Sermon Text: Psalm 40:6-8
The Song from the Savior’s Own Lips
Penned by David
Fulfilled by Jesus
Celebrated by Christians
Psalm 40
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one
who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”
I expect that you know that some of our most popular Christmas hymns and Christmas carols this time of year are songs that were not exactly written yesterday. Most of them were originally penned hundreds of years ago, some of them more than a thousand years ago. Think about it, for centuries, believers have been singing songs about the one born as Savior of the world. And we’ve been singing right along with them. But you realize, not all of the songs about the Savior were written after Jesus walked the earth. Some were written even before he was born.
That’s right, the Old Testament is filled with passages that describe the life, death and even resurrection of the coming Messiah, in great detail. And because many of those Messianic prophecies are in the psalms, and because many of the Psalms were put to music, you might say that the psalms, in effect, were the hymn book of the Old Testament. That means that believers, in effect, have been singing Christmas carols for 3,000 years. In fact, our text for today is one of those carols. Here in Psalm 40, King David writes, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, about the coming Messiah. But what makes these words especially unique is that even though King David writes as if he’s talking about himself, the New Testament reveals that these words actually apply to Jesus. Or to put it another way, King David writes as if Jesus himself is the one speaking. Or, as we think about our sermon series entitled Bible songs of Christmas, we might say that this song is:
The Song from the Savior’s Own Lips
It’s a song:
Penned by David
Fulfilled by Jesus
Celebrated by Christians
Now, we’re going to focus on verses 6 to 8 of this psalm, but a little background information on this psalm is in order. The heading of this psalm states that this is a Psalm of David, for the director of music. This likely means that David intended that this psalm be put to music, for use in the public worship services of the people of Israel. David begins this psalm acknowledging that God had lifted him out of what he calls “the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire.” Whether that’s a reference to one of the many life-threatening situations that God rescued David from, or whether it was a reference to some kind of spiritual crisis, the bottom line, David says, is that God “set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. (Psalm 40:2-3) In fact, that hymn of praise continues as David writes, Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you have planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. (Psalm 40:5) David realizes that mere words cannot encompass all that God is and has done.
But then David makes a statement that maybe catches us a bit off guard. David says about God, Sacrifice and offerings you did not desire—but my ears you have opened—burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Now maybe we’re thinking, “Wait a minute, what does David mean that God did not require sacrifice and burnt offering from his people?” If you read through the book of Leviticus, you’ll find a whole list of different sacrifices that God required the priest to make for the people, whether it was a sin offering or a guilt offering or a burnt offering or the fellowship offering or the grain offering, and each came with a very specific set of rules that had to be carefully followed and repeated over and over again. And these were not just God’s suggestions; they were a part of his Old Testament law. So why would David say that God doesn’t require sacrifice and burnt offerings?
To answer that, we need to look to the words of the New Testament. In Hebrews, chapter 10, which we read a few minutes ago, the writer describes those Old Testament sacrifices as not the end in themselves, but rather a shadow of what was to come. We read in Hebrews 10:1, The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Did you hear that? It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That’s what David was alluding to here in Psalm 40. He’s saying that even though God commanded that sacrifices be offered up on the altar of the tabernacle, and later, on the altar of the temple, those sacrifices still wouldn’t be enough to take away the sin that infects every human being. Why not? Two reasons. First, because it’s not bulls and goats that are guilty of sin. Animals are not moral creatures. They don’t have a conscience. They live by instinct. They can’t make moral decisions that are in rebellion against God. Human beings can, and we do, all the time. And a just God must hold human beings accountable for such sinful behavior. The Bible says, The one who sins is the one who will die. (Ezekiel 18:20). Ultimately, if a human sins, a human must die.
The second reason that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, as Hebrews puts it, is that even if such blood could temporarily erase past sins, the fact is, God still demands that humans live perfectly sinless lives if we want to live with him forever in heaven. He doesn’t demand perfection from animals, but he does demand it from human beings like you and me. Where did Jesus set the bar when it comes to earning a place with God in heaven? He said, “Be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) That’s what King David is referring to here in Psalm 40. He’s saying that God requires more than animal sacrifices. He demands a perfect human life offered up in exchange for the sins of the world.
