On whether Psalm 40 is a Messianic Psalm of Resurrection

[rakow]

Psalm 40 ascribes the Psalm to David and describes the Lord hearing his cry for salvation and bringing him out of a pit. Below is the JPT translation with Hebrew:

1. For the conductor, of David a song.
           אלַמְנַצֵּחַ לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר:
2. I have greatly hoped for the Lord, and He extended [His ear] to me and heard my cry.
           בקַוֹּה קִוִּיתִי יְהֹוָה וַיֵּט אֵלַי וַיִּשְׁמַע שַׁוְעָתִי:
3. And He drew me up out of the roaring pit, from the thick mire, and He set my feet upon a rock, He established my steps.
           גוַיַּעֲלֵנִי | מִבּוֹר שָׁאוֹן מִטִּיט הַיָּוֵן וַיָּקֶם עַל סֶלַע רַגְלָי כּוֹנֵן אֲשֻׁרָי:
4. He put a new song into my mouth, a praise to our God, so that many may see and fear, and trust in the Lord.
           דוַיִּתֵּן בְּפִי | שִׁיר חָדָשׁ תְּהִלָּה לֵאלֹהֵינוּ יִרְאוּ רַבִּים וְיִירָאוּ וְיִבְטְחוּ בַּיהֹוָה:

I. By ascribing the Psalm to David, the Psalm makes itself implicitly Messianic. It suggests that David, whom the Tanakh calls the "Sweet Singer of Israel", wrote the Psalm, sang it, or that it otherwise belonged to him directly. The Psalm becomes Messianic in the eyes of the Tanakh's audience, because the Tanakh repeatedly refers to the Messiah allegorically as "David". (eg. Isaiah 55, Ezekiel 34 and 37, and also in the books of Jeremiah and Hosea).

The Psalm is also Messianic due to verse 4, where it says that his new song brings "many" to trust in the Lord. The "many" or "multidudes" in the Tanakh is commonly a reference to the "many nations" (eg. in Isaiah 52-53). Turning the many nations to the Lord is a duty of the Messiah (eg. in Is. 11).

II. The Psalm's reference to the Lord bringing him out of the roaring pit and mire and onto a rock is a reference to resurrection. This is because the "pit" in the Psalms refers to the state of physical death. By saying that the Lord drew him out of the pit, it means that David was in that pit of the state of death and then that the Lord drew him out of it.

One scholar notes how "the Pit" was a reference to the state of death:

 

Quote

The spirit of the deceased descends beneath the earth to Sheol, “the pit” (Isa 14:15 ff; Ezek 32:18 ff), the world of the shades (Job 26:5), where it joins the departed ancestors and kin (Gen 25:8; II Sam 12:23). Although sit there on their thrones (Isa 14:9 ff, there is equality in Sheol; small and great, kings and captive, master and slave sleep together (Job. 3:11 ff). It is a land of deep darkness (Job 10:21 f),

The Religion of Israel
Yehazkel Kaufmann translated and abridged by Moshe Greenberg.pg.311-312.
Sefer Ve Sefel Publishing, Jerusalem, 2003

 

L. Bronner says something similar about the concept of the pit in Psalm 16:

Quote

 

Quote

God rescues his people from the pit of Sheol and allows them to praise him in the presence of the living. Though some of the phrasing is enigmatic and perhaps metaphorical, the notion of immortality was not completely alien to ancient Israel and helped make the emergence of a more literal belief in bodily resurrection possible
A Journey to Heaven: The Jewish Search for Life Beyond By Leila Leah Bronner

 

III. Verse 7 is interesting, because it says the Lord gouged ("Karah") ears for him. Here is the JPT:
 You dug (karah) ears for me
 אָזְנַיִם כָּרִיתָ לִּי עוֹלָה

This is relevant because earlier in Psalm 22, in some text variants, it says that the narrator's enemies gouged (Hebrew: karu; Greek LXX: oruksan) his hands. Verse 7 about the gouging of the ears shows that David is able to use gouging (karah) as a verb metaphorically describing gouging performed on one's body. The gouging of the ears therefore in Psalm 40:7 opens up the possibility that David is using a similar expression of gouging the hands in Psalm 22.

