The Sin-Bearer's Plea Text: Psalm 40:11-17
Introduction: The Voice of the Messiah
There are psalms that are messianic by implication, and then there are psalms that are messianic by divine revelation. This fortieth psalm is emphatically in the latter category. The author of Hebrews takes a portion of this psalm, verses 6 through 8, and places it directly into the mouth of the Lord Jesus as He comes into the world (Heb. 10:5-7). This act of inspired interpretation gives us the key to the entire psalm. We are not just listening to David in a moment of distress; we are being given a window into the heart of the Messiah in the midst of His great work of redemption.
The psalm is structured in three movements. The first part is a testimony of past deliverance (vv. 1-3). The second is a meditation on the present goodness and faithfulness of God, culminating in the great declaration of Christ's incarnation to do God's will (vv. 4-10). And this brings us to the third and final section, our text for this morning, which is a raw and desperate prayer for future deliverance (vv. 11-17).
And it is here, in this final section, that we run into a profound theological collision. The one who just declared His delight to do God's will, the one who is the embodiment of righteousness, now cries out that His iniquities have overtaken Him. How can this be? How can the sinless Son of God speak this way? The answer is at the very heart of the gospel. It is the great doctrine of imputation. Christ, on the cross, was not a sinner, but He was treated as sin itself. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. Therefore, when we read these verses, we are not reading the confession of a sinner seeking justification, but rather the cry of the sin-bearer seeking vindication.
This passage teaches us the true nature of Christ's suffering. It was not merely physical pain. It was the unfathomable spiritual agony of bearing the weight of the world's sin. And in this agony, He prays. He pleads on the basis of God's character, He confesses the sins He has taken as His own, He calls for justice against His enemies, and He points to the ultimate purpose of it all: the magnification of God's name. This is the prayer from the bottom of the pit, and because He prayed it, we are brought out of that pit with Him.
The Text
You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me. For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me. Be pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me; Make haste, O Yahweh, to help me. Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to sweep it away; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in evil against me. Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!” Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Yahweh be magnified!” As for me, I am afflicted and needy, May the Lord think of me. You are my help and the One who rescues me; Do not delay, O my God.
(Psalm 40:11-17 LSB)
The Foundation of the Plea (v. 11)
The prayer begins not with the problem, but with the character of God. This is where all true prayer must begin.
"You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me." (Psalm 40:11)
The psalmist, speaking prophetically for Christ, anchors his plea in the covenant faithfulness of God. He appeals to God's compassion, His tender mercies. But he specifies two attributes that serve as twin guardians: lovingkindness and truth. In Hebrew, this is hesed and emet. This is the great summary of God's covenant character revealed to Moses in Exodus 34. Hesed is covenant loyalty, steadfast love, grace that will not let go. Emet is faithfulness, reliability, truth. Christ, in His suffering, appeals to the very nature of His Father. It is as if He is saying, "You must act on my behalf, because to fail to do so would be to deny Yourself." This is not the prayer of someone hoping God might be in a good mood. It is a prayer of absolute confidence, rooted in the unchangeable nature of Yahweh. This is the foundation upon which the entire substitutionary atonement rests. God is both just and the justifier because His hesed and emet meet at the cross.
The Crushing Weight of Imputed Sin (v. 12)
Here we come to the theological heart of the passage, the verse that can only be fully understood in light of the cross.
"For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me." (Psalm 40:12)
David could certainly have prayed this about his own sin, and we can as well. But remember, the New Testament applies this psalm to the sinless Christ. How then does He say, "My iniquities have overtaken me"? The answer is imputation. God "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21). On the cross, our sins were legally and judicially credited to Christ's account. They were not His by action, but they became His by imputation. He took them upon Himself in an obedient embrace and died under their curse.
