What Does Psalm 40:4 Mean in the King James?
Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Trust does more than choose an anchor: it changes which voices and paths receive your attention.
THE MEANING
Flourishing belongs to the one who places the LORD as their security. Their attention does not turn toward the self-exalting, and their path does not drift toward falsehood. The verse presents trust as both an anchor and a refusal of unreliable direction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that security comes from following self-exalting voices even when their path bends toward falsehood.
THE ROOT
מִבְטָחוֹ
mivtaḥo
GROWS FROM
בטח
To trust, rely securely, or feel confident.
The word rendered “trust” means his security or confidence; it comes from a root that also means to trust or feel secure. Trust here is where a person places their security, not merely agreement with a claim.
ALSO GROWS
bāṭaḥ: To trust or rely securely.
בָּטַח
This verb shares the seed of the verse’s word for trust, linking the act of trusting with the security it places in the LORD.
mivtaḥ: Security or confidence.
מִבְטָח
This noun names the security that the verse says is placed in the LORD.
beṭaḥ: Securely; security.
בֶּטַח
This form shows the root can describe a state of security, illuminating trust as settled reliance.
כָּזָב
kāzāḇ
GROWS FROM
כזב
To lie, deceive, or prove false.
English “lies” can sound like statements that are simply inaccurate, but כזב also speaks to deception and what proves false. The verse contrasts security in the LORD with paths that cannot hold up as trustworthy.
ALSO GROWS
kāzaḇ: To lie or act falsely.
כָּזַב
This verb shows that falsehood is an action and a path, matching the verse’s image of turning toward lies.
kāzāḇ: A lie or falsehood.
כָּזָב
This noun names what the verse’s unreliable path leads toward.
THE PATTERN
Flourishing grows from anchoring reliance in the LORD and refusing paths that prove false.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)THE THREAD
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.Both verses use the Hebrew root בטח (bāṭaḥ, trust securely) for reliance on the LORD. Psalm 62:8 opens that trust as refuge: the security named in Psalm 40 is a place where the heart can be poured out.
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