Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 41:1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
1. Blessed ] Or, happy, as in Psa 41:2, and in Psa 1:1. The word is to be distinguished from blessed in the doxology of Psa 41:13, the tribute of human reverence to divine majesty. The last Psalm in Book I begins like the first with a beatitude.
that considereth the poor ] Behaves considerately and intelligently towards those in affliction, shewing kindness and sympathy, and not judging them harshly. Cp. for illustration Psa 35:13-14; Jas 1:27. The word rendered poor is different from that in Psa 40:17. It means weak, and includes the sick as well as the poor. The sequel shews that it is the sick that the Psalmist has chiefly in mind. The P.B.V. the poor and needy follows the LXX, which may have been influenced by Psa 40:17.
in time of trouble ] R.V. in the day of evil, though in the day of trouble is given in Psa 27:5 for the same phrase.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 3. The blessings in store for the compassionate man.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Blessed is he – See the notes at Psa 1:1. Literally, Oh the blessings of him that considers the poor. The object is to describe the advantages of doing what is here said; or the excellence of the spirit which would be manifested in such a case, and the effect which this would have on his own happiness. These happy effects are described in the remainder of this verse, and in the two following verses.
That considereth – The word used here – from sakal – means properly to look at, to behold; then, to be prudent or circumspect; then, to attend to; and then in general to act prudently, wisely, intelligently, in any case. Here it means to attend to; to show an interest in; to care for. The idea is that of not neglecting; not passing by; not being indifferent to; not being hard-hearted and uncharitable toward.
The poor – Margin, the weak, or the sick. The word used in the Hebrew – dal – means properly something hanging or swinging, as of pendulous boughs or branches; and then, that which is weak, feeble, powerless. Thus it comes to denote those who are feeble and helpless either by poverty or by disease, and is used with a general reference to those who are in slow or humble condition, and who need the aid of others. The statement here is of a general nature – that he is blessed who shows proper sympathy for all of that class: for those who need the sympathy of others from any cause – poverty, sickness, a low condition, or trouble. The particular thing here referred to was a case of sickness; where one was borne down by disease, perhaps brought on by mental sorrow, and when he particularly needed the sympathy of his friends. See Psa 41:5-8.
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble – Margin, as in Hebrew: in the day of evil. This is the first happy effect or result of showing proper sympathy with others in their troubles. It is a statement of the general principle that the Lord will deal with us as we do with others. See this principle stated and illustrated in Psa 18:24-26.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 41:1-13
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Psalmists affliction
The central mass of this psalm describes the singer as suffering from two evils: sickness and treacherous friends. This situation naturally leads up to the prayer and confidence of the closing strophe (Psa 41:10-12). But its connection with the introductory verses (1-3) is less plain. A statement of the blessings ensured to the compassionate seems a singular introduction to the psalmists pathetic exhibition of his sorrows. It is to be observed, however, that the two points of the psalmists affliction are the two from which escape is assured to the compassionate, who shall not be delivered to the desire of his enemies, and shall be supported and healed in sickness. Probably, therefore, the general promises of Psa 41:1-3 are silently applied by the psalmist to himself; and he is comforting his own sorrow with the assurance which in his humility he casts into impersonal form. He has been merciful, and believes, though things look dark, that he will obtain mercy. There is probably also an intentional contrast with the cruel exacerbation of his sufferings by uncompassionate companions, which has rubbed salt into his wounds. He has a double consciousness in these opening verses, inasmuch as he partly thinks of himself as the compassionate man and partly as the weak one who is compassionated. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The right and wrong treatment of the afflicted
I. The right treatment of the afflicted.
1. Its nature. To consider the poor, in a scriptural and true sense, is–
(1) To honour their nature as men.
(2) To promote their rights as citizens.
(3) To alleviate their woes as sufferers.
(4) To appreciate their work as servants.
Poor though they be, they are children of the same great Father, and endowed with the high attribute of moral intelligence. Poor though they be, they have their rights as citizens of the same state, and they have done more to help on the world than any other class of men. They work our mines, construct our fleets, build our cities, fight our battles, write some of our best books, and invent many of the most useful and ornamental arts.
2. The happiness of the right treatment.
(1) Blessed is he that considereth the poor. Such a man is blessed in the service he renders. The exercise of benevolence is the source of our chiefest joy. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
(2) But the writer specifies certain advantages which are bestowed in addition to this (Psa 41:1-3).
II. The wrong treatment of the afflicted (Psa 41:4-13). Under this ill-treatment–
1. He had a consciousness of his own sins (Psa 41:4).
(1) Great afflictions often awakes a sense of sin.
(2) Under a consciousness of his own sins he appeals for mercy. Lord, be merciful unto me.
2. He deeply felt the wicked conduct of his enemies (Psa 41:5-9).
(1) They desired his death.
