He’s as Close as the Mention of His Name – Psalm 40

“To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God. Many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-3

Whether David spoke of a horrible pit and miry clay as a metaphor for a place of despair or as a literal muddy pit, we do not know. The narratives about him recorded in 1-2 Samuel do not speak of any time where he was in a pit. It is likely that he is speaking metaphorically. But his words have certainly resonated with faithful others who have indeed been delivered from pits.

Old Testament Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers. Jeremiah the prophet was thrown into a pit by the princes of Jerusalem. There was deep mire in his pit. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ was placed into a tomb after His earthly body died. But in all these cases, each of them were rescued from their pits.

The Lord set David’s feet on a rock. The word “rock” is often used in the Bible as a reference to the Word of God, and as a reference to Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 10:4, the spiritual rock that the Israelites drank from in the wilderness was Christ.

While in his pit, the Lord gave to David a song of praise. Some of the most beautiful hymns of the Church were composed by people who experienced great losses and hardships. They survived their ordeals by looking to the Lord for strength, and His love for them inspired them to compose a song about Him.

David waited patiently for the Lord, and the Lord came through for him. God answered his prayers.

Deliverance from the horrible pit was one miracle. Standing David upon a rock afterward was another. Christ is the rock on which a poor soul may stand fast.

In 1834, Edward Mote composed a hymn entitled, “My hope is Built on Nothing Less.” As Edward walked to his workshop in Holborn, London, the words of a chorus came to his mind. By the end of the day, he had penned four verses of what would become one of the most beloved hymns of all time. The following Sunday, Mote visited a friend whose wife lay ill. As they gathered to sing a hymn and pray together, Mote realized he had forgotten his hymnal. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the verses he had written just days before. The words brought comfort and solace to the ailing woman, and Mote, moved by the impact of his composition, added two more stanzas and had 1,000 copies printed to share with others. [1]

Verse one and the chorus are: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

“Many shall see, and fear, and trust in the Lord.” When it pleased the Father to bruise His Son, and put Him to grief for our sins, He demanded our debt from Him. But then, the Father raised Him from the dead and ascended Him into heaven at His own right hand. Thus, many feared and placed their trust in Jesus Christ. God the Father accepted Christ’s payment for our sin.

“Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” Psalm 40:4

David invited others to make God their hope. Blessed are those who believe in the Lord. He urged us not to give respect to deceitful and proud people... people like the Pharisees. The Pharisees rejected Jesus. They rejected the gift of God’s righteousness, that is, Christ. They assumed that their own righteousness was sufficient, but Jesus told His listeners that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees, they would not enter the kingdom of God.

“Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done. Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” Psalm 40:5

God’s wonderful works are indeed many. Of the short time that Jesus ministered in-person on earth, John wrote in John 21:25, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.”

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire. My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book, it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.’” Psalm 40:6-8

This Psalm expresses the feelings of Christ. His ears were open to the Father’s voice. He delighted to do His Father’s will. God’s law was in His heart. He preached good news to the poor, and did not hold back. He demonstrated the lovingkindness of God and always spoke the truth. Christ’s suffering is our example, and His deliverance our encouragement. [2]

In Hebrews 10:5, Paul quoted Psalms 40:6 as the words of Christ. He wrote, “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,’” then, Paul added, “but a body You have prepared for Me.” The Heavenly Father gave to His Son a human body so that His body could be the perfect, untainted by sin, body sacrificed for the sins of the world.

The Old Testament sacrifices were a foreshadow of the Messiah that was to come. Jesus Christ offered His body for our sins because it was God’s will. Paul wrote in Hebrews 10:10, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

In Matthew 12:12, Jesus said, “Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?” People are of more value to God than sheep. Thus, God offered His Son to pay the price for human sin. In 1 Peter 1:18-20, the Apostle Peter wrote, “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

“I have proclaimed the Good News of righteousness in the great assembly. Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. 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.” Psalm 40:9-10

The work of a prophet is to proclaim the good news of God’s righteousness to people. Before Jesus ascended to the Father, He commissioned His followers to preach His Gospel to all nations. Thus, in Acts 2:9-11, on the Day of Pentecost, when people from many nations gathered to hear the apostles speak, the apostles spoke of the wonderful works of God. In Acts 2:37-38, when people asked the apostles what they should do, Peter answered, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Like David, they had proclaimed the truth about God’s faithfulness and lovingkindness amidst a great assembly. The goal they sought to accomplish was that people would repent, be baptized into Jesus and to receive the Holy Spirit. The goal of a prophet is to see people transformed by the power of God.

God imputes and imparts His righteousness to all who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. And what is our faith but receptivity! Our faith receives Christ and all that He has done for us, including the pouring out of His Holy Spirit into us.

How was the Gospel preached in the Book of Acts? The answer is freely and openly. The early Christians did not refrain from speaking it. They did not hide or conceal it.

“Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.” Psalm 40:11

God did not withhold His tender mercies from us. Romans 8:32 confirms that God is generous with us: “Since He [God] did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” In Luke 12:32, Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

“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.” Psalm 40:12

The Lord revealed to David how evil sin was in His sight. God’s Word and Spirit made David very conscientious. Like the publican in Luke 18:13, he dared not even lift his eyes toward heaven as long as he felt sinful. His sins were more than the hairs on his head. His heart was discouraged.

“Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me! Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life. Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, ‘Aha, aha!’” Psalm 40:13-15

The Lord is pleased to deliver us, and to do it quickly. Have we asked Him to intervene? In James 1:6-8, the Lord says to ask Him “in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

The Lord says in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Do we come to God with doubts? Do we assume that it is worthless to seek Him? In Job 21:15, he described the wicked as those who say, “Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?”

Our Lord Jesus was beaten, flogged, crucified and buried, and then, three days later He was up and walking among His disciples and telling them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. After He appeared to over 500 people during a period of 40 days, He ascended into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. What more do we need than Jesus? One plus Jesus is a majority.

In 1 Corinthians 15:57, Paul wrote, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In 2 Corinthians 2:14, he wrote, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.” In Colossians 2:14-16, Paul wrote that Christ wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He took them out of the way, having nailed them to the cross. Christ disarmed principalities and powers. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it [the cross].

“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. Let such as love Your salvation say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified!’” Psalm 40:16

Those that seek the Lord do rejoice and are glad in Him. Our Lord Jesus is wonderful! Jesus fills those who love Him with exceedingly great joy, so we want to say, “The Lord be magnified!”

“But I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God.” Psalm 40:17

In contrast with the Lord’s majestic grandeur and mighty power, David saw himself as poor and needy. God was able to do so much more for and through him when he asked the Lord for help and deliverance. David enjoyed the blessed assurance that the Lord was thinking about him, and that the Lord was as close to him as the mention of His Name.

“He’s As Close As the Mention of His Name” is a chorus written by songwriter Gordon Jensen. It proclaims Christ’s constant presence and availability. The first verse and chorus declare, “In the very thought of Jesus His presence can be found. He’s as close as the mention of His Name. There is never any distance between my Lord and me. He’s as close as the mention of His Name. He’s as close as the mention of His Name, Jesus, Jesus.” [3] Amen!


[1] hymncharts.com/2024/04/08/the-story-behind-the-solid-rock/
[2] Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary
[3] Google Sources