Skip to main content

Let the LORD be magnified. A meditation on Psalm 40:16

The LORD Be Magnified! [ יִגְדַּל יְהוָה ]
Meditation on Psalm 40:16
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

The Scripture declares that all who seek the Lord should rejoice in Him and say continually: “The Lord be magnified” (יִגְדַּל יְהוָה; yigdal Yahweh) This brief meditation strives to provide a number of specific reasons why believers must remember this chorus continually.

Because You Rejoice in God.
The text declares that those who ‘rejoice and are glad’ in the Lord should be those who acclaim the magnification of God. Believers should rejoice in God because he inclines and hears our cries (Ps 40:1), he rescues us (v.2), and puts a new song in our mouths (v.3). The Lord deserves the highest praise and worship because the wonders He has done are innumerable (v.5). Thus, those who have been delivered by God, who have a new song in their mouth because of the newly revealed grace fully unveiled in the Lord’s salvation should rejoice heartily in God and proclaim His magnificence.

Because You Seek the Lord.
The Lord deserves to be hailed as the magnificent sovereign because His people seek Him. Psalm 40 tells the Godly who seek the Lord to rejoice and be glad in God. Those who seek the Lord and desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ should proclaim His preeminence and glory!

Because You Receive His Blessings.
The thoughts that God has toward His people are many (Ps 40:5). Indeed, his thoughts toward His people cannot be counted (v.5). None can compare with this all-wise and all-knowing God! The wonders, the blessings, and the thoughts toward His own saints provide endless reasons for God’s people to praise Him! The blessings of God beckon believers to bow & utter that the Lord must be magnified!

Because You Benefit from Grace.
Those who love God’s salvation should always have on their tongues that the Lord is to be magnified. All boasting in self must cease & all boasting in the cross of Jesus Christ must abound! The believer who benefits from God’s grace revealed in the cross of Christ should proclaim the Lord’s magnificence daily. This proclamation should come to his own soul in reminding him of his lostness and of the Lord’s unspeakable love that provided salvation. This proclamation should also include telling others of the manifold benefits of God’s grace that are found in salvation. The one who loves God’s salvation, who has experienced God’s mercies, and who has been wooed by the supremely tender cords of divine love is one who must herald the Lord’s magnificence!

Because You Wait with Hope.
The psalmist says that he waited patiently for the Lord. Literally, waiting, he waited for the Lord. To wait on God requires the hard discipline of quieting oneself and stilling oneself before God with active, aggressive, persistent — and undistracted — praying. To wait on God is to pray to God and expect God to bring an answer to the petition. To wait on God is to actively hope and confidently trust in His sovereignty and His goodness. To wait on God is never to live lazily, act indifferently. Rather, it is to confidently pray while waiting for God to answer. This person who waits on God, praying to God, confident in God, trusting in God is one who can honestly say that the Lord is to be magnified in and through all things. To wait is to trust. To wait is to affirm the Lord’s magnificence.

Because You Hail His Incomparability.
Every person worships. There is, however, only one God who exists. Only one God is worthy of worship. Only one God is real, living, active, wise, good, and sovereign. The psalmist proclaims the priority that God cannot be compared with anyone or anything else (Ps 40:5). He far surpasses all other gods. None can compare with God. To whom would someone liken to God or what likeness can be compared to Him (Isa 40:18). God alone must be elevated as the magnificent one, the great one, the highest one, the supreme one, and the praise of His sovereignty should drip from the lips of His children continually. O let all God’s children join the heavenly chorus and continually say, the Lord be magnified!

Download the pdf here.

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 58:10 - Rejoice at the Destruction of the Wicked?

Does the Bible really say that the righteous will rejoice at God's vengeance upon the wicked? Yes, it does. First of all, the Bible no where advocates or condones people rejoicing over the downfall of the enemy because of personal vengeance . All vengeance must be left to the LORD (Deut 32 and Rom 12). Nevertheless, when the Christian has a God-centered perspective, it is absolutely reasonable—yes, required—that believers rejoice at the destruction of the wicked. (Again, this is not personal vengeance or gloating that the wicked are finally cast into hell.) But in my sermon last night I provided seven reasons why the righteous will rejoice at the judgment of the wicked: 1. God commands it (Rev 19:1-10) In a mysterious way, God commands believers to rejoice because His judgments are poured out upon the wicked. Just read Revelation 19:1 (which immediately follows Rev 17-18 and the cataclysmic destruction of Babylon, the false religious system and the false political system durin
Read more

Quotes on God's Sovereignty from AW Pink

Yesterday I read Pink's classic work again in preparation for my sermon on Psalm 47 this week at Church. God is good and He truly is the Sovereign King. Quotes from A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God . Revised edition. Reprint, 1928. Carlisle , PA : Banner of Truth Trust, 1998. “From every pulpit in the land it needs to be thundered forth that God still lives, that God still observes, that God still reigns.” (p.15). “Learn then this basic truth, that the Creator is absolute Sovereign, executing His own will, performing His own pleasure, and considering naught but His own glory. “The Lord hath made all things FOR HIMSELF. (Prov 16:4). And had He not a perfect right to do so? Since God is God, who dare challenge His prerogative? To murmur against Him is rank rebellion. To question His ways is to impugn His wisdom. To criticize Him is sin of the deepest dye. Have we forgotten who He is?” (p.30). “Because God governs inanimate matter… when we complain about
Read more

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity.

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity Psalm 11.2 says that the wicked seek to destroy those who are “upright in heart” ( לְיִשְׁרֵי־לֵב). The LXX renders the Hebrew phrase as: τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ (“the straight ones [=upright] of heart”). The Aramaic Targum renders the phrase in its oft-expanded way:  תקיני  לתריצי לבא (“the firm stability of the upright ones in heart”). Why is this language used to speak about integrity? Why does this describe the godly? I want to offer a few observations concerning this phrase. 1. This phrase refers to the godly person being one who is unbending and standing straight up for the Lord and for His Word. The Hebrew root for “upright” (יָשָׁר) speaks of that which is straight and right. So then, the person who is upright in heart is one who is straight in his life, straight in his course, unbending in his convictions, unswerving in his conduct. Joshua was told not to turn away from the Law of God either to the right or the left (Josh 1.7;
Read more