Behold I Have Come!

We'll look at verses 6 to 10. I can read through them first of all.

Psalm 40 and from verse 6.

Words that were quoted in the passage we read in Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.

Then I said, Behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

I desire to do your will, O my God. Your law is within my heart.

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation.

Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.

I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart.

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

And obviously from the New Testament quotation of these words,

they are applicable to the Lord himself by way of this being a prophecy

of what would later come to be realized and fulfilled

in the arrival of the Son of God incarnate in our world, in our nature, Jesus Christ.

The Psalms have many references, as you know, to the redeeming acts of God.

The Psalms, of course, the book of Psalms is a unique book, unique from one point of view,

that it's set out for a manual of praise and, you know, very well it's been turned,

as we use it, into verse that we can actually use in our singings of praise.

But throughout the book of Psalms, in these references to the redeeming acts of God,

you actually have passages that speak specifically of what the New Testament makes clear,

are references to God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit,

the Holy Spirit mentioned specifically at times.

And so you would expect that when there are such exact matches from the book of Psalms

to some passages in the New Testament that speak about Jesus,

for example, Psalm 22, the beginning of the first verse there, as you know,

my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Well, these are the words, the very words that Jesus took and used on the cross,

as you know, in the very process of laying down his life.

You would expect, then, references in the Psalms to the likes of things like atonement,

such doctrines as the doctrine of the atonement,

sacrifices that themselves represent the sacrifice of Christ of himself.

You'd expect the sufferings of Jesus to be mentioned, and they are,

not just in Psalm 22, but other Psalms as well.

You would expect also to have such references to the way in which God has fulfilled his promises

through the work of Christ.

And therefore, in the book of Psalms, here in Psalm 40,

is just one passage out of many that refer to God's saving act,

but especially to the Lord Jesus Christ himself,

coming to speak of his obedience,

his obedience as part of his atoning work,

the center of his atoning work,

as that is made clear in the New Testament.

And the high point of these verses is,

in these words,

behold,

I have come.

The rest of the verses round about that really feature

different ways in which this statement is then considered.

Behold,

I have come.

We'll look at the phrase

in more detail in a moment.

But these words,

as they are applied

in the Old Testament

to Jesus prior to his coming into the world,

I mean,

you can really see that

these are words which were in the mind of God,

and in the mind of the Son of God

from all eternity.

That they were words which he had himself in mind

prior to their fulfillment

in his coming,

in his incarnation,

in his being born into the world.

In other words,

they're words from the throne of God

that have really reverberated down through history

until actually they came to be fulfilled

when he actually came physically into the world.

Remarkable thing itself, isn't it?

That he uttered these words from the throne of God

all the way from eternity through history

until the New Testament age

when he came,

having taken our nature.

In other words,

he uttered these from the throne

and then left the throne

in order to become the servant of God

in this world.

And at this time of year,

though it's not by any means

the only time we think of it,

it is desirable

and it's important

that we give emphasis

to certain aspects of the incarnation,

of the coming of Christ,

the coming of the Son of God,

and seek to set that out

before the world in which we live

and move and work and breathe

so that we can hopefully draw people's minds

to the relevance of the whole Bible

in terms of the way it reveals

the importance of the incarnation,

the person of Jesus,

of the work that he came to do.

Now, these words that I've mentioned

in verse 7,

behold, I have come.

Some of the older translations have,

behold, I come, or am coming.

Those who know something about Hebrew grammar

tell us that these words are actually

what Hebrew has as a prophetic perfect.

And we're told that that actually means

they are spoken in such a way

that's so certain

as if it had already happened.

It's not yet happened

in the days of the psalmist

here in the Old Testament,

but they're put in such a form

that's making it so certain

and so sure

that it's just as if

it's already been accomplished

and happened.

Remember something similar,

though it's not in Hebrew,

it's in Greek,

in the Lord's Prayer in John 17,

where he's there,

not yet having died,

not yet having gone out

to his trial

and subsequent crucifixion,

and yet he is there

in prayer to the Father,

saying,

I have finished the work

which you gave me to do.

