Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” 9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly. 11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. 12 For 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; therefore my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me! —Psalm 40:6-13
These verses contain humbling admissions by David regarding his failed desires to do God’s will despite the fact that he wanted to do so. When surrounded by evil, his iniquities took control, and now he cries out to the Lord for deliverance.
Have you ever been there? David pleads from the depths of his heart, and, despite his transgressions, the Holy Spirit leads him to write words that could also apply to the Messiah! (Note: verse 12 could never be applied to Jesus, because our Savior was perfect in every way, including being perfectly sinless.) But these verses do reestablish the truth that everything of eternal significance God has already done for us in Christ.
David affirms that he delights to do the Father’s will and that he holds God’s Word within his heart. This indicates a transformation in David by the Word of God and he is a different person who now loves doing whatever the Lord asks him to do. The fact is that life in Christ should be a glorious anthem, not a dutiful dirge!
Paul, in Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “[We] are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” And Peter says that we’re to abstain from fleshly lusts, exhibiting instead honorable conduct even in the face of persecution, that nonbelievers will see and, prayerfully, be led to the Lord themselves (See 1 Peter 2:11-12).
There you have it. The Christian life will be a changed life that exhibits the love of Christ. Once one truly encounters Jesus, a holy life should be the result. But here’s the thing: it won’t be a burden or a chore, because when you hide the Word in your heart and the Holy Spirit lives within you, doing the will of God becomes a delight, not a drag! There will still be some tough times, but as we remember that we’ve moved from the mire to the choir, we’ll carry a new song in our hearts.
And now back to where we began this day’s reading. Once we become Christians, will we never fail God again? Will our lives be perfect and sinless every day? Sadly, the answer is “probably not.” But look again at David’s confession and then his humble cry in verses 12-13, asking God to deliver him and help him. This is our loving Father, who hears our cries and answers our prayers. Do you need to cry out to Him today? He is waiting patiently, and He will hear you. Listen to these beautiful words: “He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Take heart!
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