(2) They plot his ruin.
3. He directs his heart to the great God (Psa 41:10-13).
(1) He prays.
(2) He confesses.
(3) He worships. It is well when all our trials and varied experiences end thus. (Homilist.)
The blessedness of considering the case of the poor
There is an evident want of congeniality between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the Christian. Now, so long as this wisdom has for its object some secular advantage, I yield it an unqualified reverence. If in private life a man be wise in the management of his farm, or his fortune, or his family; or if in public life he have wisdom to steer an empire through all its difficulties, and to carry it to aggrandizement and renown–the respect which I feel for such wisdom as this is most cordial and entire, and supported by the universal acknowledgment of all whom I call to attend to it. Let me now suppose that this wisdom has changed its object–that the man whom I am representing go exemplify this respectable attribute, instead of being wise for time, is wise for eternity–that he labours by the faith and sanctification of the Gospel for unperishable honours–what becomes of your respect for him now? Are there not some of you who are quite sensible that this respect is greatly impaired, since the wisdom of the man has taken so unaccountable a change in its object and in its direction? Men do not respect a wisdom which they-do not comprehend. They may love the innocence of a decidedly religious character, but they do not much, if at all, venerate its wisdom. The things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to the natural man. And all that has now been said of wisdom is applicable, with almost no variation, to another attribute of the human character, and which I would call lovely. I mean–benevolence. But that which the world admires, and that which is truly Christian, are vastly different. The benevolence of the world–with its poetical sentiment–the Christian may not understand; that of the Christian, with its self-denial and enduring of hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, the world does not understand. It is positively nauseated by the poetical amateur. And the contrast does not stop here. The benevolence of the Gospel is not only at antipodes with that of the visionary sons and daughters of poetry, but it even varies in some of its most distinguishing features from the experimental benevolence of real and familiar life. The fantastic benevolence of poetry is now indeed pretty well exploded; and in the more popular works of the age there is a benevolence of a far truer and more substantial kind substituted in its place–the benevolence which you meet with among men of business and observation–the benevolence which bustles and finds employment among the most public and ordinary scenes; and which seeks for objects, not where the flower blows loveliest, and the stream, with its gentle murmurs, falls sweetest on the ear; but finds them in its every-day walks, goes in quest of them through the heart of the great city, and is not afraid to meet them in its most putrid lanes and loathsome receptacles. Now, it must be acknowledged that this benevolence is of a far more respectable kind than poetic sensibility, which is of no use because it admits of no application. Yet I am not afraid to say, that, respectable as it is, it does not come up to the benevolence of the Christian; and is at variance, in some of its most capital ingredients, with the morality of the Gospel. For time, and the accommodations of time, form all its subject, and all its exercise, lit labours, and often with success, to provide for its object a warm and a well-sheltered tenement; but it looks not beyond the few little years when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, when the soul shall be driven from its perishable tenement, and the only benevolence it will need will be that of those who have directed it heavenwards. The one minds earthly things, the other has its conversation in heaven. That which is the chief motive in the heart of the worldly philanthropist are but mere accessories in the heart of the Christian. All will applaud the benevolence of a Howard, but only the Christian will feel enthusiasm for the apostleship of Paul, who in the sublimer sense accomplished the liberty of the captive and brought them that sat in darkness out of the prison house. And hence it is that notwithstanding missionary zeal has ever been the pioneer for civilization, yet because the missionary labours for the eternal salvation of the heathen, the cry of fanaticism is raised against them, and they are regarded by men of the world with prejudice and disgust. Therefore we are to note the way in which the Bible enjoins us to consider the poor. Our text does not say, Commiserate the poor, for if it said only this it would leave them to the precarious provision of mere impulsive sympathy. Feeling is but a faint and fluctuating security. Fancy may mislead it. The sober realities of life may disgust it. Disappointment may extinguish it. Ingratitude may embitter it. Deceit, with its counterfeit representations, may allure it to the wrong object. The Bible, then, instead of leaving the relief of the poor to the mere instinct of sympathy, makes it a subject for consideration–Blessed is he that considereth the poor–a grave and prosaic exercise I do allow, and which makes no figure in those high-wrought descriptions, where the exquisite tale of benevolence is made up of all the sensibilities of tenderness on the one hand, and of all the ecstasies of gratitude on the other. But the poor have souls and need to be saved, and all benevolence, however necessary and praiseworthy, that ignores this deepest need, is but partial and incomplete. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
The duty of considering the poor
