Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 40:1

"I waited patiently for Jehovah; And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." — Psalms 40:1 (ASV)

I waited patiently for the Lord — Margin, as in Hebrew, “In waiting I waited.” This means, “I continued to wait.” It was not a single, momentary act of expectation or hope; it was continuous, or persevered in.

The idea is that his prayer was not answered at once, but after he had made repeated prayers, or when it seemed as if his prayers would not be answered. It is earnest, persevering prayer that is referred to—continued supplication and hope when there seemed to be no answer to prayer and no prospect that it would be answered.

And he inclined to me — This means, ultimately he heard and answered me, or he turned himself favorably toward me, as the result of “persevering” prayer. The word “inclined” here properly means “bowed;” that is, he “bent forward” to listen, or to place his ear near my mouth and to hear me. At first, he seemed as one who would not hear; as one who throws his head backward or turns his head away. Ultimately, however, he bent forward to receive my prayer.

And heard my cry — This refers to the cry or supplication I made for help, the cry I directed to him in the depth of my sorrows and my danger (Psalms 40:2). As applied to the Redeemer, this would refer to the fact that in his sorrows—in the deep sorrows connected with the work of redemption—he persevered in calling on God, and that God heard him and raised him up to glory and joy. See Matthew 26:36-46. Compare the notes at Hebrews 5:7.

The time supposed to be referred to is after his sufferings were closed, after his work was done, “after” he rose from the dead.

It is the language of grateful remembrance which we may suppose he uttered in reviewing the amazing sorrows through which he had passed in making the atonement, and in recollecting that God had kept him in those sorrows and had brought him up from such a depth of woe to such a height of glory.