“In sacrifice and offering You have not delighted, 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 delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.’”
Psalm 40:6–8

Psalm 40 is considered a Messianic Psalm because it speaks prophetically of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is confirmed in Hebrews 10:1, 4–7:

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect… For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.”’”

Some translations do not include the phrase “but You” in Psalm 40; however, it helps us see the contrast that God draws between the Old Testament sacrifices and the offering of the Lord Jesus. This becomes even clearer when we read in Hebrews, “but a body You have prepared for Me.”

God did not delight in the Old Testament sacrifices and offerings, as stated in Psalm 40, because those sacrifices could not take away sins, as explained in Hebrews 10. Therefore, God the Father prepared a body for His Son, the Lord Jesus. In Psalm 40 we read, “But You have given me an open ear,” which literally means, “You have dug ears for me.” The Father prepared a physical body for the Lord Jesus so that He might accomplish His will. Hebrews goes on to say, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10).

Because the Lord Jesus came into the world—coming in the likeness of man, yet without sin—He was able to be that perfect sacrifice for sin, a sweet-smelling aroma offered to God (Eph. 5:1–2). By His sacrifice, “this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12).

Anchor For Today:
Psalm 40 speaks to us of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. How thankful we are that God prepared a body for our blessed Savior!