In other words,

it's a certain

in the mind of Jesus,

it's a certain

in the way in which

he speaks of it

as having been done

as if it had already

been accomplished.

Scripture here is also

giving us something similar to that,

where it says,

Behold,

I have come.

It's from the point of view

of being future,

and yet it's certain

in the mind

and purpose of God.

So let's see

what it says

about his coming.

Why did he come?

What's involved

with his coming?

First of all,

he came to fulfill

the types

and promises

of the Old Testament.

You'll find that here

in verse 6.

Sacrifice and offering

you have not desired,

but you have given me

an open ear,

burnt offering

and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said,

Behold,

I have come.

In other words,

he's saying,

here are the Old Testament

sacrifices

that always represented

Jesus in his death,

and the psalmist

and the psalmist is saying,

they're no longer desired,

they're no longer relevant,

even though that hasn't yet happened.

It doesn't mean by this

that God has given up

on accepting sacrifices

throughout the Old Testament.

What he means is

these are themselves

going to actually

be done away with,

and they're going to be

done away with

because they're going

to be fulfilled

in the coming,

in the person,

in the work

of the Son of God

in our nature.

Hebrews chapter 10,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

we read that

a few minutes ago,

and I may remind you

of what it says

from verse 8,

where,

having quoted

from this psalm,

from verse 5,

he then said,

Behold,

I have come

to do your will.

When he said above,

you have neither desired

nor taken pleasure

in sacrifices

and offerings

and burnt offerings

and sin offerings,

these are offered

according to the law.

Then he added,

Behold,

I have come

to do your will.

He abolishes the first

in order to establish

the second.

He abolishes the first,

that is,

that system of sacrifices,

in order that he would

actually establish

the second,

and what is the second?

It's the doing

of the will of God

by Jesus,

his Son.

He abolishes the first,

not just in order

to accomplish the second,

but also he abolishes

the first,

because the second,

the coming of Jesus,

the doing the will

of God,

the Father,

by the Son,

has actually meant

these are no longer required.

They were shadows,

they were preliminaries,

they were representations,

important as they were,

but they are no longer

required.

So that's what the psalmist

is really drawing

our minds to,

in terms of the

Levitical sacrifices,

having been accomplished

as they were in Christ,

and here it's as if

that's really already

happened,

because it's prophetic

of the Lord's coming.

And you see here

in verse 7,

then I said,

behold,

I have come.

And the then is important.

One of these little words

we could easily just

skip over

if we thought

it wasn't just much

than a connecting particle.

And it doesn't just mean

something that happens

in consequence

of something else.

You know,

you use the word then

in that sense

as we use it

commonly in English.

if this is the case,

then this is what follows.

It's a consequential

sort of particle.

But actually here

it's rather to do

with time fulfillment.

In terms of the processing

of God's plan

and in God's time,

when this had come about

that the sacrifices

and offerings

were no longer needed

because Jesus himself

had arrived,

then I said,

in these circumstances,

circumstances,

in that context,

the Lord himself,

Jesus,

is saying,

behold,

I have come.

I am coming to replace

and to fulfill them.

You recall that

Galatians chapter 4

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

has something very similar.

In chapter 4

and verse 4

of Galatians,

Paul is saying there,

but when the fullness

of the times

had come,

God sent forth

his son,

born of a woman,

born under the law,

to redeem those

who were under the law

so that we might receive

adoption as sons.

And when the fullness

of the time

was come.

And that's why you find

in Psalm 40 here

that there's a reference

to the book.

Behold,

I have come

in the scroll

of the book

it is written of me.

What was that book?

What is the book here

the psalmist

is prophetically

setting out

and what were

the contents

of that book?

Well,

the book

essentially

is not

a book

literally

as such.

It's actually

a reference

to what we can call

really the divine plan

or the will

of God.

