Psalm_40
Scripture
Psalm 40:6
“Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.”
Observation - What does it say?
This Psalm of David may have been written toward the end of his life, as he was getting ready to pass on his legacy to Solomon. It is written as a praise to God for rescuing him (vs 1-3). He goes on to praise the character of God (vs 4-8) and acknowledges his continued need for God’s rescuing (vs 12-17). In verse six we get a glimpse of the freedom that we find when Jesus came and fulfilled the law.
Understanding - What does it mean?
I remember hearing the sound of my mom’s voice ringing out from down the street. “TYLER!!!!” She didn’t sound happy. Right at that moment, the branch of the tree I was climbing snapped and I landed flat on my back. Now the nice clothes I was wearing were dirty, I was in pain, and I knew I was in trouble because I had gone exploring on the hill around the corner from our house. The very thing my mom had told me not to do, because we had somewhere to be.
Flash forward about twenty-five years. As we are getting ready to walk out the door for church, I look in the backyard, muddy from the recent rain, and I see my youngest and oldest son who are now filthy. They had been clean only minutes prior. I lost it, at no point had I told them they could go outside. All I wanted from my boys was to follow directions. Then I remembered that moment when I fell out of the tree. I laughed and changed my tone towards my kids. Being that I have been in that position before, I was able to be forgiving.
God doesn’t want a sacrifice that means nothing, He wants our obedience. But we learn from this Psalm, that we will always be dependent on God’s grace in our lives. We will never quite be able to overcome the sin in our life. Because of this, God has also called us to be compassionate towards others (Isaiah 58:5-9). Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for us not being able to follow directions. Knowing this, the author of Hebrews calls on us to persevere in our faith (Hebrews 10), because God is always faithful (2 Tim 2:13).
Life Application