to ascend · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
horrible
שָׁאוֹן֮sha.'On
H7588
uproar (as of rushing) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
pit
מִבּ֥וֹרmi.Bor
H953
a pit hole (especially one used as a cistern or a priso… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
miry
הַיָּ֫וֵ֥ןhai.Ya.Ven
H3121
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
clay
מִטִּ֪יטmi.Tit
H2916
mud or clay · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
set
וַיָּ֖קֶםvai.Ya.kem
H6965
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
feet
רַגְלַ֗יrag.Lai
H7272
a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix
rock
סֶ֥לַעSe.la'
H5553
a craggy rock · noun, common masculine singular absolute
established
כּוֹנֵ֥ןko.Nen
H3559
properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
goings
אֲשֻׁרָֽי'a.shu.Rai
H838
a step · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Psalms 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psalms 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a roc…
Psalms 61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Psalms 71:20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Jonah 2:5-6 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
Psalms 69:2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 40:1-5
In these verses we have,
I. The great distress and trouble that the psalmist had been in. He had been plunged into a horrible pit and into miry clay (Psa 40:2), out of which he could not work himself, and in which he found himself sinking yet further. He says nothing here either of the sickness of his body or the insults of his enemies, and therefore we have reason to think it was some inward disquiet and perplexity of spirit that was now his greatest grievance. Despondency of spirit under the sense of Gods withdrawings, and prevailing doubts and fears about the eternal state, are indeed a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a dear child of God.
II. His humble attendance upo…
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit,.... Which, with the following phrase,
out of the miry clay, expresses the state and condition Christ was in at the time of his bloody sweat, his crucifixion, and his lying in "sheol", the pit or grave, sometimes rendered hell, which these figurative phrases fitly signify; when it is observed, that he was made sin, and had the sins of all his people on him; and, as the type of Joshua, was clothed with their filthy garments; he might be truly said to be in the miry clay; and also that he was made a curse for them, and bore the wrath of God in their room and stead; and was forsaken by his God and Father, and so endured both the punishment of loss a…
Psalm 40:1-3
1. In waiting I waited [79] for Jehovah, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2. And he drew me out of the roaring pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. 3. And he hath put into my mouth a new song, even praise to our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Jehovah.
1. In waiting I waited The beginning of this psalm is an expression of thanksgiving, in which David relates that he had been delivered, not only from danger, but also from present death. Some are of opinion, but without good reason, that it ought to be understood of sickness. It is rather to be supposed that David here comprehends a multitude of dangers…
The Church Fathers
The pit of misery is evil and ignorance.… The rock is faith in Christ. "And he directs my steps" by actions and true teachings.
Just as the mud of a lake stinks and is heavy, so also the sins of people are like mud, causing people to shudder because of their smell and causing them to drown because of their weight. When we walk in the commandments of the Lord Christ, he sets our feet upon the Rock.
Christ has heard the prayer of his own servants and has brought us out from the pit of misery and from the mire of dregs. We were drowning there; our whole flesh was clinging to the mire, trapped in the whirlpool of our sins. Our soul was powerless to save itself; fallen and ruined as it was by the multiplicity and dreadfulness of our offenses. Thanks be to the Lord Jesus, God's only Son, who came down from heaven to forgive us our sins. He came to save us from the pit and slime of this world, from the mud and mire of this earth, from this body doomed to death. In his own flesh he has restored our soul and steadied our tottering footsteps. Strengthened by God's Word and absolved through the cross of our Lord's body, we walk no longer in the shame and disfigurement of vice but in the forgiveness of sin. Rooted and built in Christ, David declares that the Lord has set his feet on a rock. As the apostle says, "They drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ." May that rock, which follows those who thirst, confirm the weak and unsteady; may that water never be lacking to those who long for it; and may that firm foundation never be wanting to those in danger of falling.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cistern — The rendering of a Hebrew word bor, which means a receptacle for water conveyed to it; distinguished from beer, which denotes a place where water rises on the spot (Jer. 2:13; Prov. 5:15; Isa.…
Clay · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Feet, The · Illustrative: (Set on a rock,) of stability — Illustrative: (Set on a rock,) of stability
Mire · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Pit · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Praise · Is due to God on account of: Deliverance — Is due to God on account of: Deliverance
Rock · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Rocks · Illustrative of: A place of safety — Illustrative of: A place of safety
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
David, who, though not without some hesitation, we regard as the author, now finds himself in a situation in which, on the one hand, he has just been rescued from danger, and, on the other, is still exposed to peril. Under such circumstances praise rightly occupies the first place, as in general, according to Psa 50:23, gratitude is the way to salvation. His hope, although תּוחלת ממשּׁכה (Pro 13:12), has not deceived him; he is rescued, and can now again sing a new song of thanksgiving, an example for others, strengthening their trust. קוּה קוּיתי, I waited with constancy and perseverance. יהוה is the accusative as in Psa 25:5; Psa 130:5, and not the vocative as in Psa 39:8. אזנו is to be su…
Ps 40 This psalm includes a thanksgiving song (40:1-10) followed by a lament (40:11-17). The thanksgiving song includes the reason for the thanksgiving (40:1-5), an affirmation of commitment (40:6-8), and a public testimony of God’s character (40:7-10). The lament concerns the psalmist’s troubles because of his sins (40:11-12) and is followed by two prayers for vindication (40:13-15, 17).
40:1-5 The psalmist thanks the Lord for his rescue and testifies that God can be trusted.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 40:2
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit. When our Lord bore in his own person the terrible curse which was due to sin, he was so cast down as to be like a prisoner in a deep, dark, fearful dungeon, amid whose horrible glooms the captive heard a noise as of rushing torrents, while overhead resounded the tramp of furious foes. Our Lord in his anguish was like a captive in the oubliettes, forgotten of all mankind, immured amid horror, darkness, and desolation. Yet the Lord Jehovah made him to ascend from all his abasement; he retraced his steps from that deep hell of…