He's going to speak

later about

doing the will

of God.

And that's all

already in the book

in the mind of God,

in the plan

of salvation

that God himself

has devised.

This is written,

he says,

about me

in the scroll

of that book,

in the purpose

of God,

in the mind

of God,

in the plan

of God,

the plan

of redemption.

All this

already

has been

inscribed.

Metaphorically

or spiritually

speaking,

that's already

in the book.

It's been drawn

up by God

and it awaits

in the psalmist's

time

to be

worked through

and fulfilled

by the coming

of Christ

himself.

And

there's also

an importance,

we mention this

word quite a

number of times

in the course

of studying

various parts

of the Bible,

this word

behold

in verse 7.

And we've

referred to it

as it really

is

in a sense

it's a

spotlight,

a spotlight

in a literary

sense

this is

God's

way of

actually

drawing

attention

to things.

Whenever you

find the

word

behold,

whether it's

here or

in the

New Testament

version of

it,

that is

always

drawing our

mind to

something

really

important,

something we

cannot afford

to miss.

And what

he's saying

here is

here's the

spotlight,

the sacrifices,

the offerings,

they're actually

now being

replaced.

Behold,

look at

this,

I have

come.

I have

come as

their

fulfillment.

And the

word

I

is

important

because

who is

speaking?

Well,

of course,

it's

God

himself.

And it's

God

himself,

more

specifically,

as the

New Testament

shows in

the person

of Jesus

the Son.

Behold,

I have

come.

God

and

that takes

us

secondly

to say

that

he came

to fulfill

the types

and promises

but he

came,

in fulfilling

these,

he came

as the

servant

of God.

I have

come.

It is

written in

the scroll

of the book

of me.

I desire

to do

your will,

O my

God.

Your law

is within

my heart.

Now,

one of

the

most

obvious

sets

of

references

to

the

coming

of Jesus,

to the

person

of Jesus

in the

Old Testament

is in

the prophecy

of Isaiah.

Isaiah,

that prophet

that presents

God in

such majestic,

such

momentous

terms,

the God

who is the

creator of

all the

earth,

who holds

everything in

his hand

and yet

the God

who is,

who condescends,

who lowers

himself to

behold the

plight of

his people

and to

come to

make provision

for them.

And it's

in that

great book

of Isaiah,

more than

any other

book of

the Old

Testament,

that you

find more

about the

servant of

the Lord.

He came

to fulfill

the types

and the

promises,

but he

came as

the servant

of the

Lord to

do that.

For

example,

chapter 42

of Isaiah,

if you're

taking notes,

you can

take the

verses down

that I

referred to.

I follow

them through

afterwards.

Chapter 42,

verses 1 to

4 there,

where you

find

comfort,

sorry,

chapter 42,

where you

find Isaiah

prophetically

saying,

behold my

servant,

whom I

uphold,

my

chosen,

in whom

my soul

delights.

I have

put my

spirit upon

him,

he will

bring forth

justice to

the nations.

Then he

goes on to

say,

he will not

cry aloud,

nor lift up

his voice,

or make it

heard in the

street.

A bruised

reed he

will not

break,

and a

faintly

burning

wick he

will not

quench.

He will

faithfully

bring forth

justice,

he will not

grow faint,

or be

discouraged,

until he

has established

justice in

the earth,

and the

coastlands

wait for

his law.

There's a

marvelous picture

there of

the God

who is so

immense,

but nevertheless

who has this

servant that he

commissions in

order to do

his will,

to carry forth

his will till

it's accomplished

in redemption.

But he does it

by this servant

who is described

as lowly,

and humble,

and gentle.

There's a

reference there

to a bruised

reed he

will not

break.

If you go to

a reed bed

and try and

walk through

it, you'll

find some

reeds there

that are

already broken,

snapped,

almost snapped

off in

half.

It's very

difficult to

then make

your way

through it

without

actually

breaking it

altogether.

