Ps. 40.6 (digging the king's ears)

“You have not desired / sacrifices or offering; – you have dug / two ears / for me; - you have not requested / burnt offerings / or sin offerings.” This verse is central in many ways to the entire psalm. Here, we begin to see how this psalm is particularly a royal psalm, meaning it is one recited by the king/anointed one. That said, it is a difficult verse to understand. We can begin to get a grasp on it, however, by paying attention to how it is organized: you have not … --> you have … --> you have not … Clearly, the central portion of the verse is the most important as it details, specifically, what Yhwh has done for the king. It is, in this portion, that we come to see the unique way in which Yhwh has fashioned for himself a king for his people. And this is designated as Yhwh’s ‘digging’ of his ears. It is a fascinating image, as Yhwh actually opens up portals in the king’s head through which he will speak. The most crucial and decisive role the king can play is his ability to hear Yhwh. Variously worded, and already alluded to in a previous reflection, this ability of the king is likened to (and embodies) the “soft heart” (“harden not your hearts as at Meribah..”). In a very visceral way it points back to verse 1: “I have waited patiently for Yhwh…”. A second observation: the first and final portion of the verse focus on what Yhwh has not “desired for himself”. The middle, by contrast, focuses on what, although not explicitly stated, Yhwh “has desired”: open ears. The entirety of Israel is supposed to offer “sacrifices and offerings”. The king, however, is particularly shaped by Yhwh for a particular role. And from him, and to him alone, does Yhwh “dig his ears”. This is now, however, to see the king in an exclusive manner. Everything spoken into the king’s ears will be, in a turn of the image, poured into him and, through him, into all of Israel. But it is through the king, in particular, that his words must pass through and become effective. In and through him they will obtain their potency and force; in a sense, it is through him that the word will become ‘activated’ for all of Israel. This will be alluded to explicitly in verse 8, but it deserves quoting here. In Deuteronomy 17 the specific role of the king and his relationship to Torah is identified. It says, “It (Yhwh’s Torah) is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees ²⁰ and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left.” It is precisely because of this mandate that Yhwh takes a particular interest in the king’s ears, to such an extent that he will seemingly relativize the entire sacrificial (cultic) system in order to focus on the king’s ability to hear his words.