The prophecy in Psalm 40 concerning Christ should be considered the fifth station of all the prophecies concerning Christ in Book One of the Psalms. Psalms 2, 8, 16, and 22—24 are the first four stations. In the fifth station, Christ came through His incarnation to terminate God's old economy and initiate God's new economy, His New Testament economy, by replacing the animal sacrifices and establishing Himself as the unique sacrifice of the new covenant. As the unique sacrifice of the new covenant, Christ was the enacting factor of the New Testament economy to be the centrality and universality of God's New Testament economy. Hence, Christ is great in the prophecy in Psalm 40:6-8. He has changed the age for the consummation of God's new creation out of God's old creation. His changing of the age is greater than the creation of the universe mentioned in Genesis 1.

The prophecy concerning Christ in Psalm 40:6-8 is the goal and the destination of the revelation of Christ in Psalm 2, Psalm 8, Psalm 16, and Psalms 22—24. All Christians know that Christ came in His incarnation, but if we want to know what kind of Christ came, we have to know Psalm 2, Psalm 8, Psalm 16, and Psalms 22—24. These psalms are descriptions of the very Christ who came in His incarnation to carry out God's will as God's commission to turn the age, to terminate everything old and to replace the old things with Himself as everything new. We all were included in the old creation, but the old creation was terminated and replaced by Christ. Today in Christ we are no longer old; we are new (2 Cor. 5:17).

The prophecy concerning Christ in Psalm 40:6-8 was spoken in the context of the mixed expressions of David's sentiment. David's speaking in the Psalms reminds me to a certain extent of Peter's speaking in the Gospels. Peter frequently said the wrong thing, but one day he told the Lord that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Then the Lord Jesus told Peter that he was blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to him, but the Father in the heavens (v. 17). The Lord went further to tell the disciples that He was going to the cross (v. 21), but Peter began to rebuke Him, telling Him, "God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!" (v. 22). When Peter said this, the Lord said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!" (v. 23). At one moment Peter was blessed to receive a heavenly revelation of Christ from the Father, but in the next moment he was one with Satan. At one moment he was Peter; in the next moment he was Satan.

Peter's situation may be compared to David's situation in the Psalms. In the Psalms, David's speaking is according to two concepts—the human concept and the divine concept. At one time David is speaking, but suddenly his mouth becomes the mouth which reveals the divine revelation concerning Christ. Peter's case in the Gospels was similar to this.

Matthew 17 says that the Lord Jesus brought Peter, James, and John with Him to the mount of His transfiguration. When Peter saw the Lord transfigured and speaking with Moses and Elijah, he became very excited. He spoke foolishly by saying, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah" (v. 4). In his absurd proposal, Peter put Moses and Elijah on the same level as Christ. He was on the mount of Christ's transfiguration, but he spoke nonsense. David's speaking in the Psalms was in the same principle. In his speaking we can see both the divine concept and the human concept. In the Old Testament, there is a talkative David. In the New Testament, there is a talkative Peter.

David wrote many psalms, and in these psalms we can see both his natural concept and the divine concept of God according to the divine revelation. In Psalms 40 and 41, the only portions which are according to the divine concept are 40:6-8 and 41:9. These portions speak concerning Christ. However, we need all the verses in the psalms so that we can have a comparison to show us the divine revelation and the human expressions of the human sentiment.