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<< PSALM XL. >>
Being Lifted from the Pit
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1. I waited patiently for Jehovah;
And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of
the miry clay;
And he 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 Jehovah.
4. Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust,
And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside
to lies.
5. Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works
which thou hast done,
And thy thoughts which are to us-ward!
They cannot be set in order unto thee;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
6. Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in;
Mine ears hast thou opened:
Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.
7. Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll 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 proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the
great assembly;
Lo, I will not refrain my lips,
Jehovah, thou knowest.
10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;
1 have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation;
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth
from the great assembly.
11. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O
Jehovah;
Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve
me.
12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about;
Mine iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not
able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
And my heart hath failed me.
13. Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver me:
Make haste to help me, O Jehovah.
14. Let them be put to shame and confounded together
That seek after my soul to destroy it:
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor
That delight in my hurt.
15. Let them be desolate by reason 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,
Jehovah 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.
1. I waited patiently for Jehovah;
And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
1-6. Thanksgiving and celebration of the Father, that He has helped Him. P. P.
2. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of
the miry clay;
And he 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 Jehovah.
4. Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust,
And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside
to lies.
5. Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works
which thou hast done,
And thy thoughts which are to us-ward!
They cannot be set in order unto thee;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
3. A pit is the vastation of falsity, and in the abstract sense falsity. A. 4728.
The desolation and vastation of the man of the church, or of the church in man, was represented by the captivity of the Jewish people in Babylon, and the raising up of the church by the return from that captivity, as described in Jeremiah throughout, especially chapter xxxii. 37 to the end. Desolation is captivity, man then being kept as it were bound, wherefore too by those who are bound, in prison, and in a pit are signified those who are in desolation. A. 5376.
Clay is evil from which is falsity. A. 6669.
Jehovah is called the rock, and then is understood the Lord as to faith. - A. 8581.
By the pit of devastation is signified the false of doctrine, and by the mire of clay evil of life. By setting his feet upon a rock is signified to cause him to live according to Divine truths, for by a rock is also signified the truth of doctrine from the Word, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine truth. E. 666.
See Psalm xviii. 3, 32-47. Inv. 35.
3, 4. It is evident that a song means glorification of the Lord on account of liberation, for songs involved gladness of heart, and exaltation of the Lord — gladness of heart on account of the Lord's coming and salvation thereby, and exaltation on account of victory over spiritual enemies. A. 8261.
7, 8. From these passages it is now manifest that sacrifices were not commanded, but permitted, also that nothing
else was regarded in the sacrifices but the internal, and that it was the internal, not the external, that was acceptable. A. 2180.
It is evident that presents offered to the Lord were testifications of such things as are offered by the heart, which are the things of faith and charity. A. 9293.
7-9. He came into the world, as is written in the Word, that He might do the will of the Father. P. P.
7. 9. It is evident what sacrifices and burnt-offerings are where there is no charity and faith. See Amos v. 22, 24:
Hosea vi. 6. A. 922.
The sons of Israel would have believed and acted altogether otherwise, if they had been willing to receive the doctrine of love and of faith to the Lord, and of charity toward the neighbour. In this case they would have known and believed that burnt-offerings, sacrifices, meat offerings, libations, and eating of sacrifices did not purify them from any guilt or sin, but that they were purified by the worship of God, and repentance from the heart. A. 9409.
7. Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll 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 proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the
great assembly;
Lo, I will not refrain my lips,
Jehovah, thou knowest.
8. The Word is meant by the book. R. 256.
Here as in other places of the Word where a book is mentioned, a volume or scroll is thereby understood, for in ancient times they wrote upon parchments, which were rolled together, and the parchment was called a book. E. 299.
Some passages concerning the coming of the Lord collected from the prophesies of the Old Word, Genesis iii. 14, 15; xlix. 10: Numbers xxiv. 17. Coro. 60.
9. The expression good pleasure in the Hebrew tongue also signifies will, for whatever is done according to the will is well pleasing. To do the good pleasure of Jehovah God signifies to live according to His precepts. This is His good pleasure or will because from Divine love He wills that all may be saved, and by it they are saved. E. 295.
By the bowels — inward parts — are signified the interiors of the thought. E. 622.
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 assembly.
11. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O
Jehovah;
Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve
me.
12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about;
Mine iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not
able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
And my heart hath failed me.
13. Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver me:
Make haste to help me, O Jehovah.
14. Let them be put to shame and confounded together
That seek after my soul to destroy it:
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor
That delight in my hurt.
15. Let them be desolate by reason of their shame
That say unto me, Aha, aha.
10, 11. He also preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, and taught. P. P.
12. See Psalm xxv. 10. A. 6180.
13-16, 18. Trust from His Divine against those who purpose to put Him to death. P. P.
16. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: Let such as love thy salvation say continually, Jehovah be magnified.
17. And let those who worship the Lord rejoice in Him. P. P.
To rejoice and to be glad signifies to have delight of the affection of the heart and the soul. Delight of the affection of the heart is of the will, and delight of the affection of the soul is of the understanding. R. 507.
To rejoice is predicated of good and its love or affection, and to be glad is predicated of truth and of its love or affection. E. 660.
18. The needy denote those who are in little truth, and the poor those who are in little of good, and are infested by evils and falses. See also Psalm xxxv. 10. A. 9209.
See Psalm ix. 19. R. 209.
By the miserable and poor are not understood those who are so as to worldly riches, but as to spiritual riches, since David spoke this concerning himself. E. 238.
Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)
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