Psalm 40: 2, 4, 7-10

Our responsorial this week comes from Psalm 40, a song of gratitude from someone whom God has lifted out of danger and set on firm ground, transforming their life into a willing offering of praise.

It’s a psalm of readiness, gratitude, and proclamation, which is exactly the spiritual posture the liturgy wants to cultivate at the start of Ordinary Time.

I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.

The psalm opens with a recollection of deliverance. In a time of distress, the psalmist did not act impulsively but waited with patient trust and expectant hope.

God’s response is described in tender, almost bodily terms: the LORD “stooped” to hear the cry, emphasizing attentiveness and compassion.

And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.

God’s saving action gives rise to praise. The idea of a “new song” of praise is a familiar biblical image for fresh experiences of God’s faithfulness (cf. Psalms 33:3; 96:1; 144:9; 149:1).

Notice that this praise is not a human initiative; it is placed in the believer’s mouth by God. Gratitude itself is a gift of grace.

Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, “Behold I come.”

The psalmist goes on to clarify the proper response to God’s deliverance. He does not reject Israel’s sacrificial system, which was divinely instituted, but insists that ritual alone is insufficient. What God desires most is an “open ear” — a posture of attentive obedience and readiness to do God’s will.

Sacrifices without this interior disposition risk becoming empty gestures.

“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!”

True worship flows from interior commitment. God’s law is something to be internalized, cherished, and lived. This theme that obedience and mercy surpass sacrifice echoes throughout Scripture (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:10–20; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6–8).

The mention of the “scroll” might suggest that the psalmist is actually the king. Israel’s kings were given a copy of the Law at their coronation to remind them of their duty to follow the Law in their office as monarch (Deuteronomy 17:18-20; 2 Kings 11:12).

I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.

Deliverance and obedience naturally lead to proclamation. The psalmist bears public witness in the qahal, the covenant assembly of God’s people.

Publicly proclaiming the wondrous acts of salvation that God has accomplished not only extols the goodness of God, it can also inspire others to turn to God with the same kind of expectant hope.

Praise, obedience, and witness are inseparable responses to God’s saving work.