It requires wisdom to understand the constitution of things, but the more a man understands the more he will approve. The inequalities of mankind, and the consequent state and condition of the poor, is one of those subjects which most of all perplex the mind. Such inequality is an undoubted fact, and has ever and everywhere been so. But when a good man beholds this, and sees his own affluence and the others indigence, he will reason that the Divine intent was that he should supply his brothers need. The inequality of nature should be rectified by religion. Now, let the rich think that what they give to the poor is thrown away, or given to them who can make no return. For to the poor, under God, the rich owe all their wealth. They are the workers and producers of the wealth which the rich only consume. Is society composed only of the noble and opulent? Did you ever hear, or read, of one that was so composed? It could not subsist for a week. As the members of it would not work, they could not eat. Of what value were your estates in the country, if the poor did not cultivate them? Of what account the riches of the nobleman, or the gentleman, if they must want the comforts, the conveniences, and even the necessaries of life? The king himself is served by the field; and, without the labours of the husbandman, must starve in his palace, surrounded by his courtiers and guards. The world depends, for subsistence, on the plough, the sickle, and the flail! Mankind, in short, constitute one vast body, to the support of which every member contributes his share; and by all of them together, as by so many greater and lesser wheels in a machine, the business of the public is carried on, its necessities are served, and its very existence is upholden. From hence it appears that the inequality of mankind is not the effect of chance, but the ordinance of Heaven, by whose appointment, as manifested in the constitution of the universe, some must command, while others obey; some must labour, while others direct their labours; some must be rich, while others are poor. The Scripture inculcates the same important truth, and the inference to be deduced from it–The poor shall never cease, etc. (Deu 15:11). Such is the method directed by Heaven of balancing the account between the different orders of men. What, then, will be the first consideration of a rich man when he sees a poor man? If he have a clear head, and a good heart, will he not reason in some such manner as this? God has given the earth for the support of all. While I abound, why does this man want? Plainly, that we may bear one anothers burdens; that my abundance may supply his need, may alleviate his distress, may help to sustain the affliction under which he groans: that I may take off his load of woe, and he take off the superfluity of my wealth; that so the stream, now broken and turbid, may again find its level, and flow pure and tranquil. If I do not act thus, may not the poor justly complain, and would not the fault be mine? And if the rich man refuse to help the poor, it is but natural to ask whence came this inequality? It was not from the rich mans merit or the poets demerit. It has been permitted that the poor may learn resignation, and the rich be taught charity, and the right employment of the good things vouchsafed to them. It is more blessed to give than to receive; let the rich remember this, and the end of their being made rich is answered. And let the rich man remember, too, that had it pleased God, he would have been poor, and it may please Him that he shall he so. He then will need that which now he is recommended to give. Such changes do occur. But whether in your case they do or not, if your riches do not leave you, yet in a little while you must leave them. Death waits to strip you of them all. They wilt only avail you then as you have employed them well now. In the Gospel we must seek full information as to this duty. Our blessed Lord became poor to make us rich, and has thus for ever obliged us to consider the poor. But how are we to obey these precepts? Let charity rule in the heart, and it will not need to be told how much it should give. But for rules take these:–
1. Let each lay aside a due proportion of his income for charities.
2. Practise economy with a view to charity; retrench expenditure on luxury and indulgence for this end.
3. Then, in giving, give work rather than money where the poor would work if they could. Where they would not, let them be made to work. Such is true kindness to them. (G. Horns.)
Considering the poor
When God commends us, or encourages us to consider the poor and needy, He commands and encourages us to do that for our fellow-creatures which we, as poor and needy dependants on His bounty, ask Him to do for us. He was not satisfied with death and the cross only, but He took up with becoming poor also, and a stranger, and a beggar, and naked, and with being thrown into prison, and undergoing sickness, that so, at least, He might call thee off [from covetousness]. If thou wilt not requite Me (He says) as having suffered for thee, show mercy on Me for My poverty; and if thou art not minded to pity Me for My poverty, do for My disease be moved, and for My imprisonment be softened. And if even these things make thee not charitable, for the easiness of the request comply with Me; for it is no costly gift I ask, but bread and lodging, and words of comfort. But if even after this thou still continuest unsubdued, still, for the kingdoms sake, be improved for the rewards which I have promised. Hast thou, then, no regard even for these? Yet still, for very natures sake, be softened at seeing Me naked; and remember that nakedness wherewith I was naked on the cross for thee; or if not this, yet that wherewith I am now naked through the poor . . . I fasted for thee; again I am hungry for thee . . . of thee, that owest Me the requital of benefits without number, I make not request as of one that oweth, but crown thee as one that favoureth Me, and a kingdom do I give thee for these small things . . . I delivered thee from most galling bonds; but for me it is quite enough if thou wilt but visit me when in prison. (Chrysostom.)
