Psalm 40: When the Answer Is Taking Too Long

Core Theme: For when you’re stuck in the in-between — you’ve prayed, you’re still waiting, and the “not yet” keeps stretching on

(Related Theme: This psalm also carries a strong note of Gratitude, Joy & Praise — see Verses 1–3 below.)

Background

David wrote Psalm 40, though he doesn’t tell us the exact circumstances. What he does show us is a life with more than one season of waiting. The psalm opens with a testimony of a past prayer God answered after a long wait. Then, partway through, it turns back to fresh trouble and a new plea for help. Its last five verses appear again, almost word for word, as Psalm 70, as if David returned to this prayer more than once. It is an honest psalm for anyone who has seen God come through before and is waiting on Him all over again.

Psalm 40 (KJV)

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.

10 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.

11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.

14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.

17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

The heart of it

Waiting is one of the hardest things God ever asks of us. Psalm 40 doesn’t pretend otherwise. David waited, and waited, and when the answer finally came, it was more than rescue. It was a whole new song. But the psalm doesn’t end neatly. Before long David is back in trouble, praying again, asking God not to delay. That is what waiting on God often looks like in real life. It isn’t one long wait followed by permanent ease. It is a pattern of trusting Him again and again, leaning on what He has already done while you wait for what He hasn’t done yet.

Scripture never treats that waiting as wasted time: “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD” (Lamentations 3:25–26).

Walking through it

Verses 1–3: “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

In Hebrew, “I waited patiently” is literally “waiting, I waited.” It’s a doubled word that suggests a long, sustained wait. It wasn’t quick, and it wasn’t easy. But God “inclined” [bent down, leaned in] toward David and heard him. Then David describes where he had been: “an horrible pit,” “the miry clay.” It’s the picture of someone sinking in mud with nothing solid underfoot, where every effort to climb out only drags you deeper. The prophet Jeremiah was once lowered into a dungeon just like that, where “…there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire” (Jeremiah 38:6). Out of that kind of place God lifted David, set his feet on a rock, and steadied his steps. Then God did one more thing. He “put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” The waiting ended in gratitude, joy, and praise, and that song became a testimony: “many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” Your story of being lifted out of the pit is meant to give someone else hope.

Verse 5: “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which areto us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Here is one of the most comforting truths for anyone who is waiting. God’s thoughts are “to us-ward” [toward us]. In the long stretch where nothing seems to be happening, it’s easy to assume God has forgotten or moved on. David says the opposite. God’s thoughts toward His people are so many they can’t be counted. The Lord said the same through Jeremiah: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11). The silence you feel is not the absence of His attention.

Verses 6–8: “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.”

David recognized that God wanted more than rituals. He wanted a heart that delights to do His will. But these verses reach far beyond David. The book of Hebrews quotes them as the words of Jesus Christ Himself, coming into the world to do the Father’s will and offer His own body once for all (Hebrews 10:5–10). “Lo, I come… I delight to do thy will, O my God.” Every sacrifice ever offered pointed toward Him. And notice the timing: Christ came exactly when the Father appointed. “…when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son…” (Galatians 4:4). Centuries of waiting ended at precisely the right moment. God is never late.

Verses 11–13: “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.”

This is where the psalm turns. The man who sang a new song in verse 3 is surrounded again, this time by troubles “more than the hairs of mine head,” including the weight of his own sins. His heart fails him. It is a deeply honest moment. Having been rescued once doesn’t make you immune to struggling again. But notice what David does. He doesn’t throw away what he learned in the first wait. He prays the same way: “Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.” Asking God to hurry isn’t a lack of faith. It is faith speaking honestly to the only One who can help.

Verse 17: “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”

The psalm ends with a king calling himself poor and needy, and one small word changes everything: “yet.” “Yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” You may feel small, overlooked, and stuck in the waiting, yet you are on God’s mind. David closes still asking God to “make no tarrying” [not delay]. The answer hasn’t arrived yet, but his trust is fixed. God’s own promise to waiting hearts carries that same word: “…though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3). What feels like delay to us is never late to Him.

Carrying this forward

If the Lord has already lifted you out of a pit, you know what it is to have a new song put in your mouth. Keep singing it. It’s easy, once your feet are on the rock and life gets “better,” to slowly drift and forget how deep the mud was. David didn’t forget. When trouble came again, he went straight back to what God had done. Your testimony isn’t only for you. It’s meant to help someone else trust the Lord. And the day may come when you need to remember it for yourself.

If you’re in the middle of the waiting right now, and the “not yet” keeps stretching on, take David’s honest prayer as your own. Tell the Lord you are poor and needy. Ask Him not to tarry. Then hold on to that one word: yet. Yet the Lord thinketh upon you. His thoughts toward you are more than can be numbered, even when you can’t see a single sign of them. The God who heard David’s cry is inclining toward you now, and in His perfect time, He will lift you out, set your feet on a rock, and give you a new song to sing.