessions-his-conversion-baptism-st-monicas-death-and-philosophy-books-8-9/
https://youtu.be/Vijtjxm3Ta0
Nikolas Selnecker was active as a preacher and pastor in the early German Reformation and was a co-author of the Formula of Concord. He composed many hymns and commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, and the New Testament.[35]
Interestingly, the Catholic Cardinal Cajetan was one of the sources cited in the Reformation Commentary. When he opposed Luther’s movement, he realized he needed to deepen his knowledge of scripture, and as a result he wrote a commentary on the Psalms.[36]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible
[2] Orthodox Study Bible, Psalm 39 (40) (Dallas: Thoman Nelson, 2008), p.708.
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2040%3A1-12&version=NRSVCE
[4] St Augustine, “On the Psalms,” In the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, Oxford translation edited by Cleveland Coxe (Boston: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994, first published 1888), Psalm XL.1, p. 119.
[5] Charles Spurgeon, in Parallel Classic Commentary on the Psalms (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2005), Psalm 40, p. 180.
[6] Cassiodorus, Explanations of the Psalms, Psalm 40, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2008), p. 314.
[7] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+7%3A24-27&version=RSVCE
[8] Nikolas Selnecker, The Whole Psalter, Psalm 40, Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2015), pp. 315-316.
[9] St Ambrose, Explanations of the Psalms, Psalm 40, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, pp. 314-315.
[10] Charles Spurgeon, in Parallel Classic Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 40, p. 180.
[11] James Boice, Psalms Volume 1, Psalms 1-41 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1968), Psalm 40, pp. 348-349.
[12] St Augustine, “On the Psalms,” In the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, Psalm XL.3, p. 120.
[13] John Calvin, in Parallel Classic Commentary on the Psalms (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2005), Psalm 40, p. 181.
[14] St Augustine, “On the Psalms,” In the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, Psalm XL.7, p. 121.
[15] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2010%3A5-10&version=NRSVCE
[16] Artur Weiser, The Psalms, A Commentary, Old Testament Library, translated by Herbert Hartwell (Philadelphia, West Minister Press, 1962, 1955), Psalm 40, p. 337.
[17] Cardinal Cajetan, Commentary on Psalm 40, Psalm 40, Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 316.
[18] James Boice, Psalms Volume 1, Psalms 1-41, Psalm 40, p. 351.
[19] St Ambrose, Commentary on Twelve Psalms, Psalm 40, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 317.
[20] Father Patrick Henry Reardon, Psalm 39 (40), Christ in the Psalms (Ben Lomond, CA, Conciliar Press, 2000), p. 78.
[21] Artur Weiser, The Psalms, A Commentary, Old Testament Library, Psalm 40, p. 334.
[22] Charles Spurgeon, in Parallel Classic Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 40, p. 180.
[23] James Boice, Psalms Volume 1, Psalms 1-41, Psalm 40, pp. 351-352.
[24] St Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms, Psalm 40, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 318.
[25] Artur Weiser, The Psalms, A Commentary, Old Testament Library, Psalm 40, pp. 339-340.
[26] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2070&version=NRSVA
[27] Orthodox Study Bible, Psalm 69 (70), p.727.
[28] Father Patrick Henry Reardon, Psalm 69 (70), Christ in the Psalms, pp. 137-138.
[29] John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 40, Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 318.
[30] St John Cassian, Conferences 10.9.2-5, Psalm 70, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VIII (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2007), p. 88.
[31] St Augustine, Sermon 274, Psalm 70, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VIII, p. 88.
[32] St Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms, Psalm 40, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 318.
[33] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiodorus
[34] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cassian
[35] Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Biographical Sketches, p. 533.
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