I Delight To Do Your Will

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart. 

Psalm 40:6-8 

David was a man after God’s own heart. He loved God and sought with all his heart to walk in His ways. He eloquently testified of all God had done for him and made much of Christ. In some of the things he wrote he used strongly evangelical language which appears in the New Testament. Our text is one of those passages. The writer of Hebrews quotes this passage in the tenth chapter. The argument he makes is that Christ having come into the world has done His Father’s will and by His sacrifice has removed the need for the sacrifices of the ancient Jewish system. His conclusion is, ‘By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…’ Thus David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, utters in summary the work of Christ to accomplish the redemptive will of God. How does this relate to David’s life? It relates in that David, as he wrote these words was not just writing as a prophet, but also as an ardent follower of Christ. He spoke these words as one who was willing to do God’s will himself. How do we learn to do the will of God? We learn by seeing how Christ did it. He is the Grand Template for us. Even thought David preceded the incarnation of Christ by centuries he understood the spirit of Christ to do the will of God, His Father. As David learned from Christ, so we also learn from His example.   

Our Sovereign, Living God, 
we rejoice in Your perfect will. 
We praise You that Christ has performed it, 
and taught us to follow Him. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning