Ps. 40.2-3a (a litany: form is substance)

.   “And he raised me / from the pit / of desolation – from the slimy mud – and he set my feet / upon a rock, - and he made firm / my footsteps. – And / he put a new song / in my mouth – a hymn of praise / to our God.” What has occurred in a formal manner in this litany of Yhwh’s acts toward his anointed is not merely formal. Rather, it points to a profound point of Yhwh’s lavish acts of deliverance, something we have noted time-and-again in our reflections. Here is what I mean: the psalm begins with this first line, “I have waited patiently for Yhwh”. Yhwh’s response to this single line is the following five actions taken on behalf of his anointed: “and he turned to me, and he heard my cry…and he raised me….and he set my foot…and he made firm…and he put a new song in my mouth…”. Clearly, the anointed is intimately aware of the overflowing and abundant action Yhwh has taken on his behalf in the past. Furthermore, this repetition sounds liturgical in its rhythm and, hence, is a formal act of praise and thanksgiving. Just as Yhwh overflows to him so is he now overflowing back to Yhwh in praise. There is, also, a progression to be noted: raising-->setting foot on rock-->making firm footsteps-->putting song in mouth. Yhwh saves, makes secure, strengthens and then provides the means for praise. This reveals the further point that in this progression it all leading up to the final moment of “the new song”. The goal, then, of his redemption is not merely his being removed from trouble. Rather, it is the turning back to Yhwh and offering to him a liturgical act of thanks and praise. This is crucial in that, arguably, today we stop at the fourth movement (making form my footsteps) without the fifth. This will take on a significant and central position with the psalm as it progresses: that the purpose and goal of Yhwh’s redemption is in this ‘feeding’ by Yhwh of a ‘new song’. As we will see later, the height of redemption is public affirmation and praise of Yhwh. Lastly, we find in this final line the first indication that the psalmist, as king, stands as a representative of and to the people: “a hymn of praise to our God”. We will explore this more as we move forward. For now, we should recall what we have said before in these royal psalms: a king being is that of being a shepherd; hence, whenever he praises Yhwh he is never praising him solely in his individual capacity but in his representative capacity for his flock. This, then, is important: all of his overflowing joy at his deliverance is due to the fact that it signaled the deliverance of his flock