They, then, who even in out poor, low way, are conformed, or beginning to be conformed, to Gods mind in considering–that is, in searching out, compassionating, and relieving–distress have that in them which must be the source of blessedness, because they have that in them which is the source of happiness (I speak, of course, after the manner of men) to the Divine Mind; for God rejoices over His works. He rejoices in diffusing life and happiness; and when one province of His fair creation became marred and ruined by sin, and He extended mercy to it, then He delighted in that mercy. We then when, notwithstanding miserable deficiencies and shortcomings, we compassionate those in distress, and relieve their wants, even here enter somewhat into the very joy of God. And there is no Christian grace to the exercise of which God has in His Word so frequently or so emphatically promised a reward in the world to come. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)
On Christian care for the poor
Judaism stood alone among ancient religions, Christianity stands alone among modern, in the inculcation of earnest, solemn, anxious consideration for the poor. And for the same reason. They both try to look on the world as the God who made it looks on it, and to share the burden of its want and its woe which is pressing on His heart. In nothing is the unity of Scripture more beautiful, more conspicuous, than in this great thought about the poor. Perhaps it is the grandest evidence of its inspiration. Christ deemed it the crowning glory of His kingdom (Mat 11:5).
I. The motive to consideration of the poor. I do not mean the reasons–they are abundant, but the motive. For the reasons and the motive power are, alas! widely different. The reasons are abundant for upright, godly conduct. A man is tempted to selfish, sensual, knavish action. There are ten thousand reasons why he should forbear, not one why he should yield. Every drop of his blood, every beat of his heart, every fibre of his nerve, could it speak, would cry out against it. His whole being, body, soul, and spirit, is against it. The whole structure of the universe is against it. Gods face, Gods hand, are against it. But he does it and faces it all. So here the reason is one thing; the power which makes the reason effective, which touches, moves, compels the conduct, is from a yet deeper spring. The fundamental element in the motive to care for the poor, is the revelation that the poor are the care of God. However man came to it, he has come to a god-like nature. The strongest influence which you can bring to bear on him is the revelation of the mind of God. There is something in him which moves him to imitation. The childs nature and passion, the cry of his spirit, Father, Father, tends to take shape in acts sympathetic with God.
II. The kind of consideration demanded.
1. Set plainly before the minds eye the terrible inequalities of gifts, possessions, culture, advantages, and all that makes the outward joy of life. We like to escape from it. The blessing is for the man who faces it; who in his comfortable home, with art, music, dress, amusement, luxurious appliances, carriages, and food, will set before his face the life of the millions to whom all this is as far off as the stars. Who will think of the laundress shut up in a hot, fetid room, standing over a tub or an ironing-board, four or five young children clinging round her, and one ill up-stairs; but who dares not stop, who must work on lest they starve. Or poor parents watching a fair child dear to them as yours to you, and pining daily for the nourishing food and sea air, but which they are utterly unable to give. The man who considers the poor will keep this in sight while he enjoys Gods blessings.
2. He will not believe that God meant life to be anything like this. The heathen says that this is Gods ordinance, and it is impious to interfere. But the Christian is quite sure God meant nothing like this.
3. He will say, It is a solemn part of my duty to mend it. God leaves it with us, not because He does not care, but because He cares so intensely. He will have us see to it. It is societys most pressing, most sacred, most blessed work, to consider the poor; to be always meditating, planning, and working at what aims at the extinction of the bitterness of poverty from the world. It is not mere giving. Some do most who give nothing, who have nothing to give. It is the mind and the heart to think and to care which first need to be cultivated; the feeling that it is base and selfish to enjoy our advantages, comforts, and luxuries, while we abstain from systematic thoughtful effort to bridge over the chasm which separates the classes, and to make less bitter the lot of the poor.
III. The blessing in which it fruits. He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord. Many may feel that this is a far-away matter–The Lord will repay. They see nothing tangible here; brave words, no more. To me it seems the reality of realities. I see something very intangible in the best of worldly securities; who is to secure them? While this is real, solid, enduring, as the order of the world.
1. The blessing lies hid in the order of the world. God has made man and the world so that this mind shall be blessed. All men honour, love, and cherish it. It draws forth the best elements of every nature, the sunny side of every heart.
2. The blessing lies deeper and closer, in a warm glow of living joy in his own heart. It is the souls health, this care for need. There is the glow of health in the soul of the man who cherishes it, which is incomparable with any other sensation; it is the pure joy of life.
3. Deeper still, it lies in the heart and the hand of God. God loves that man, and counts him His friend. God watches that man, and assures his life. In moments of crisis and strain it is as if a Hand came out of the invisible to clasp and upbear him–the Hand which will one day lift him out of the shades of death to that world where he shall hear the welcome, Come, thou blessed of my Father, etc. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
Benevolence
This the most prominent characteristic of our religion.
I. The duty of considering the poor. It must be performed on Christian principles. Not as did the Pharisees, to be seen of men. There are several kinds of poor. Inquire, therefore, what it is to consider the poor. It implies sympathy with them; that we should, if possible, visit them; that we should relieve them; that we should seek to do good to their souls.