Psalm 40 itself has major elements in common with Psalm 22. They both describe the narrator as being "encompassed" by evil, hunted by enemies, being in a state of death (Psalm 22 has it "the dust of death"; Psalm 40 has "a roaring Pit" and "thick mire"), as crying for help, as the Lord saving him, then the narrator praising the Lord to the assembly, and the righteous praising the Lord:

10. I brought tidings of righteousness in a great assembly. Behold, I will not withhold my lips, O Lord, You know.
           יבִּשַּׂרְתִּי צֶדֶק | בְּקָהָל רָב הִנֵּה שְׂפָתַי לֹא אֶכְלָא יְהֹוָה אַתָּה יָדָעְתָּ:

11. I did not conceal Your charity within my heart; I stated Your faith and Your salvation-I did not withhold Your kindness and truth-to a great assembly.
           יאצִדְקָתְךָ לֹא כִסִּיתִי | בְּתוֹךְ לִבִּי אֱמוּנָתְךָ וּתְשׁוּעָתְךָ אָמָרְתִּי לֹא כִחַדְתִּי חַסְדְּךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ לְקָהָל רָב:

13. For countless evils have encompassed me
                יגכִּי אָפְפוּ עָלַי  

15. May those who seek my soul to destroy it be shamed and embarrassed together; may those who seek to harm me retreat and be humiliated.
           טויֵבֹשׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ | יַחַד מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי לִסְפּוֹתָהּ יִסֹּגוּ אָחוֹר וְיִכָּלְמוּ חֲפֵצֵי רָעָתִי:

16. May they be bewildered afterwards because of their shame, those who say about me, "Aha! Aha!"
           טזיָשֹׁמּוּ עַל עֵקֶב בָּשְׁתָּם הָאֹמְרִים לִי הֶאָח | הֶאָח:

17. All who seek You shall exult and rejoice; those who love Your salvation shall constantly say, "May the Lord be magnified."
           יזיָשִׂישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ | בְּךָ כָּל מְבַקְשֶׁיךָ יֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד יִגְדַּל יְהֹוָה אֹהֲבֵי תְּשׁוּעָתֶךָ:

IV. One of the controversies about seeing this Psalm as Messianic however, is that in the course of the Psalm, it talks about the narrator's "iniquities".

 

One possible explanation is that these iniquities are those that the Messiah is bearing on behalf of others, as the Messiah is described as doing in Isaiah 53.

 

For more information, see:

The Uses of the Old Testament in the New, By Walter C. Kaiser, https://books.google.com/books?id=k7ZKAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq="psalm+40"+messianic+OR+messiah+OR+resurrection&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6-5LZ8eXRAhVLwiYKHd_tB7MQ6AEIlgMwRQ#v=onepage&q="psalm 40" messianic OR messiah OR resurrection&f=false

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2017 by rakow

[kwikphilly]

Quote

King James Bible
Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
2 Samuel 23:1

The Word of God does not allegorically refer to the Messiah as "David" but the figure of the Messiah as a shoot or a bud(Descendant) coming forth of the Royal tree of David

I do like Matthew Henry's commentary ,he expounds verse by verse but here is an  overview of Psalm 40....

Quote

Chapter 40

It should seem David penned this psalm upon occasion of his deliverance, by the power and goodness of God, from some great and pressing trouble, by which he was in danger of being overwhelmed; probably it was some trouble of mind arising from a sense of sin and of God’s displeasure against him for it; whatever it was, the same Spirit that indited his praises for that deliverance was in him, at the same time, a Spirit of prophecy, testifying of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow; or, ere he was aware, he was led to speak of his undertaking, and the discharge of his undertaking, in words that must be applied to Christ only; and therefore how far the praises that here go before that illustrious prophecy, and the prayers that follow, may safely and profitably be applied to him it will be worth while to consider. In this psalm, I. David records God’s favour to him in delivering him out of his deep distress, with thankfulness to his praise, Ps. 40:1-5. II. Thence he takes occasion to speak of the work of our redemption by Christ, Ps. 40:6-10. III. That gives him encouragement to pray to God for mercy and grace both for himself and for his friends, Ps. 40:11-17. If, in singing this psalm, we mix faith with the prophecy of Christ, and join in sincerity with the praises and prayers here offered up, we make melody wit our hearts to the Lord.

