Reflections on Psalm 40: Delight in God's Will

There were some especially beautiful readings at Wednesday’s Mass which were taken from the first Book of Samuel and from Psalm 40. The first reading from Samuel comes from chapter three, and it is the story of the boy Samuel who is asleep while called three times by the Lord; each time Samuel thinks the elderly priest Eli is calling him. After the third time this happens, Eli realizes that God must be calling the boy, so Eli tells Samuel that the next time he is called he should say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” God calls a fourth time, and Samuel replies as instructed.

The selections from Psalm 40 revolve around this theme of obedience, and the response to the Psalm is the similar sentence: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”

The first stanza is this: “I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust; who turns not to idolatry or to those who stray after falsehood.” He who trusts in the Lord and is obedient toward Him will be patient as he waits and will remain forever faithful to Him. The obedient one will not go after false gods nor seek falsehood; he will cling to God and to the truth.

The second stanza is even more powerful: “Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, ‘Behold I come’.” The slaughter of animals as sacrifices to God is not what He wants; those sacrifices were only necessary because the people were worshipping false gods symbolized by those animals; animal sacrifice was added because of idolatry. Attempting to keep the hearts of His people from straying after these false gods, God had them kill their gods so that they would be less encumbered by them and free to worship Him. The sacrifices were the means, and mostly a negative one, but the end is a heart that loves and obeys God. God seeks our obedience and our willingness to do whatever He asks us to do. Ultimately, God delights when we offer up our entire selves as a sacrifice to Him.

The third stanza is the power punch: “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!” This is what God wants of us; this is why He came and died for us. He has made this very thing possible. He desires us to delight in His will, to have His law within our heart. It is one thing to say, yes, I will obey. It is a whole higher level to say, Lord, I delight to please You. This is only possible with a heart transplant; God gives us a new heart, a new tree of life, so that we can love and obey Him.

We are not even talking about the slave mentality which says, I will obey because I do not want to get into trouble. This is better than disobedience, but it still comes from a heart of stone with the laws written on the outside. The worst is disobedience which is not doing God’s will. Next is the slave mentality which merely doesn’t want to get into trouble; although, when the opportunity arises, a slave is just as likely to disobey when he doesn’t think he will get caught.

A loving child will want to please his parents, and so he will obey because he knows the parents will be pleased. This is good, and it is a world away from the slave mentality. Coming to the knowledge that one is a beloved child of God is an awesome realization, and much good fruit will be borne if one continues down this path.

The highest level is delighting in pleasing God, delighting in His law, and delighting in God’s will. When we are pleased in the extreme simply in pleasing God, we have reached a mature faith. This is the stage, the final one, where we become espoused to Him and eventually married. Once God’s will becomes our will, and there is no longer two wills but one only, God’s, then we are fully alive as His beloved spouse. This is our goal, our hope, our summit, the reason for which we were created.

When we have reached this stage, it is completely normal to say as the Responsorial Psalm ends: “I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.” When God becomes the love of our life, we tell all the world.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
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