He stooped and heard my cry, Psalm 40

Psalm 40: 1-3, 17-19

1	I waited patiently upon the LORD; * he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2	He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; * he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3	He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; * many shall see, and stand in awe, and put their trust in the LORD.

17	Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad; * let those who love your salvation continually say, "Great is the LORD!"
18	Though I am poor and afflicted, * the Lord will have regard for me.
19	You are my helper and my deliverer; * do not tarry, O my God.

The psalmist reminds us that within the Old Testament tradition the Lord was counted on to "stoop" down to us, and to hear our cry.  When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, the Lord heard their cries and gave them a deliverer - an unlikely leader, one who was slow in speech, a murderer on the run - Moses.  God heard their cries, and stooped down to them, and offered them a deliverer, aided ably by his brother Aaron and so began that central story of the Exodus which has inspired so many people to rise up against slavery and injustice.

The psalmist reminds us that there is a long story of redemption, of giving freedom and new life to people through the actions of a loving God who is active and generous.  In Jesus we have another deliverer, one writ large upon the canvas of the universe.  In Jesus we have an even more unlikely deliverer, an even more unlikely redeemer.  In Jesus, God stoops down not only to hear and rescue, but stoops down to become human, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us - but in doing this work of Incarnation, God has written a new story, a new story of redemption, of delivering us to new life, of sparking the onset of the Kingdom of God.

The psalmist reminds us that this "stooping" by God is in God's nature, that God is loving and merciful and that we will not live in the mire of the pit for long.  God hears our cries, and has already provided a way out.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

He put a new song in my mouth - Psalm 40

"he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure"

Thoughts on the Psalm from this morning's Morning Prayer, Psalm 40...


While we are deep in the midst of the season of Pentecost, Ordinary Time, we are also always in a season of expectation, a season of Advent, a season of expectation. We are in a season of some unrest, .... unrest economically, unrest politically, unrest in the world situation, unrest in our hearts, unrest in our homes, in the mist of this ordinary season of unrest and expectation we are called to "wait patiently upon the Lord"....for the Lord will "lift us out of the desolate pit and make our feet sure."

God will provide, even, and especially, when we are in the midst of the pit, God will provide. Not only that, the story of our Faith is of a God who sends a Son, a God who stoops down to our desolate, ordinary level, who reaches down to us and cares for us, picks us up and "puts a new song in our mouths!"

Thanks be to God!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey



Psalm 40 Expectans, expectavi

1 I waited patiently upon the LORD; *
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; *
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God; *
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are they who trust in the LORD! *
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
5 Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us! *
there is none who can be compared with you.
6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! *
but they are more than I can count.
7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure *
(you have given me ears to hear you);
8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required, *
and so I said, "Behold, I come.
9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me: *
'I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in my heart.'"
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation; *
behold, I did not restrain my lips;
and that, O LORD, you know.
11 Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; *
I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.
12 You are the LORD;
do not withhold your compassion from me; *
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,
13 For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see; *
they are more in number than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.
14 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; *
O LORD, make haste to help me.
15 Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed
who seek after my life to destroy it; *
let them draw back and be disgraced who take pleasure in my misfortune.
16 Let those who say "Aha!" and gloat over me be confounded, *
because they are ashamed.
17 Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad; *
let those who love your salvation continually say,
"Great is the LORD!"
18 Though I am poor and afflicted, *
the Lord will have regard for me.
19 You are my helper and my deliverer; *
do not tarry, O my God.