to restrict · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
lips
שְׂ֭פָתַיSe.fa.tai
H8193
the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
LORD
יְ֝הוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
knowest
יָדָֽעְתָּya.Da.'e.ta
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
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 22:25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Psalms 22:22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Psalms 71:15-18 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
Psalms 35:18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.
Psalms 119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
Hebrews 2:12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Luke 4:16-22 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up f…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 40:6-10
The psalmist, being struck with amazement at the wonderful works that God had done for his people, is strangely carried out here to foretel that work of wonder which excels all the rest and is the foundation and fountain of all, that of our redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ. God's thoughts, which were to us-ward concerning that work, were the most curious, the most copious, the most gracious, and therefore to be most admired. This paragraph is quoted by the apostle (Heb 10:5, etc.) and applied to Christ and his undertaking for us. As in the institutions, so in the devotions, of the Old Testament saints were aware of; and, when the apostle would show us the Redeemer's voluntary undertaking…
I have preached--literally, "announced good tidings." Christ's prophetical office is taught. He "preached" the great truths of God's government of sinners.
John Gill on Psalms 40:9
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation,.... Not the righteousness which the law requires men to do; but the righteousness which Christ himself wrought out, for the justification of them that believe; this he was a preacher, as well as the author of, and is part of the glad tidings he was anointed to preach, Isaiah 61:1; and the word (n) here used signifies, for the most part, the publishing of good tidings; and this our Lord did publicly, before all the people, in the synagogues of the Jews, and in the temple, whither the people in great numbers resorted; especially at the three great festivals in the year; the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, when all the mal…
Psalm 40:9-11
9. I have proclaimed thy righteousness in the great assembly: behold, I will not refrain my lips: O Jehovah! thou knowest it. 10. I have not hidden thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy truth and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy goodness nor thy truth in the great assembly. 11. O thou Jehovah! withhold not thy tender mercies from me: let thy goodness and thy truth always preserve me.
9. I have proclaimed thy righteousness in the great assembly. Here David again brings forward his own thankfulness, and for no other reason but to induce God to continue his goodness towards him. God, whenever he manifests his liberality towards us, encourages us to render…
The Church Fathers
Blessed David promises to preach God's righteousness, the truth of inspired composition, the admirable salvation and immeasurable mercy in a great assembly gathered by divine grace throughout the whole world. And redeemed nature itself promises to give this response to its salvation by flocking to church, moving its lips in hymn singing, proclaiming God's righteous judgment, recounting his ineffable care and giving a glimpse of the truth of the inspired promises.
What does he mean when he says, "I have declared your justice"? He did not simply say, "I have given," but "I have declared." What does this mean? That he has justified our race not by right actions, not by toils, not by barter and exchange but by grace alone. Paul, too, made this clear when he said, "But now the justice of God has been made manifest independently of the Law." But the justice of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ and not through any labor and suffering.
"I have well declared Thy righteousness in the great congregation" [Psalm 40:9]. He now addresses His Members. He is exhorting them to do what He has already done. He has "declared;" let us declare also. He has suffered; let us "suffer with Him." He has been glorified; we shall be "glorified with Him." "I have declared Thy righteousness in the great congregation." How great an one is that? In all the world. How great is it? Even among all nations. Why among all nations? Because He is "the Seed of Abraham, in whom all nations shall be blessed." Why among all nations? "Because their sound hath gone forth into all lands." "Lo! I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, and that Thou knowest." My lips speak; I will not "refrain" them from speaking. My lips indeed sound audibly in the ears of men; but "Thou knowest" mine heart. "I will not refrain my lips, O Lord; that Thou knowest." It is one thing that man heareth; another that God "knoweth." That the "declaring" of it should not be confined to the lips alone, and that it might not be said of us, "Whatsoever things they say unto you, do; but do not after their works;" or lest it should be said to the people, "praising God with their lips, but not with their heart," "This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me;" do thou make audible confession with thy lips; draw nigh with thine heart also. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." In case like unto which that thief was found, who, hanging on the Cross with the Lord, did on the Cross acknowledge the Lord. Others had refused to acknowledge Him while working miracles; this man acknowledged Him when hanging on the Cross. That thief had every other member pierced through; his hands were fastened by the nails; his feet were pierced also; his whole body was fastened to the tree; the body was not disengaged in its other members; the heart and the tongue were disengaged; "with the heart" he "believed; with the tongue" he made "confession." "Remember me, O Lord," he said, "when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." He hoped for the coming of his salvation at a time far remote; he was content to receive it after a long delay; his hope rested on an object far remote. The day, however, was not postponed! The answer was, "This day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." Paradise hath happy trees!…
Dictionary and topics
Lip — Besides its literal sense (Isa. 37:29, etc.), is used in the original (saphah) metaphorically for an edge or border, as of a cup (1 Kings 7:26), a garment (Ex. 28:32), a curtain (26:4), the sea (Gen.…
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).
The connection of the thoughts is clear: great and manifold are the proofs of Thy loving-kindness, how am I to render thanks to Thee for them? To this question he first of all gives a negative answer: God delights not in outward sacrifices. The sacrifices are named in a twofold way: (a) according to the material of which they consist, viz., זבח, the animal sacrifice, and מנחה, the meal or meat offering (including the נסך, the wine or drink offering, which is the inalienable accessory of the accompanying mincha); (b) according to their purpose, in accordance with which they bring about either the turning towards one of the good pleasure of God, as more especially in the case of the עולה, or,…
As is written about me in the Scriptures: Moses had recorded God’s requirements for Israel’s kings in Deut 17:14-15.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 40:9
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. The purest morality and the highest holiness were preached by Jesus. Righteousness divine was his theme. Our Lord's whole life was a sermon, eloquent beyond compare, and it is heard each day by myriads. Moreover, he never shunned in his ministry to declare the whole counsel of God; God's great plan of righteousness he plainly set forth. He taught openly in the temple, and was not ashamed to be a faithful and a true witness. He was the great evangelist; the master of itinerant preachers; the head of the clan of open air miss…
