“A determination that is worthy of imitation”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, May 13, 2022

Psalm 40 (Forward, p. 15) CEV p. 578

Whoa. Here I am going against my own advice. Or, to be more correct, here is one of the earliest Christians doing exactly that. And, what is my advice? It is never to take a verse or verses out of context or to use them in a setting or situation different from the original one.

So, here today we have a psalm of David, wherein, in verses 6-8 he says:

“Sacrifices and offerings are not what please you; gifts and payment for sin are not what you demand. But you made me willing to listen and obey. And so, I said, ‘I am here to what is written about me in the book where it says, ‘I enjoy pleasing you. Your Law is in my heart.’”

The Good News Bible renders it a slightly different way: “You do not want sacrifices and offerings; you do not ask for animals burnt whole on the altar or for sacrifices to take away sins. Instead, you have given me ears to hear you, and so I answered, ‘Here I am: your instructions for me are in the book in the Law. How I love to do your will, my God! I keep your teaching in my heart.’”

Interestingly, and somewhat surprisingly, these same verses, albeit in a somewhat adapted form, show up in the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 10:5-10), here attributed, not to David, but to Jesus:

“For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God:

‘You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me. You are not pleased with animals burnt whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins. Then I said, ‘Here I am, to do your will, O God, just as it is written of me in the book in the Law’”.

“First he said, ‘You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings, or with animals burnt on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.’ He said this even though all these sacrifices ae offered according to the Lord. Then he said, ‘Here I am, O God, to do your will.’ So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.”

So, let us compare the two contexts and the two rather different messages that they are meant to convey. In the original Psalm 40, attributed to David, there is no indication that its author is able to fully adhere to the Law, fully able to keep it and obey it in its entirety. In fact, later on he freely admits his sin, his failure to keep that Law:

“I have more troubles that I can count. My sins are all around me, and I can’t find my way. My sins outnumber the hairs on my head, and I feel weak” (verse 12).

So, in spite of (or perhaps, because of) his weakness and his failure to keep the Law, David is all the more determined. And, as he indicates, it is not those outward expressions of obedience and worship, things like literal sacrifices or offerings—which may be faked or insincere—but the attitude of the heart, that really matters!

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews takes that idea for a ‘slightly different spin’. In quoting these verses from Psalm 40, he uses them to declare that sacrifices and offerings aren’t important in the long run, not because they may be faked or insincere—but because they don’t ‘do the job.’ They don’t really provide the atonement for our sins that we need. And here the resolute determination of Jesus’ to fulfill God’s purposes, God’s will—which He is able to do more thoroughly and completely than David could ever do, makes that atonement complete.

Nevertheless, I think that this shared determination, this firm resolve, to follow God’s Law and keep it, whether on the part of Jesus or on the part of David, is something well worth imitating. Jesus was determined to do so—and was able to do so--armed with the very same resources as we have. And David was likewise so determined, even though he knew fully well that he would, and did, flub it at times. I think that both men are great examples for us to imitate. Amen.

Forward notes: “Happy are they who trust in the LORD!” (verse 4a)

“Our daughter, Kate, is an ICU nurse, and through the years, she has seen many families on her floor, all in fear and trepidation and grief. One afternoon, she noticed a woman in the hall and asked her how she was doing. She replied that she was okay. Kate responded, gently explaining that it was okay not to be okay, especially since her husband had two brain surgeries in less than twenty-four hours. The woman answered, ‘I’m okay because I know that God is sovereign in my uncertain future. I would like my husband of thirty-three years to be part of my uncertain future, but I know that God is sovereign.’

“Through Kate, I have also had the joy of getting to know this faithful servant of God. She told me that the morning before her husband fell off a ladder, she had been praying to be more trusting of the Lord in uncertainty. That is another way of asking for God’s grace to be with us.”

Moving Forward: “What can you hand over to God today, in trust?