II. The privilege of considering the poor. All duty is privilege, for all God requires us to do is for our advantage. Gods blessing attends the considering of the poor. The Lord will preserve him in the day of trouble. See this in the history of Job. (Joseph Entwistle.)
Considering the poor
Poverty is a large word, and requires a large definition. Sickness, weakness, fear, sense of helplessness, sense of desolation–all these may be brought under the definition of poverty. Some men are poor mentally, needing continual suggestion, direction, and recruital of mind. Want of money is the most superficial kind of poverty. It is by no means to be neglected either by the individual or by the state, because through want of money men often perish through lack of other things. When money is taken thus typically, then pennilessness becomes a manifold disorder and weakness. The word rendered considereth implies a kindliness of consideration. It is not only a statistical or economical view of social circumstances, it is also a direct and earnest exercise of the heart. The word may also be rendered he that understands. We cannot understand the poor simply as an intellectual study. No man understands hunger who has not been hungry. There are dictionary interpretations of words which help us but a short way towards their true comprehension. Think of turning to the dictionary to find the meaning of poverty, hunger, sorrow, death! All the words may be neatly and clearly defined in terms, but to understand any one of them we must pass through the experience which it indicates. The blessings of the Bible are always poured upon good-doing. (J. Parker.)
The sick and needy (for Hospital Sunday)
1. It is urged that free hospitals for the sick poor are not an unmixed good. The same may be said of every existing human institution. Were we to wait for perfection before we would give our support to any philanthropic scheme, philanthropy would die out entirely from the hearts of men from lack of worthy objects. While occasional and substantial help is a great blessing, and one which neither the receiver nor the giver can well spare without loss of pure emotion and without poverty of soul, too much help, or help too readily obtainable, is a great injury, inasmuch as it undermines manliness and self-reliance, destroys that vigour of independence which all toilers in every rank ought to cultivate, and often creates the poverty and misery it is intended to cure. The change cannot be wrought in a day or a year, or in hardly less than a score of years. It must be gradual. Many of the present generation are incurable, their inveterate pauperism cannot be shaken off. It is to the next generation that we must look for a better state of things. The sick and needy will still be at our doors, for many a year to come; men, women and children will still be helpless and perish if we withhold our pity and relief. While poverty lasts we must keep our manhood, our brotherly sympathy, our tender compassion, and by the agency of our splendid hospitals earn the cheap honour of helping to provide for the sick and needy.
2. The second objection is that the money raised is not distributed as equitably as it should be. Still, assuming this, I ask on what reasonable, just, or humane, grounds will you withhold your help from the fund because some of it is misappropriated? Is it reasonable to cripple the healing resources of ten persons who need your help, simply because one person has received help which he did not so much need? Is it just to punish the deserving hospitals for the undeserving?
3. The third objection is that persons avail themselves of hospital relief who have no right to the benefit. Of this deplorable fact there can be no doubt. The out-patients room at the hospital is crowded by persons who can well afford to pay for medical and surgical attendance. Is this abuse of the hospitals a valid objection to our giving them all our support? I venture to say it is not. To destroy a precious and useful thing because some one puts it to a wrong use, or because it has fallen into illegitimate hands, is a manifest folly. If the liberal subscribers to the Hospital Fund were to hand in along with their subscriptions a vigorous protest against the indiscriminate reception of applicants for relief, the abuse would soon be abated, and in time altogether disappear. But not to give is to forfeit your right to be heard; not to support the hospitals is to put yourself out of court and disqualify you from giving evidence. (C. Voysey.)
Practical sympathy: pity shown more by deeds than words
A respectable merchant of London having become embarrassed in his circumstances, and his misfortunes being one day the subject of conversation in the Royal Exchange, several persons expressed the great sympathy they felt for him; whereupon a Quaker who was present said, I feel five hundred pounds for him, what do you feel?
The blessedness of the benevolent
Where is heaven? asked a wealthy Christian of his minister. I will tell you where it is, was the quick reply: if you will go to the store, and buy 10 worth of provisions and necessaries, and take them to that poor widow on the hillside, who has three of her children sick. She is poor, and a member of the Church. Take a nurse and some one to cook the food. When you get there, read the twenty-third Psalm, and kneel by her side and pray. Then you will find out where heaven is.
A despiser of the poor reproved
An eminent surgeon was one day sent for by the Cardinal du Bois, Prime Minister of France, to perform a very serious operation upon him. The Cardinal, on seeing him enter the room, said to him, You must not expect to treat me in the same rough manner that you treat the more miserable wretches at your hospital. My lord, replied the surgeon, with great dignity, every one of those miserable wretches, as your eminence is pleased to call them, is a Prime Minister in my eyes, for each is one of Gods poor.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM XLI
The blessedness of the man who is merciful to the poor, 1-3.