                                                                                                                                         With love-in Christ,Kwik

[Zemke]

On 1/28/2017 at 5:56 PM, rakow said:

Psalm 40 ascribes the Psalm to David and describes the Lord hearing his cry for salvation and bringing him out of a pit. Below is the JPT translation with Hebrew:

1. For the conductor, of David a song.
           אלַמְנַצֵּחַ לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר:
2. I have greatly hoped for the Lord, and He extended [His ear] to me and heard my cry.
           בקַוֹּה קִוִּיתִי יְהֹוָה וַיֵּט אֵלַי וַיִּשְׁמַע שַׁוְעָתִי:
3. And He drew me up out of the roaring pit, from the thick mire, and He set my feet upon a rock, He established my steps.
           גוַיַּעֲלֵנִי | מִבּוֹר שָׁאוֹן מִטִּיט הַיָּוֵן וַיָּקֶם עַל סֶלַע רַגְלָי כּוֹנֵן אֲשֻׁרָי:
4. He put a new song into my mouth, a praise to our God, so that many may see and fear, and trust in the Lord.
           דוַיִּתֵּן בְּפִי | שִׁיר חָדָשׁ תְּהִלָּה לֵאלֹהֵינוּ יִרְאוּ רַבִּים וְיִירָאוּ וְיִבְטְחוּ בַּיהֹוָה:

I. By ascribing the Psalm to David, the Psalm makes itself implicitly Messianic. It suggests that David, whom the Tanakh calls the "Sweet Singer of Israel", wrote the Psalm, sang it, or that it otherwise belonged to him directly. The Psalm becomes Messianic in the eyes of the Tanakh's audience, because the Tanakh repeatedly refers to the Messiah allegorically as "David". (eg. Isaiah 55, Ezekiel 34 and 37, and also in the books of Jeremiah and Hosea).

The Psalm is also Messianic due to verse 4, where it says that his new song brings "many" to trust in the Lord. The "many" or "multidudes" in the Tanakh is commonly a reference to the "many nations" (eg. in Isaiah 52-53). Turning the many nations to the Lord is a duty of the Messiah (eg. in Is. 11).

II. The Psalm's reference to the Lord bringing him out of the roaring pit and mire and onto a rock is a reference to resurrection. This is because the "pit" in the Psalms refers to the state of physical death. By saying that the Lord drew him out of the pit, it means that David was in that pit of the state of death and then that the Lord drew him out of it.

One scholar notes how "the Pit" was a reference to the state of death:

 

 

L. Bronner says something similar about the concept of the pit in Psalm 16:

 

III. Verse 7 is interesting, because it says the Lord gouged ("Karah") ears for him. Here is the JPT:
 You dug (karah) ears for me
 אָזְנַיִם כָּרִיתָ לִּי עוֹלָה

This is relevant because earlier in Psalm 22, in some text variants, it says that the narrator's enemies gouged (Hebrew: karu; Greek LXX: oruksan) his hands. Verse 7 about the gouging of the ears shows that David is able to use gouging (karah) as a verb metaphorically describing gouging performed on one's body. The gouging of the ears therefore in Psalm 40:7 opens up the possibility that David is using a similar expression of gouging the hands in Psalm 22.

