✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Salmos 40

ARC · Chapter 40/150

1Esperei com paciencia ao Senhor, e elle se inclinou para mim, e ouviu o meu clamor.

2Tirou-me d'um lago horrivel, d'um charco de lodo, poz os meus pés sobre uma rocha, firmou os meus passos,

3E poz um novo cantico na minha bocca, um hymno ao nosso Deus; muitos o verão, e temerão, e confiarão no Senhor.

4Bemaventurado o homem que põe no Senhor a sua confiança, e o que não respeita os soberbos nem os que se desviam para a mentira.

5Muitas são, Senhor meu Deus, as maravilhas que tens obrado para comnosco, e os teus pensamentos não se podem contar por ordem diante de ti; se eu os quizera annunciar, e d'elles fallar, são mais do que se podem contar.

6Sacrificio e offerta não quizeste; as minhas orelhas abriste, holocausto e expiação pelo peccado não reclamaste.

7Então disse: Eis aqui venho; no rolo do livro de mim está escripto.

8Deleito-me em fazer a tua vontade, ó Deus meu; sim, a tua lei está dentro do meu coração.

9Préguei a justiça na grande congregação; eis-que não retive os meus labios, Senhor, tu o sabes.

10Não escondi a tua justiça dentro do meu coração; apregoei a tua fidelidade e a tua salvação: não escondi da grande congregação a tua benignidade e a tua verdade.

11Não retires de mim, Senhor, as tuas misericordias; guardem-me continuamente a tua benignidade e a tua verdade.

12Porque males sem numero me teem rodeado: as minhas iniquidades me prenderam de modo que não posso olhar para cima: são muitas mais dos que os cabellos da minha cabeça; pelo que desfallece o meu coração.

13Digna-te, Senhor, livrar-me: Senhor, apressa-te em meu auxilio.

14Sejam á uma confundidos e envergonhados os que buscam a minha vida para destruil-a; tornem atraz e confundam-se os que me querem mal.

15Desolados sejam em pago da sua affronta os que me dizem: Ha! Ha!

16Folguem e alegrem-se em ti os que te buscam: digam constantemente os que amam a tua salvação: Magnificado seja o Senhor.

17Mas eu sou pobre e necessitado; comtudo o Senhor cuida de mim: tu és o meu auxilio e o meu libertador; não te detenhas, ó meu Deus.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David celebrates being lifted out of a 'horrible pit' of mire and given a new song to sing, declares that God prefers obedience over sacrifices, and closes with an urgent plea for help amid new troubles.

Explanation

The psalm has two distinct parts: praise for a past deliverance (v.1-10) and an urgent plea for help in the present (v.11-17), showing how a life of faith alternates between gratitude for past victories and renewed need for rescue. The phrase 'sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire... lo, I come' is quoted in Hebrews 10:5-7 as a prophetic reference to Christ's willingness to fulfill God's will beyond religious rituals. Today's application: sincere obedience is worth more than empty religious rituals, and it is legitimate to bring God both gratitude for the past and urgent requests for the present in the very same moment of prayer.

Fun facts

  • Verses 6-8 are quoted in Hebrews 10:5-7 and applied to Christ, who came to do God's will 'in the volume of the book' — one of the most direct connections between a Davidic psalm and the theology of Jesus's sacrifice.
  • The closing verses of this psalm (13-17) reappear almost identically as an independent psalm, Psalm 70, suggesting that portions of psalms could circulate separately before being compiled into the final collection.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 40:1Opens the psalm with a testimony of patient waiting: the answer wasn’t instant, but it came, with God bending down to hear the cry.
  2. Salmos 40:2Describes the rescue with a very physical image: pulled out of a horrible pit full of mud that trapped his feet, and set on a firm rock where his steps gain security.
  3. Salmos 40:3The result of this rescue is a new song, and this testimony doesn’t stay hidden: other people will see and, because of it, will also come to trust in God.
  4. Salmos 40:4Declares happy whoever places their trust in God, in contrast to whoever pays attention to the proud or those who turn aside to lies.
  5. Salmos 40:5Describes an impossible attempt: trying to count all of God’s wonders and thoughts is like trying to count something beyond any number that exists.
  6. Salmos 40:6This phrase is puzzling even in the original Hebrew: it may point to the custom of piercing the ear of a servant who chose to keep serving his master out of love, not obligation. That’s why the idea of voluntary obedience appears right after.
  7. Salmos 40:7A response of total availability: “Lo, I come”, as though his own life were already written beforehand in a book, a verse Hebrews later applies to Christ.
  8. Salmos 40:8Describes obedience not as a burden, but as genuine delight, with God’s law kept within his heart, not just memorized on the outside.
  9. Salmos 40:9Describes a commitment to proclaiming righteousness publicly, without keeping silent or holding back his lips before the assembly.
  10. Salmos 40:10Reinforces the same commitment: faithfulness, salvation, kindness, and truth, all of it announced publicly, hiding nothing from the assembly.
  11. Salmos 40:11After so much proclaiming God’s faithfulness, he asks that this same mercy keep being his constant guard, never withdrawn.
  12. Salmos 40:12Counting his own sins like strands of hair is hyperbole to describe a feeling of being completely buried under guilt, unable even to see the path ahead.
  13. Salmos 40:13Shifts tone, from a testimony of gratitude to an urgent plea for help, almost identical to the opening of Psalm 70, which repeats this same appeal.
  14. Salmos 40:14Asks that the enemies seeking to destroy his life be put to shame and forced to retreat, the common pattern of poetic justice in laments.
  15. Salmos 40:15Asks that whoever mocks him with jeers of scorn receive back, in the form of desolation, the same size of the insult they caused.
  16. Salmos 40:16Draws the expected contrast: while asking desolation for the mockers, he wishes constant joy for whoever seeks God and loves the salvation He offers.
  17. Salmos 40:17Closes the psalm with honest humility: even poor and needy, he knows God cares for him, and ends by asking that this help not delay.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play