Psalms 40:11–17
Lord, do not withhold Your mercy from me as my sins overtake me; come quickly to help me and be my deliverer, for I am poor and needy and my hope is in You.
11 Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, Yahweh. Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart has failed me.
13 Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me. Hurry to help me, Yahweh.
14 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
15 Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
16 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let Yahweh be exalted!”
17 But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.
Lord, do not withhold Your mercy from me as my sins overtake me; come quickly to help me and be my deliverer, for I am poor and needy and my hope is in You.
To transition from thanksgiving for past rescue to an urgent petition for current mercy, acknowledging that the psalmist is once again overwhelmed by the dual pressure of personal sin and external hostility.
Waiting for the LORD, Delighting to Do His Will, and Pleading for Help
The LORD who lifts His waiting servant from the pit deserves public praise, heart-deep obedience, and renewed trust when sin, trouble, and enemies make fresh deliverance necessary.