This messianic psalm includes the reason for a new song, a prayer for help, and an account of a spiritual journey. Most of God’s people can identify with the thoughts of David when he sang a new song of deliverance for blessings in the past and when he petitioned God for continued deliverance in the future. In this psalm, there is a new song and a lament. The most impactful response to the reading of this psalm is the foreshadowing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which begins with His resurrection in the first verses and then describes the suffering He endured on the cross.
In this experience of answered prayer, there is the celebration of God’s great grace after a time of waiting. Delays do not necessarily mean denials when we pray. Several benefits come from waiting. He waited, the Lord inclined, and He heard. Waiting can lift us from despair because, in faith, we know an answer will come in due time. Waiting sets our feet on the solid rock of our unchangeable Lord. Then, there is a firm place to stand, which is “established,” not movable. When the answer comes, a new song is in our mouths that praises God.
David was in a dark place when he experienced the mercies of God, for which he gave praise. He had waited and was rescued, and the Lord gave him a new song that took him farther in his spiritual life than he had been before. Our Lord Jesus was raised from among the dead, and because of that, many have seen the truth of the Gospel by faith, have feared the Lord, and trusted in Him because of the miracle of the resurrection of Christ. The blessed man and woman turn to God and turn away from false gods and proud men. Materialism, pleasure-seeking, and immoral living are all false gods. Even religious practices can be false gods when rituals take the place of reality in the hearts of people, and worship is in spirit and in truth.
Many others even yet will be blessed because of the Lord’s kindness to all who trust in Him, particularly those of Israel who yet will “see… fear… and trust in the Lord.” The theme of that new song will be the wonderful works of God. There are many wonders Israel will see that God has planned for them as His earthly people. Our Lord Jesus was always committed to God’s will. He was obedient to God’s moral law in every way and He fulfilled it completely. He was eager to hear it and meet its demands as a man. That covenant was written in a scroll for the benefit of men, and the Lord met all of the qualifications needed for a perfect substitutional sacrifice. He was always open to hearing and obeying the will of God. He did not need any of the four sacrificial offerings mentioned because He was the real sacrifice to which all the others pointed.
The four sacrifices could not express the true gratitude and praises from the heart of David to the Lord. His response to the new song was, “I delight to do Thy will.” How much more our Lord Jesus was delighted to do God’s will. God’s faithfulness is perfect. His love is absolute, and His promises are sure. His salvation is eternal, and it was the personal ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ to define the Gospel, provide for the reality of the Gospel by His death, burial, and resurrection, and make it possible for us to hear its message and be saved from our sins. The reality of sin had to be faced and dealt with once and for all. Like David said, “Let Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth preserve me,” so we have the same promises and assurance today. The cross-work of our Lord was a victory, not a defeat. “The cross reveals Thy love below.” It wasn’t just the ear of the Lord that was opened like those who hear and believe the truth of God. His body was opened: hands, feet, and side, and the crown of thorns on His head identified our Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior to the Jews and Gentiles alike.
The petition for deliverance from verse twelve to the end of the psalm describes the cross-work of our Lord and gives us a glimpse of what He went through to save us. “Make hast to help me, was a prayer for help and deliverance from the troubles put on Him by enemies. From our frail human viewpoint, we can understand what it is to be burdened with troubles from the past, in the present, and in the future. David desired that enemies be ashamed and confounded. Then driven backward and put to shame and become desolate. Those who are poor and needy have to get help from outside themselves. We needed God, and even though His grace is undeserved, like David, we trust in God’s grace for our deliverance, and by His grace, we have received it because of the sacrificial work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.