Or take

it as the

burning

wick he

will not

quench.

When you

have a

candle with

a wick

burning,

and you

actually put

the light

out, it's

difficult to

do without

crushing the

wick itself.

It's so

delicate at

that stage,

having burnt

for some

time.

And all

of that's a

reference to

such a

precious,

precious thing

pastorally for

us under

the pastoring

of Jesus,

under his

own care as

our shepherd,

as our

shepherd king,

that when he

deals with us

in all our

trials and

our pains and

our woes and

our needs,

and at the

very depth of

our need,

when it

might be

all too

easy just

to present

ourselves to

him as if

we're just a

smoking wick ready

to be snuffed

out.

And maybe

that's how it

feels to us

at times.

But he

will not,

he will not

break it.

When he

handles your

life,

such as his

care and

quality of

care,

such as his

ability,

that he

comes in

order to

heal you

by his

gentleness.

He is the

great creator

whose hands

fashioned the

universe,

and yet he

comes gently

so that,

like the

psalmist

elsewhere says,

your

gentleness

has made

me great.

The

gentleness,

isn't that a

magnificent

thought?

When you

think of the

immensity and

the majesty

and the

greatness,

the eternity

of God,

that we can

say,

your

gentleness

made me

great.

The

gentleness

of God,

how precious

is that to

you and to

me tonight?

The very

gentleness of

God in

Christ that

has come to

deal with

our predicament

and hasn't

crushed us

despite our

sins or

for our

sins.

But has

come to

redeem us

and bring

us back

to himself

and restore

us and

make us into

what we

should be,

what we

were designed

to be from

the beginning.

So here

he's doing

this by

becoming the

servant of

God.

And in

that passage

in Hebrews

that quotes

this,

there's a

slight difference

there,

where the

psalm is

quoted as

in the

Greek

translation

of the

Old

Testament,

in fact,

where it

says there

that,

where it

says,

sacrifice

and offerings

you have

not desired,

but a

body you

have prepared

for me.

Now that's

not in

contradiction

to the

words of

the psalm

itself in

the book

of Psalms,

but it's

an additional

feature that

reminds us

or teaches

us that he

became the

servant by

taking our

nature,

by taking

a body

and soul

to himself

and becoming

a servant

by becoming

human.

And that's

why he says

here in

Psalm 40,

you have

opened my

ear,

you have

given me

an open

ear,

instead of

sacrifices

and offerings,

I have

come and

you have

given me

an open

ear.

What does

that mean?

Well,

an open

ear is

language

that's

applicable

to a

servant

waiting for

the master

to give

his order.

And not

just ready

to hear

the master's

order,

but instantly

obedient to

that instruction.

It's the

essence of

a servant

that he

or she

wishes to

do what

the master

requires

in order to

carry out

the will

of the

master,

assuming,

of course,

that that

isn't cruel,

that it's

a good

thing that

he's being

asked to

do.

But in

other words,

the obedience

of the

servant is

very much

part of

the

servitude,

the position

he takes

or she

takes.

And in

terms of

the Lord,

in terms

of Jesus,

the Son

of God,

he is

saying,

you have

opened,

you have

given me

an open

ear,

or you

have opened

my ear.

God

and how

often in

the New

Testament,

indeed in

the statements

of Jesus

himself,

you find

this very

thing brought

out in

contrast,

he says,

to the

likes of

the kings

of the

Gentiles,

Luke chapter

Luke 22:24–27

22,

verses 24

to 27,

where he

speaks of

himself having

come to

serve,

not to be

served.

Mark 10

has the same

kind of

reference,

but you

remember the

context in

Luke 22,

here were

disciples

squabbling as

to who was

going to be

the greatest,

just having

an argument

among each

other,

even though

they were

approaching

the time

when Jesus

was going

to be

crucified,

here they

were,

and that's

what they

were doing,

walking along

the road

with him,

and just

in their

own minds,

thrusting out

their chests,

or making

themselves kind

of important,

and disputing

as to which

of them would

be the

greatest.