Psalm 40 itself has major elements in common with Psalm 22. They both describe the narrator as being "encompassed" by evil, hunted by enemies, being in a state of death (Psalm 22 has it "the dust of death"; Psalm 40 has "a roaring Pit" and "thick mire"), as crying for help, as the Lord saving him, then the narrator praising the Lord to the assembly, and the righteous praising the Lord:

10. I brought tidings of righteousness in a great assembly. Behold, I will not withhold my lips, O Lord, You know.
           יבִּשַּׂרְתִּי צֶדֶק | בְּקָהָל רָב הִנֵּה שְׂפָתַי לֹא אֶכְלָא יְהֹוָה אַתָּה יָדָעְתָּ:

11. I did not conceal Your charity within my heart; I stated Your faith and Your salvation-I did not withhold Your kindness and truth-to a great assembly.
           יאצִדְקָתְךָ לֹא כִסִּיתִי | בְּתוֹךְ לִבִּי אֱמוּנָתְךָ וּתְשׁוּעָתְךָ אָמָרְתִּי לֹא כִחַדְתִּי חַסְדְּךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ לְקָהָל רָב:

13. For countless evils have encompassed me
                יגכִּי אָפְפוּ עָלַי  

15. May those who seek my soul to destroy it be shamed and embarrassed together; may those who seek to harm me retreat and be humiliated.
           טויֵבֹשׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ | יַחַד מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי לִסְפּוֹתָהּ יִסֹּגוּ אָחוֹר וְיִכָּלְמוּ חֲפֵצֵי רָעָתִי:

16. May they be bewildered afterwards because of their shame, those who say about me, "Aha! Aha!"
           טזיָשֹׁמּוּ עַל עֵקֶב בָּשְׁתָּם הָאֹמְרִים לִי הֶאָח | הֶאָח:

17. All who seek You shall exult and rejoice; those who love Your salvation shall constantly say, "May the Lord be magnified."
           יזיָשִׂישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ | בְּךָ כָּל מְבַקְשֶׁיךָ יֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד יִגְדַּל יְהֹוָה אֹהֲבֵי תְּשׁוּעָתֶךָ:

IV. One of the controversies about seeing this Psalm as Messianic however, is that in the course of the Psalm, it talks about the narrator's "iniquities".

 

One possible explanation is that these iniquities are those that the Messiah is bearing on behalf of others, as the Messiah is described as doing in Isaiah 53.

 

For more information, see:

The Uses of the Old Testament in the New, By Walter C. Kaiser, https://books.google.com/books?id=k7ZKAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq="psalm+40"+messianic+OR+messiah+OR+resurrection&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6-5LZ8eXRAhVLwiYKHd_tB7MQ6AEIlgMwRQ#v=onepage&q="psalm 40" messianic OR messiah OR resurrection&f=false

 

 

 

 

When you scoop a handful of small fine stones on a natural beach you will find teeth, sharks teeth people say. Not easy to spot at first, dumping handful after handful, but after you find one then two your eye adjusts and you will find them in every handful. Messianic scripture is like that, not a page of our bibles is without some messianic nuance.

I wouldn't say the psalm is wholly messianic but has messianic nuance through it.

Look at the psalms the upper room brothers and sisters in Acts 1 used to pluck out verses concerning Judas. The depth of the old testament is deeper than we, for the most part, dare go. But it illuminates and strengthens and brings peace. It's why I don't any longer, or try to anyway, argue about escatological theologies, they all have some truth and some more than others but all use the same scripture to argue their point. Time and patience and understanding typological nuances helps illuminate, clarify and of coarse leave us hanging but at times debunks end time theological ideas.

The whole of a psalm or every verse doesn't need to fit a messianic standard to be messianic so it isn't necessary to try and fit every word into  the genre. Jesus is the Word made flesh so I have no problem with anyone seeing Jesus through out, especially in the Psalms.

I was fortunate to have heard Dave Hunt speak a few times and the first time I didn't know anything about the man and he stated during the teaching "You can find Jesus on every page of the Old Testament." I thought that was overly zealous at the time but over the years I have come to believe just that.

Edited January 29, 2017 by Zemke

[rakow]

Good answer, Zemke!

I think this is legitimate as an explanation. There can be different good, reasonable ways to deal with the passage.

Do you have to approve my Likes, before they appear? Thanks to both of you for writing in!