The question is, who’s going to offer up that kind of life? King David gives us the answer when he writes, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is written within my heart.” (Psalm 40:7-8) Really? David is offering himself as the one who would live in perfect obedience to God? David’s the one foretold in the scroll? David is the one who would rescue fallen mankind? No, with these words, David is not speaking about himself. He’s speaking about—in fact, he’s speaking as—the promised Messiah. Or to put it another way, this song from the Savior’s lips was I. Penned by David. But ultimately, it was II. Fulfilled by Jesus.
Now someone might ask, “How do you know that these words were actually referring to Jesus? I mean, they were written 1,000 years before Jesus was born.” Again, let’s look at our New Testament reading from Hebrews chapter 10. The writer has already stated that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. He then goes on to say, Therefore when Christ came into the world, he said, (and the writer quotes Psalm 40), “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God. (Hebrews 10:5-7)
Do you see what the writer to the Hebrews is doing there? He’s connecting the dots. He’s saying that the Old Testament sacrifices, which were offered over and over again, and still were not enough to remove sin—they’ve all been replaced by the sacrifice of the one who was enough. And that someone, is of course, Jesus, the perfect Son of God.
In fact, in these words, penned by David and quoted in Hebrews, we find a number of theological truths which are perfectly fulfilled by Christ. For example, when Jesus says to his father, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body prepared for me,” what was Jesus referring to? He was referring to his own incarnation. He’s referring to the fact that even though he was and still is the eternal son of God, he became a human being. He took on the human body that God prepared for him. Jesus took on flesh, so that he could offer it up on the cross of calvary in place of all those bulls and goats.
Secondly, Jesus said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll.” What’s that a reference to? Well, do you remember when Jesus visited the synagogue in Nazareth? He unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) Then he rolls up the scroll and says what? He says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, Jesus says, “That scroll is talking about me. Or in the words of Psalm 40, It is written about me in the scroll. The point is, there is a divine unity, an unbroken continuity across all the pages of scripture. What is foretold in the Old Testament about the Messiah is fulfilled in the New Testament.
One more theological truth about Jesus referenced in these words from the psalm is contained in the words, I have come to do your will, my God. That’s a reference to what is sometimes called Jesus’ active obedience. Jesus came into this world to do everything his Father asked of him. He kept every one of the ten commandments. He carried out the will of his father, including the father’s will that Jesus offer up his life as a sacrifice for all. You think about what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane. “Father, not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42). Or what Jesus said in John 6:38, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me.” And because Jesus carried out that will perfectly, what impact does it have on our lives today? The writer for the Hebrews tells us when he writes, And by that will, (namely, God’s will perfectly fulfilled by Christ), we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. You realize, that’s the Good News. You might call it the Christmas gospel. It’s what King David was looking forward to. It’s what Jesus accomplished. And therefore, it’s III. what you and I as Christians celebrate.
Just think about those words, We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Do you realize what that means? Yes, it means that we don’t have to be dragging in a sheep or a goat or, God forbid, a bull down the center aisle of Mount Olive to be sacrificed on this altar. Boy, what a bloody mess that would be. But we don’t need to do that. Why not? Because Jesus has already made the ultimate sacrifice for us. What does Scripture say? “The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) That means that God has already placed his stamp of approval on us. That means that our standing with God doesn’t oscillate depending on what kind of week we’ve had. It means that you don’t need to re-qualify for God’s favor each and every week. No, the fact is, in Christ, you already have God’s favor. Christ’s sacrifice for you overrides every flaw, your every failing, your every sin. In Christ, God has made you a saint in his eyes.
Isn’t that what we celebrate this Advent season? We join the Old Testament believers like King David who looked ahead to the coming of the Christ child. But just like David, we see the Christ child is more than just a baby laid the manger. We see him as a perfect son of God willingly carrying out his Father’s will, by offering up his life as a substitute for sinners so that you and I might stand right in God’s eyes. That’s the precious truth that fills our hearts with joy this season. It’s what has us singing Christmas carols. It’s what has us praising God even for the words of this Bible song, a song penned by David, a song fulfilled by Jesus, a song celebrated by Christians. May this song ever inspire our songs, and yes, our lives of thanks and praise to God. In his name. Amen.