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40 ‎[1] **For the chief musician, a psalm by David. **
‎[2] **I greatly hoped for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry. **
‎[3] **He brought me out of the pit of destruction, out of the swampy mud.** “Pit of destruction” apparently refers to a pit whose bottom is not firm but rather is full of slime and mud. This image is reinforced by the next phrase, “swampy mud,” evoking a person who feels that he has nothing to lean on; the very ground beneath him does not support him, and he feels that he is liable at any moment to slip away and drown.** **But, continues the psalmist, God rescued me from this slippery peril, **and He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. **Once he is rescued from the pit, the psalmist is grateful to God not only for his narrow escape from death but also for the opportunity to set himself on a new, more secure path.
‎[4] **He placed a new song in my mouth, a song of praise for our God. Many will see **what happened to me,** and they will fear, **realizing just how far a man can slip and fall into peril. **And **they will also **trust in the Lord, **as** **they will understand that God can be relied upon to rescue man from such dire straits.
‎[5] **Happy is the man who makes the Lord his trust, not turning **for help **to the proud, **who boast of their strengths and abilities,** and those who have strayed into falsehood, **whose promises are worthless.** **
‎[6] **Many things, Lord my God, have You done; Your wondrous works and thoughts are for us. **Often it is only in retrospect that one can understand how certain situations that appeared to be incomprehensible or problematic actually worked out for the best. **No one compares to You **in comprehending all the hidden solutions to the problems and complications of life. **Though** **I declare and speak of Your miraculous deeds, they are too numerous to count. **
‎[7] When one comes to give thanks to You, he realizes that **You do not desire sacrifice or meal offerings **as expressions of gratitude. Rather,** You have opened my ears **and given them the ability to hear and understand this: **You do not ask for burnt offerings or sin offerings. **
‎[8] **So, **having contemplated all this,** I said: I have come with a written scroll of a book upon me. **I understand that I need to express my gratitude with words, both spoken and written.
‎[9] **I delight in doing Your will, my God; Your teaching is in my belly. **It** **pervades my very core and informs everything I have to say.
‎[10] **I proclaimed **the **righteousness **of Your deeds **in a great assembly,** so that everyone might hear of the mercies You showed me.** I will not restrain my lips, my Lord, as You know. **
‎[11] **I did not conceal Your righteousness within my heart **by refraining to share knowledge of it with others;** I spoke of Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I did not hide Your kindness and Your truth from a great assembly. **In other words, rather than offering sacrifices, it is psalms such as this, made public in their being transcribed and sung before “a great assembly,” that properly express gratitude to God.
‎[12] In turn, may it be that* ***You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your kindness and Your truth will always preserve me. **
‎[13] The psalmist describes the dire situation he had faced before God’s salvation: **For innumerable evils surrounded me. **But I realize that it is ultimately my fault, as **my iniquities, more numerous than the hairs on my head, overtook me.** **I was unable to see. **When my suffering afflicted me, it sapped my strength and my ability to see and understand that it was well deserved. **My heart, **my hope for deliverance, **failed me.**
‎[14] At that time, I was only able to plead: **Please, Lord, deliver me; make haste to help me. **
‎[15] **Let those who seek to destroy my life be utterly ashamed and humiliated. Let those who delight in my misfortune retreat in disgrace. **
‎[16] **May those who say to me: Hurrah, hurrah! be confounded and turn on their heels in shame. **The word *yashomu* can mean both “may they be confounded” and “may they be destroyed.”
‎[17] Conversely,** let all who seek You be happy and rejoice in You; let those who love Your salvation always say: Great is the Lord.**
‎[18] **As for me, poor and destitute, **having no importance on my own,** my Lord **nevertheless **takes me into account, **and because of that, **You are my help and my Savior. My God, do not tarry **with Your assistance to me.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center