The imagery here is overwhelming. "Evils beyond number," like a swarming army, have surrounded Him. "My iniquities have overtaken me," as though He is a runner in a race who has been caught from behind and tackled by the guilt of the world. The result is blindness: "I am not able to see." This is the spiritual darkness of the cross, when the Father turned His face away. The number of these sins is beyond calculation, "more numerous than the hairs of my head." Think of it. Every lustful thought, every bitter word, every act of rebellion from every person who would ever be saved, all of it was piled upon Him. And the result? "My heart has failed me." This is the cry of dereliction from the center of the storm. This is Gethsemane. This is Golgotha. This is the cost of our salvation.
The Cry for Help (v. 13)
Out of this darkness and overwhelming weight, the plea becomes sharp and urgent.
"Be pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me; Make haste, O Yahweh, to help me." (Psalm 40:13)
This is not a calm, stoic acceptance of fate. This is a real cry from a real man in real agony. "Be pleased," or "Delight to deliver me." It is an appeal to God's good pleasure. And then, "Make haste... to help me." Godly prayer is not always quiet and measured. There are times for loud cries and tears, as our Lord offered up in the days of His flesh (Heb. 5:7). This is a reminder that in our own deepest trials, we are not called to a passionless resignation, but to a passionate and honest pleading with our Father, who is eager to help.
The Prayer for Justice (vv. 14-15)
The prayer now turns outward, toward the enemies who are persecuting God's anointed one. These are imprecatory verses, and they are essential to a robust biblical piety.
"Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to sweep it away; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in evil against me. Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”" (Psalm 40:14-15)
This is not a prayer for personal revenge. It is a prayer for the vindication of God's righteousness. The enemies described here are not casual opponents; they are those who "seek my life" and who "delight in evil." Their taunt, "Aha, aha!" is the mocking jeer of those who believe God has abandoned His servant. We hear the echo of this at the cross: "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him" (Matt. 27:43). The prayer is that their wicked plans would be turned back on them, resulting in shame, humiliation, and dishonor. This is simply a prayer for justice. It is a prayer that God would do what He has promised to do, which is to defend the righteous and confound the wicked. To refuse to pray such prayers is to be more sentimental than God, and to be indifferent to the public triumph of evil.
The Ultimate Goal: God's Glory (v. 16)
The psalm now pivots from the fate of the wicked to the joy of the redeemed. This is the great purpose behind the suffering and the deliverance.
"Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Yahweh be magnified!”" (Psalm 40:16)
This is the glorious result of Christ's work. The deliverance of the Messiah is not a private affair. It is the basis for the corporate joy of all of God's people. Those who "seek" God and "love His salvation" are given two commands. First, to "rejoice and be glad." Christian joy is not an optional extra; it is a central command. Our joy is a weapon. Second, they are to have a new, continual confession on their lips: "Yahweh be magnified!" The goal of salvation is doxology. God saves us for His own glory. He pulls us out of the pit so that we might spend eternity shouting about how great He is. This is the chief end of man, and it is the chief end of the atonement.
The Humble Trust of the Savior (v. 17)
The psalm concludes with a final, poignant expression of dependence and trust.
"As for me, I am afflicted and needy, May the Lord think of me. You are my help and the One who rescues me; Do not delay, O my God." (Psalm 40:17)
The Messiah, the King of glory, identifies Himself as "afflicted and needy." This is the great paradox of the incarnation. He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). His plea, "May the Lord think of me," is not a cry of doubt, but a profound statement of humble trust. In the midst of abandonment, He casts Himself on the faithfulness of God. He concludes by reaffirming the truth with which he began: "You are my help and the One who rescues me." The final cry, "Do not delay, O my God," is the cry of faith, holding on to the promise of resurrection, the promise of vindication that lies just on the other side of the cross.
And God did not delay. On the third day, He raised Him from the dead, answered this prayer definitively, and magnified His own name through the salvation of His Son. Because Christ was afflicted and needy, we who are afflicted and needy can come to Him. Because His heart failed under the weight of our iniquities, our hearts can be made new. And because He prayed this prayer, we can join the great congregation of those who love His salvation and say continually, "Yahweh be magnified!"