Why read Psalm 40?
Psalm 40 brings together compassion for the poor and prayer in illness or betrayal. Its concern for vulnerable people is followed by an honest plea for help amid weakness and disappointment.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 40 — "Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the poor..." — is the prayer through which the Psalmist sets before God the living of a whole hour of life. It belongs to the Sixth Kathisma and has 13 verses, which you will find below in full text.
The text of Psalm 40
1. Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the poor and the needy; the Lord shall deliver him in an evil day.
2. The Lord preserve him and keep him alive, and bless him upon the earth, and deliver him not into the hands of his enemies.
3. The Lord help him upon his bed of pain; Thou hast made all his bed in his sickness.
4. I said: "O Lord, have mercy upon me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee".
5. Mine enemies have spoken evil of me, saying: "When shall he die, and his name perish?"
6. And if he came to see me, his heart spake vanity; he gathered iniquity to himself; he went forth and spake it abroad.
7. Together against me whispered all mine enemies; against me they devised evil for me.
8. An unjust word they uttered against me, saying: "Shall he that sleepeth rise up no more?"
9. Yea, the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10. But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon me and raise me up, and I shall requite them.
11. By this I know that Thou hast favoured me, because mine enemy shall not rejoice over me.
12. But Thou hast upheld me because of mine innocence, and hast established me in Thy presence for ever.
13. Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen. Amen.
When Psalm 40 is read
- It belongs to the Sixth Kathisma and is read in the course of the Psalter at the services; the faithful read it during fasts and in times of need.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