The psalmist complains of his enemies, and prays for support,
4-10;
and blesses God for having heard his prayer, and preserved him
from his adversaries, 11, 12.
A fine doxology closes the Psalm, 13.
NOTES ON PSALM XLI
The title as before. The Syriac says it was “A Psalm of David, when he appointed overseers to take care of the poor.” The Arabic says, “It is a prophecy concerning the incarnation; and also of the salutation of Judas.” It appears to me to have been written on the same occasion as the three former, and to relate to David’s malady and cure, and the evil treatment he had from his enemies during his affliction. Our Lord, by accommodation, applies the ninth verse to the treachery of Judas, Joh 13:18; but as to any other direct reference to Christ, or his history, I believe the Psalm has none.
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth] God is merciful; he will have man to resemble him: as far as he is merciful, feels a compassionate heart, and uses a benevolent hand, he resembles his Maker; and the mercy he shows to others God will show to him. But it is not a sudden impression at the sight of a person in distress, which obliges a man to give something for the relief of the sufferer, that constitutes the merciful character. It is he who considers the poor; who endeavours to find them out; who looks into their circumstances; who is in the habit of doing so; and actually, according to his power and means, goes about to do good; that is the merciful man, of whom God speaks with such high approbation, and to whom he promises a rich reward.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That considereth; or, that carries himself wisely and prudently with or towards him, not rashly and foolishly censures and condemns him, as my pretended friends dealt with me, Psa 41:8; nor insulteth over him, which is a foolish as well as wicked thing; but considereth that it may be his own case, and therefore pitieth and helpeth him; which is the likeliest way to obtain the like pity for himself in his trouble.
The poor; or rather, the weak, or sick, or languishing person, as may be gathered by comparing this with Psa 41:3, where the mercy which he is supposed to have afforded to him is returned upon himself, and with Psa 41:8.
The Lord will deliver him; either,
1. The poor afflicted man. Though his enemies conclude his case to bc desperate, Psa 41:8, God will confute them, and deliver him. Or,
2. The considerer of the poor, of whom also this same pronoun him is confessedly meant, Psa 41:2,3. And so it is a promise of recompence, the wise and merciful man shall find mercy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-3. God rewards kindness to thepoor (Pr 19:17). From Psa 41:2;Psa 41:11 it may be inferred thatthe Psalmist describes his own conduct.
poorin person,position, and possessions.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor,…. Not the poor of the world in common, nor poor saints in particular, but some single poor man; for the word is in the singular number, and designs our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in Ps 40:17, is said to be “poor and needy”: and so read the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions here; who became poor for our sakes, that we might be enriched by his poverty; being born of poor parents, educated in a mean manner, and in public life was ministered to by others: the word q here used signifies one that is attenuated, weak, and exhausted either of his substance or strength, or both; as Christ was in his state of humiliation, when he was emptied of his riches, and, though Lord of all, had not where to lay his head; and whose strength was dried up like a potsherd, when he suffered on the cross; and indeed at best he was encompassed with weaknesses and infirmities: and in this his low estate he is to be wisely considered, or attended to with wisdom and understanding; and he may be said wisely to consider him, who considers how great a person he is, that came into such a low estate for us; not a mere man, but above angels and men, that has all the perfections of deity in him, is the eternal Son of God, truly and properly God, and the Creator of all things, and Governor of the universe; which consideration will engage to and encourage faith and hope in him, lead to adore his wonderful grace, and to admire his condescension and humility in becoming poor and weak; as also who considers that the poverty of Christ was for our sakes, and that we might be made rich with the riches of grace and glory; and considers it so as not to be offended with it; see
Mt 11:6; and which may serve to support us under all meanness and infirmity, and in whatsoever estate saints may come into; and likewise who considers him in his offices which he exercised in that his estate as the apostle and high priest of our profession; and him in his exalted state in heaven; see Heb 12:3; in a word, he wisely considers him, who believes in him as his Saviour, prizes him as the pearl of great price, cleaves close unto him, and follows him wherever he goes; who desires to know more of him, is concerned for his honour, interest, kingdom and glory, and pities his poor members, and freely and bountifully communicates to them; and so the Targum,
“blessed is the man that wisely considers the afflictions of the poor, that he may have mercy on him;”
and such an one is an happy man, and the following things said of him prove him to be so;
the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble: or “in the evil day” r; out of all his trouble, temporal and spiritual, of body and soul; in every time of affliction, private and personal; or in a time of public calamity; perhaps reference may be had to the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, which was a time of great tribulation, Mt 24:21; when those who did not consider Christ in his poor and low estate, but despised and rejected him, were destroyed; and such as did were saved from that calamity: and it may also include the day of judgment, which is the evil day, unto which the wicked are reserved, and when they will be punished with everlasting destruction; but then those that consider Christ, and believe in him, will be saved from wrath. Some s take these words, with what follows in the two next verses, as a prayer, and as delivered by him that visits the sick, for his comfort; and so Joseph Kimchi interprets it of an honourable man visiting a sick man, and instructing and comforting him with such words as these, that “the Lord will deliver him”, c.
q “tenuem”, Montanus, Cocceius “attenuatum”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “the poor weakling”, Ainsworth. r “in die mala”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus. s Vid. R. David Kimchium in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 41:2-4) The Psalm opens by celebrating the lot, so rich in promises, of the sympathetic man. is a general designation of the poor (e.g., Exo 30:15), of the sick and weakly (Gen 41:19), of the sick in mind ( 2Sa 13:4), and of that which outwardly or inwardly is tottering and consequently weak, frail. To show sympathising attention, thoughtful consideration towards such an one ( as in Neh 8:13, cf. Pro 17:20) has many promises. The verb , which elsewhere even means to call to life again (Psa 71:20), in this instance side by side with preserving, viz., from destruction, has the signification of preserving life or prolonging life (as in Psa 30:4; Psa 22:30). The Pual signifies to be made happy (Pro 3:18), but also declaratively: to be pronounced happy (Isa 9:15); here, on account of the that stands with it, it is the latter. The Chethb sets forth as an independent promise that which the Ker joins on to what has gone before as a consequence. , Psa 41:3 (cf. Psa 34:6 and frequently), expresses a negative with full sympathy in the utterance. as in Psa 27:12. The supporting in Psa 41:4 is a keeping erect, which stops or arrests the man who is sinking down into death and the grave. (= davj , similar form to , , but wanting in the syllable before the tone) means sickness. If Psa 41:4 is understood of the supporting of the head after the manner of one who waits upon the sick (cf. Son 2:6), then Psa 41:4 must, with Mendelssohn and others, be understood of the making of the couch or bed. But what then is neat by the word ? is a sick-bed in Exo 21:18 in the sense of being bedridden; and (cf. Psa 30:12) is a changing of it into convalescence. By is not meant the constant lying down of such an one, but the affliction that casts him down, in all its extent. This Jahve turns or changes, so often as such an one is taken ill ( , at his falling sick, parallel with htiw ). He gives a complete turn to the “sick-bed” towards recovery, so that not a vestige of the sickness remains behind.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Promises to Those Who Consider the Poor. | |
To the chief musician. A psalm of David.
1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. 2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. 3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. 4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
In these verses we have,
I. God’s promises of succour and comfort to those that consider the poor; and,
1. We may suppose that David makes mention of these with application either, (1.) To his friends, who were kind to him, and very considerate of his case, now that he was in affliction: Blessed is he that considers poor David. Here and there he met with one that sympathized with him, and was concerned for him, and kept up his good opinion of him and respect for him, notwithstanding his afflictions, while his enemies were so insolent and abusive to him; on these he pronounced this blessing, not doubting but that God would recompense to them all the kindness they had done him, particularly when they also came to be in affliction. The provocations which his enemies gave him did but endear his friends so much the more to him. Or, (2.) To himself. He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had considered the poor, that when he was in honour and power at court he had taken cognizance of the wants and miseries of the poor and had provided for their relief, and therefore was sure God would, according to his promise, strengthen and comfort him in his sickness.
