A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Psalm 40

Psalm 40 is read especially through the theme of wisdom, within Book I (Psalms 1–41). Its language invites attentive prayer before quick application.

WisdomJusticeTrust & Refuge
Old Testament

Psalm 40

1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me, and heard my cry.

2He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.

3He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.

5Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.

6Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.

7Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll.

8I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”

9I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.

10I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.

11Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, LORD. Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.

12For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart has failed me.

13Be pleased, LORD, to deliver me. Hurry to help me, LORD.

14Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.

15Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”

16Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let the LORD be exalted!”

17But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.

READ IN CONTEXT

Understanding Psalm 40

Psalm 40 is read especially through the theme of wisdom, within Book I (Psalms 1–41). Its language invites attentive prayer before quick application. Read it within the complete five-book Psalms collection, then compare its prayer language with the types of prayer found across Scripture. Classification is a reading aid rather than a replacement for the Psalm's own movement and tension.

Collection

Book I (Psalms 1–41). The five-book shape of the Psalter helps readers hear individual prayers within a deliberately arranged collection.

Themes detected

Wisdom, Justice, Trust & Refuge. Read for these themes while remaining open to tension and secondary movements.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Psalm 40

Psalm 40 contains 17 verses and about 383 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me, and heard my cry.” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 17 closes: “But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include offering, heart, turned, brought, trust, such. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Psalm 40

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Psalms 40:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

What kind of Psalm is this?+

Our reading profile emphasizes wisdom, with related themes of Wisdom, Justice, Trust & Refuge. Many Psalms blend genres or move between moods, so this label is a guide rather than a rigid classification.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer