John Gill Commentary Psalms 40

I waited patiently for the Lord
Or "waiting I waited" {i}; which denotes continuance, constancy, and patience; and which Christ exercised in the garden, when he submitted himself entirely to the will of God; and on the cross, when he continued in sure hope and firm expectation of his help and assistance, though he was for a while forsaken by him; see (Isaiah 50:7–9) ;

and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry ;
both in the garden, by delivering him from fear of death; and on the cross, by upholding, helping, and assisting him, by carrying him through his sufferings and death, and raising him from the dead; see (Isaiah 49:8) (Hebrews 5:7) .

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit
Which, with the following phrase,

out of the miry clay ,
expresses the state and condition Christ was in at the time of his bloody sweat, his crucifixion, and his lying in "sheol", the pit or grave, sometimes rendered hell, which these figurative phrases fitly signify; when it is observed, that he was made sin, and had the sins of all his people on him; and, as the type of Joshua, was clothed with their filthy garments; he might be truly said to be in the miry clay; and also that he was made a curse for them, and bore the wrath of God in their room and stead; and was forsaken by his God and Father, and so endured both the punishment of loss and sense, and what was tantamount to the sufferings of the damned in hell; see (Psalms 69:1Psalms 69:2) ; to which may be added the noisy insults of malignant men, and the infernal fiends, who surrounded him on the cross; when he was in an horrible, or "noisy pit", as the words may be rendered ^F11 , the allusion being to subterraneous caverns or pits, in which the falls of water make so horrible a noise as is intolerable; or to deep pits, into which anything cast makes a great sound:

and the issue of all this was, that he was laid in the pit of the grave, and held under the power and with the cords of death; from all which he was delivered when he was raised from the dead, justified in the Spirit, and glorified in the human nature by his God and Father;

and set my feet upon a rock ;
on Mount Zion in heaven, whither he was carried up after his resurrection; where he will remain until his second coming, being set down at the right hand of God, in a most stable, firm, and unalterable state, as well as an honourable one; for he will die no more, and death shall no more have dominion over him;

[and] established my goings ;
in treading the path of life, which was shown him at his resurrection; in passing through the air, the territory of Satan, at his ascension; and in his entrance into his glory, and making his way to his Father's right hand and throne.

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: (Nwav rwbm) "e cisterna sonitus", Pagninus, Montanus; "strepitus", Vatablus, the Targum & Kimchi; and to the same purpose Musculus, Cocceius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "out of the pit of sounding calamity", Ainsworth.

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, [even] praise to our
God
Sung by him in the midst of the great congregation of angels and saints, upon his resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God; see (Psalms 22:22Psalms 22:25) ; when he went to his God and ours, to his Father and ours; and in which song he is joined by all his people above and below, (Revelation 5:9–13) ;

many shall see [it], and fear, and shall trust in the Lord ;
even all the elect of God, as many as are ordained to eternal life; the many whose sins Christ bore, for whom he became a ransom, whom he justifies and brings to glory: these all "see" him in the horrible pit and miry clay, in his state of humiliation, as bearing their sins, and the punishment due unto them; as wounded, bruised, and crucified; as rising again for their justification; and as on Mount Zion crowned with glory and honour; and a multitude of harpers with him, singing the new song; these see the salvation he has wrought out, the glory, fulness, and suitableness of it, and their interest in it; and they "fear" not with a fear of hell and damnation, which is inconsistent with the trust after mentioned; but with a godly and filial fear, which arises from and is encouraged by the grace and goodness of God, their faith in the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and which render him a proper object of trust and confidence; for he is so both as suffering, crucified, and slain, and as risen again, and exalted at the Father's right hand, (Galatians 2:20) (1 Peter 1:22) .

Blessed is the man that makes the Lord his trust
For such are safe and secure in him, are possessed of all blessings of grace through him, have peace in their own souls now, and shall enjoy eternal happiness with him hereafter;

and respects not the proud ;
such as the Pharisees, and all self-righteous persons, who trust in themselves and their own righteousness, submit not to the righteousness of Christ, and despise others; to these such who trust in Christ have no respect; they neither esteem them, nor imitate them;

nor such as turn aside to lies ;
to idols, the lying vanities of the Gentiles; or to any doctrines injurious to the person, office, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and grace of Christ; which are no other than lies, and which those who believe in Christ have no respect to, but abhor both them and the abettors of them.

Many, O Lord my God, [are] your wonderful works [which] you
have done
This is the "new song", as Aben Ezra rightly observes, which is said in (Psalms 40:3) , to be put in the mouth of the Messiah; who sometimes speaks in the plural number, being the representative of his people, and sometimes in the singular; for it is the same person that speaks here who is continued speaking in (Psalms 40:6) , and following; and which are applied to Christ, (Hebrews 10:5) ;

The "works" here said to be done, and to be "many" and "wonderful", are not the creation of the world, the dividing of the sea, and feeding the people of Israel forty years in the wilderness, as Jarchi interprets them; but the incarnation of Christ, redemption by him, the resurrection of him from the dead; regeneration and conversion, and the preservation of the saints from the evil of the world, safe to the kingdom and glory of God; all which, as they are many and various, and display the manifold wisdom and grace of God, so they are marvellous, and will be the subject of the wonder of saints to all eternity.

and your thoughts [which are] to us-ward ;
that is, the decrees of God, as Aben Ezra truly explains them; the purposes, counsels, and intentions of God; which, though mentioned last, are before his works, and are the spring of them: these were in the mind of God from everlasting, were unknown till revealed, were thoughts of peace, and not of evil, and are unfrustrable, and ever fulfilled, and are manifold, precious, and amazing, (Psalms 139:17) ; and these were concerning all the elect of God as considered in Christ, and members of his; and therefore he says to us-ward; and all the works before mentioned were done to them, or for them, and on their account; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret the phrase, "because of us", or "for our sakes"; even the incarnation, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the thoughts of them, were for them;

they cannot be reckoned up in order to you ;
or "there is none who can order them unto you" ^F12 ; there is no power in man to do it, as Aben Ezra observes; or "there is none like unto you", as Jarchi and the Oriental versions; see (Exodus 15:11) (Psalms 89:7) (Isaiah 40:18Isaiah 40:25) ; though this sense seems to break in upon the account of the wonderful works and thoughts of God, which are still designed in the following clause;

[if] I could declare and speak [of them], they are more than can be
numbered ;
that is, by men: from this general account of the many and wonderful works and thoughts of God, the Messiah passes on to take notice of one particular design and work of the Lord, the redemption of his people by the sacrifice of himself.

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: (Kyla Kwre Nya) "non est qui ordinet apud te", Pagninus; "none can count them in order to thee", Ainsworth.