Psalms 40:8-10

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ¹  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ² 

40:9 I have told the great assembly ³  about your justice. ⁴ 

Look! I spare no words! ⁵ 

O Lord, you know this is true.

40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; ⁶ 

I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;

I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. ⁷ 

[40:8]  ¹ tn Or “your will.”

[40:8]  ² tn 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.

[40:9]  ³ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.

[40:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the Lord’s just acts are in view (see v. 10). His “justice” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) is here the deliverance that originates in his justice; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just.

[40:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”

[40:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”

[40:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”