Psalms 40:5

My Notes

What Does Psalms 40:5 Mean?

Psalm 40:5 is David overwhelmed by volume — the sheer quantity of what God has done is more than language can process. "Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done" — rabboth asita YHWH elohai niphle'othekha. Rabboth — many, abundant, overflowing. Niphle'oth — wonders, miracles, things too extraordinary to comprehend. The Hebrew root pala' means to be beyond, to surpass, to exceed the capacity of the one observing. David has been watching God work, and the accumulation has exceeded his ability to catalog.

"And thy thoughts which are to us-ward" — umachshevothekha elenu. God's thoughts — machshavot, plans, intentions, deliberate designs — are directed toward us. Elenu — to us, in our direction. God doesn't just act for us. He thinks about us. The plans aren't reactive. They're pre-existing, intentional, directed specifically toward you.

"They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee" — eyn arokhh elekha. They can't be arranged — arakh, to set in order, to line up, to organize systematically. The wonderful works and the God-ward thoughts are too numerous to organize. David has tried to make a list and the list breaks.

"If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered" — aggidah va'adabberah atsmu misapper. Atsmu — they are mighty, they are vast, they exceed. Misapper — beyond counting, beyond tallying. David wants to declare them. He wants to speak them all. But the volume defeats the declaration. The mouth can't keep up with the material.

Reflection Questions

• 1.When was the last time you tried to count God's wonderful works in your life — and ran out of numbers?
• 2.What does it mean that God's thoughts are 'to us-ward' — directed at you, aimed at you specifically?
• 3.Why does David describe the inability to count as part of the worship rather than a frustration?
• 4.What 'wonderful works' in your life have you forgotten to include in the count?

Devotional

David tried to count God's wonderful works. The number broke the list.

Many — rabboth. Not some. Not a respectable quantity. Many — so many that David, the poet-king whose vocabulary could describe anything, runs out of organizational capacity. He can't line them up. Can't arrange them. Can't tally them into a coherent catalog. The wonderful works and the thoughts-toward-us have exceeded the filing system.

And thy thoughts which are to us-ward. That phrase should stop you. God doesn't just act for you. He thinks about you. Machshavot — plans, intentions, deliberate designs. Directed elenu — toward us. Before the wonderful work shows up in your life, it existed as a thought in God's mind. Aimed at you. Considered. Planned. The work you experienced was preceded by thinking you'll never see.

If you would declare and speak of them — if you sat down and tried to list everything God has done for you and everything God has thought about you — you'd fail. Not because your memory is bad. Because the volume exceeds memory. They are more than can be numbered. The inventory of God's goodness in your specific life is infinite. You can't reach the bottom of it. Every time you think you've finished counting, another layer appears.

That's the exercise this verse invites: try. Start counting. The morning mercies. The quiet provisions. The dangers you never saw because God redirected them before they reached you. The thoughts He had about you before you were born. Count until you can't count anymore. And then stand in the place where the counting breaks — because that place is worship.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture