I Delight To Do Thy Will, O My God Series

Rendering in the Book of Hebrews

In fact, I want to see how this passage is quoted in Hebrews referring to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Heb 10:5-7. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

As you know, the author of Hebrews applies these verses to Jesus (Heb. 10:5-7). There, the author quotes the LXX, which translates the second line of verse 6, “a body You have prepared for Me.” This was apparently an interpretive paraphrase, where they used a part (the ear) and expanded it to the whole body (F. F. Bruce, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 232). The Hebrew text (of Ps. 40:6) is literally, “My ears You have dug.” It has wrongly been interpreted to refer to the master’s piercing the servant’s ear with an awl (a different Hebrew word; Exod. 21:6; Deut. 15:17). But the idea here is that God opened the ear of His servant so that he would be obedient to His Word, which was in David’s heart. Applied to Jesus, that obedience was unto the cross (see Isa. 50:5-7). [Source: https://bible.org/book/export/html/21946 ]

In short, having your ears opened and having heard God wants not just your ears but your whole self.

The greatest difference is that David can only desire and hope but never fulfill what the Incarnate Son of God alone could.

Incarnation

That is why this Psalm is a Psalm of incarnation. It is said of Jesus, “Behold I come…”, reminding us that he existed before He came to this earth. He came in flesh to do the will of the Father.

We hear him verbalize His surrender in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39)

Therefore, David’s strong confidence in a rescue is not because of himself but because of the Incarnate Son of God of whom it is written, “Behold I come to do thy will O God”

Application

So how does this passage relate to us?

First, we are thankful for God’s pit-proof salvation plan.

Second, we are called to respond like Jesus in delighting to do God’s will.

Ps 40:8. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart."

A delight to do God’s will, where our stony heart is removed and God’s law written on it, just like we read in Jeremiah. Jer. 31:31-34 (NET)

“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord,

A delight to do God’s will and a desire to follow His Word; to do this at all cost. May this be our life’s ambition.

The Psalm ends with a cry for help and without a seeming help. We know the truth help will come.

Ps 40:16-17. Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, "The Lord be magnified!” Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

Let our desire and discipline be for the rest of the days that God gives us:

“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart."