Psalm 41
לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד
BSB
Victory over Betrayal
(John 13:18–30)
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1Blessed is the one who cares for the poor;
the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
2The LORD will protect and preserve him;
He will bless him in the land
and refuse to surrender him
to the will of his foes.
3The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness
and restore him from his bed of sickness.
4I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
5My enemies say with malice:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”
6My visitor speaks falsehood;
he gathers slander in his heart;
he goes out and spreads it abroad.
7All who hate me whisper against me;
they imagine the worst for me:
8“A vile disease has been poured into him;
he will never get up from where he lies!”
9Even my close friend whom I trusted,
the one who shared my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me.
10But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up,
that I may repay them.
11By this I know that You delight in me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12In my integrity You uphold me
and set me in Your presence forever.
13Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Introduction
Psalms 41
God's kindness and truth have often been the support and comfort of the saints when they have had most experience of man's unkindness and treachery. David here found them so, upon a sick-bed; he found his enemies very barbarous, but his God very gracious. I. He here comforts himself in his communion with God under his sickness, by faith receiving and laying hold of God's promises to him (Psa 41:1-3) and lifting up his heart in prayer to God (Psa 41:4). II. He here represents the malice of his enemies against him, their malicious censures of him, their spiteful reflections upon him, and their insolent conduct towards him (Psa 41:5-9). III. He leaves his case with God, not doubting but that he would own and favour him (Psa 41:10-12), and so the psalm concludes with a doxology (Psa 41:13). Is any afflicted with sickness? let him sing the beginning of this psalm. Is any persecuted by enemies? let him sing the latter end of it; and we may any of us, in singing it, meditate upon both the calamities and comforts of good people in this world.
To the chief musician. A psalm of David.
Cross-references: Ps 41:1 · Ps 41:4 · Ps 41:5 · Ps 41:10 · Ps 41:13