And Jesus

saying,

here,

I'll tell

you who

will be

the greatest,

the one

who is

the least

of you

will be

the greatest,

the one

who is

the servant

of all,

he's the

greatest,

for I

have come

not to

be served,

but to

serve,

and to

give my

life a

ransom

for many.

That's the

context.

And in

this passage

in Luke,

in Psalm

40,

these elements

from Luke

and other

gospels

are really

adding some

light to

what is here

already,

an embryo,

and you

can see that

it's already

included here

in principle

anyway,

in the

Psalm.

So that you

find here

in verse

8, for

example,

following on

from,

I have

come to

do your

will,

I desire

to do

your will,

oh my

God,

you see,

there's the

obedience

being followed

through.

I have

come,

I have

come to

do your

will,

and I

desire,

in other

words,

there's an

element of

delight in

that as

well,

a delight

in doing

the will

of God,

and it's

a remarkable

thing as

you look

at the

life of

Jesus,

how he

himself was

not only

conscious of

this,

but constantly

doing this.

you think

of yourself

and myself,

think of

us as

in terms

of our

obedience

to God,

is it

always

100%

active?

Of course

it isn't,

we're

sinners,

but you

look at

Jesus,

and every

single moment

of his

life on

earth as

the servant

of God,

there isn't

a single

moment of

that where

he is not

actively

obedient,

where he

is not

actively

obedient in

fulfilling the

will of

the Father.

You will

never find

an instance

where he

falls short

of that.

He doesn't

wake up

at some

times,

as it

were,

in the

morning and

say,

well,

I need

to be

obedient

today,

and then

going through

the day,

he sometimes

forgets,

and then

he has to

say,

well,

I'm here

to be

obedient

to the

Father,

I'd

better get

back on

track.

There's

nothing

like that,

because

he's

constantly

perfectly

obedient,

as the

servant

of the

Father.

You remember

in John's

Gospel,

in chapter

4,

when the

disciples

came back

and found

him talking

with Oman

at the

well,

they were

amazed that

he spoke

to the

woman,

and they

urged him

to eat

something.

And he

said to

them,

I have

food to

eat that

you know

not of,

for my

food is

to do

the will

of my

Father,

and to

finish

his

works.

That was

his food.

Not that

he didn't

need physical

food,

but that's

where his

spiritual

appetite was

always

exercised,

in being

the obedient

servant of

the Father,

for our

sake,

for our

benefit.

That's why

he says

here as

well,

your law

is within

my heart.

I desire

to do

your will,

O my

God,

your law

is within

my heart.

You see,

there's the

law of

God,

that you

find summarized,

for example,

in the Ten

Commandments.

The law

of God

is really

the expression

of the

will of

God,

his

demands

for our

lives.

And

Christ

came,

as

Galatians

4 put

it,

Christ

came to

place

himself,

or to

be

placed

under

the

law,

born of

a

woman,

born under

the law.

In other

words,

born as

a servant,

born to

fulfill what

the law

required.

And he

says,

your law

is within

my heart.

There's a

very interesting

passage again.

I'm just

mentioning these

passages.

I don't have

time just to

open them all

up just now,

but if you

note them,

you can

follow them

through easily

enough for

yourselves.

When you

remember the

way in

which Jesus

was tempted

in the

wilderness by

the devil,

you find it

in Matthew's

gospel and

Luke's

gospel.

Matthew's

gospel,

you can

see his

temptation,

the three

main prongs

of the

devil's

attack.

How did

Jesus

respond?

How did

he respond

when the

devil said,

why should

you hunger

here?

Command these

stones to be

made into

bread.

He was

hungry.

And the

devil was

seeking to

take advantage

of that so

that Jesus

would, in

an unauthorized

way, exercise

his power to

relieve himself of

his sufferings,

to relieve

himself of the

duties that he

had as the

incarnate son of

God, to yield

obedience to the

father, to the

law of God.

