Psalms 40:7-8

Context

40:7 Then I say,

“Look! I come!

What is written in the scroll pertains to me.¹

40:8 I want to do what pleases you,² my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.”³

[40:7] ¹tn Heb “in the roll of the scroll it is written concerning me.” Apparently the psalmist refers to the law of God (see v. 8), which contains the commandments God desires him to obey. If this is a distinctly royal psalm, then the psalmist/king may be referring specifically to the regulations of kingship prescribed in Deut 17:14-20. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 315.

[40:8] ²tn Or “your will.”

[40:8] ³tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.