How did Jesus

respond?

Well, he responded

to that and he

responded to the

other two temptations

that followed in

exactly the same

way.

He took the

devil to the

book of

Deuteronomy,

the book of

the law.

And Jesus

said to him,

it is written,

it is written,

that's where my

food and drink

comes from.

That's what I'm

here to do.

I'm here to

fulfill this

law for my

people.

And I cannot

step out of

the way of

obedience just

to listen,

especially to the

likes of you,

he says to

Satan.

That's

essentially what

he's saying in

the words that

he used.

He took him

back to the

book of the

law.

And that

too is for

our motivation,

isn't it?

And our

example and

our instruction

and also our

inspiration.

Because there's

one psalm, as

you know, in

the book of

Psalms that

more than any

other has to

do with the

law of God,

the word of

God, the

precepts of

God, the

statutes of

God, Psalm

119.

And there

are many, many

references

throughout Psalm

119 to

the relish the

psalmist has

for the law

of God.

And you

remember, I'll

just quote two

verses, verse

77.

Let your

mercy come to

me that I

may live, for

your law is

my delight.

And then

there's verse

97 as well.

Oh, how I

love your

law.

It is my

meditation all

the day.

And if that

was true as

it was for

the psalmist,

how much

more so in a

perfect fashion

was it true for

Jesus?

He could say

that at every

moment of his

life, oh, how

I love your

law.

It is my

study all the

day.

I'm here to

do it to

accomplish its

requirements.

He came to

fulfill the

times and the

promises.

He came to

do that as

the servant

of God.

But the

psalm here

tells us

thirdly, he

came to

announce the

good news.

He came to

announce the

gospel, in

other words.

Because there

you have it in

verse 9 and

10.

I have told the

glad news of

deliverance in

the great

congregation.

Behold, I have

not restrained my

lips as you

know, O

God.

I have not

hidden your

deliverance within

my heart.

I have spoken of

your faithfulness

and your

salvation.

I have not

concealed your

steadfast love

and your

faithfulness from

the great

congregation.

And you could

really take

these words,

the great

congregation, as

indicative really

in a sense of

all humanity.

Jesus, through

the gospel, is

declaring the

steadfast love,

the gospel, the

good news, the

salvation of

God.

Now, he

himself, of

course, is the

embodiment of

this.

Some people will

say, well, we

shouldn't really

focus as much on

Jesus preaching as

on Jesus being the

substance of what we

preach.

He himself is the

good news, the

gospel.

And there's a sense

in which that's

true.

But it's also

true that Jesus

very deliberately

preached the

gospel.

For example,

Matthew 4,

Matthew 4:17

verse 17,

interestingly enough,

after the way in

which he had

overcome the

devil, from

that time,

Matthew says,

Jesus preached.

Jesus preached

about the

kingdom of

God.

So Jesus,

not only did he

preach, but

that's what he

preached.

He preached

the kingdom of

God and

preached,

therefore,

his own

coming in

relation to

that.

He came to

announce that

good news.

Jesus knew

where he had

come from,

who he was,

where he was

going back to,

back to heaven.

He knew what he

had come to do,

why he had come

into this world.

That it was to

die the death

of the cross,

that it was to

fulfill the

types, the

sacrifices,

of the Old

Testament time.

He came as

the servant of

God, to

yield perfect

obedience to

the will of

God.

He came to

announce and

to represent in

himself the

kingdom of

God, claim

of God over

human life,

and the call

of God through

the gospel to

come to be

citizens,

subjects of

that kingdom.

them.

Oh, we're

better some

than in

John's gospel

chapter 10

and verse 10.

In contrast

to the false

shepherds,

I have come,

he said,

that they

might have

life, that

his sheep

might have

life, and

have it the

more abundantly.

May God

bless these

thoughts.

On his

word, let's

conclude by

singing in

Psalm 40

from the

scripture.