2. We must regard them more generally with application to ourselves. Here is a comment upon that promise, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Observe, (1.) What the mercy is which is required of us. It is to consider the poor or afflicted, whether in mind, body, or estate. These we are to consider with prudence and tenderness; we must take notice of their affliction and enquire into their state, must sympathize with them and judge charitably concerning them. We must wisely consider the poor; that is, we must ourselves be instructed by the poverty and affliction of others; it must be Maschil to us, that is the word here used. (2.) What the mercy is that is promised to us if we thus show mercy. He that considers the poor (if he cannot relieve them, yet he considers them, and has a compassionate concern for them, and in relieving them acts considerately and with discretion) shall be considered by his God: he shall not only be recompensed in the resurrection of the just, but he shall be blessed upon the earth This branch of godliness, as much as any, has the promise of the life that now is and is usually recompensed with temporal blessings. Liberality to the poor is the surest and safest way of thriving; such as practise it may be sure of seasonable and effectual relief from God, [1.] In all troubles: He will deliver them in the day of evil, so that when the times are at the worst it shall go well with them, and they shall not fall into the calamities in which others are involved; if any be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger, they shall. Those who thus distinguish themselves from those that have hard hearts God will distinguish from those that have hard usage. Are they in danger? he will preserve and keep them alive; and those who have a thousand times forfeited their lives, as the best have, must acknowledge it as a great favour if they have their lives given them for a prey. He does not say, “They shall be preferred,” but, “They shall be preserved and kept alive, when the arrows of death fly thickly round about them.” Do their enemies threaten them? God will not deliver them into the will of their enemies; and the most potent enemy we have can have no power against us but what is given him from above. The good-will of a God that loves us is sufficient to secure us from the ill-will of all that hate us, men and devils; and that good-will we may promise ourselves an interest in if we have considered the poor and helped to relieve and rescue them. [2.] Particularly in sickness (v. 3): The Lord will strengthen him, both in body and mind, upon the bed of languishing, on which he had long lain sick, and he will make all his bed–a very condescending expression, alluding to the care of those that nurse and tend sick people, especially of mothers for their children when they are sick, which is to make their beds easy for them; and that bed must needs be well made which God himself has the making of. He will make all his bed from head to foot, so that no part shall be uneasy; he will turn his bed (so the word is), to shake it up and make it very easy; or he will turn it into a bed of health. Note, God has promised his people that he will strengthen them, and make them easy, under their bodily pains and sicknesses. He has not promised that they shall never be sick, nor that they shall not lie long languishing, nor that their sickness shall not be unto death; but he has promised to enable them to bear their affliction with patience, and cheerfully to wait the issue. The soul shall by his grace be made to dwell at ease when the body lies in pain.
II. David’s prayer, directed and encouraged by these promises (v. 4): I said, Heal my soul. It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay, in our practices, any thing that we said in our prayers. Here is, 1. His humble petition: Lord be merciful to me. He appeals to mercy, as one that knew he could not stand the test of strict justice. The best saints, even those that have been merciful to the poor, have not made God their debtor, but must throw themselves on his mercy. When we are under the rod we must thus recommend ourselves to the tender mercy of our God: Lord, heal my soul. Sin is the sickness of the soul; pardoning mercy heals it; renewing grace heals it; and this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health. 2. His penitent confession: “I have sinned against thee, and therefore my soul needs healing. I am a sinner, a miserable sinner; therefore, God be merciful to me,” Luke xviii. 13. It does not appear that this has reference to any particular gross act of sin, but, in general, to his many sins of infirmity, which his sickness set in order before him, and the dread of the consequences of which made him pray, Heal my soul.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 41
KEPT BY THE LORD
This is the 41st and last Psalm of the first of the five books that comprise the Book of Psalms. It corresponds with Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch. This book begins with a benediction, Psalms 1 and closes, like each of the other four books, with a doxology of praise to Jehovah God.
Verses 1-13:
Verse 1-13 assert that the Lord will: 1) Deliver, 2) Preserve, 3) Keep, 4) Strengthen and 5) Make the bed of those who trust in the Lord.
Verse 1 declares that the one who acts wisely toward the poor, who empathizes with them, showing compassion, is a blessed or spiritually advantaged person. The Lord will deliver or set him free, be his relief in time of trouble, will reward him, Pro 14:21; Mar 10:21; Heb 13:16.
Verse 2 pledges that the Lord will preserve him, keep him alive before his enemies who come to gaze upon his pain, eager to see him die, v.5, 6. This compassionate person to the poor will be blessed on the earth, not be delivered up to the will of his enemies. God will frustrate the will and malice of his enemies against him by raising him up, contrary to all expectations, as he did Job and Hezekiah, v. 10; Job 42:10; 2Ki 20:1-7; Psa 27:12.
Verse 3 adds that the Lord will strengthen him, sustain him, in physical and spiritual ways as he may repeatedly languish upon his bed. The Lord is said to “make all his bed in the time of his sickness,” as a good nurse turns the patient gently to fluff the bed to a soft resting condition, because He cares, 1Pe 5:7.
Verse 4 indicates that David never lost sight of his own sins, as he cried, “Lord be merciful to me, heal my soul; For I have sinned against thee.” He desired mercy, not justice, Psa 6:2; Psa 147:3; 2Ch 30:20.
Verse 5 laments “mine enemies speak evil of me; When shall he die, and his name perish?” The hurt of false accusation is often deeper than that when one is guilty; In such malicious, false hurt David suffered, desired that his enemies be quickly cut off, Psa 40:17; Rev 22:20.
Verse 6 relates that when David’s enemies (feigned friends) came to see him they repeatedly spoke vain and deceitful things They took the words of David and went abroad misapplying, perverting what he had said, to hurt his influence, Psa 12:2; Pro 28:20; Mic 7:5-7; Luk 11:53-54; Luk 20:20-23.. His enemy, like Judas Iscariot, was treacherous, in his snake-hearted ways of hypocrisy, Joh 13:30.
Verses 7, 8 add that all who hated David whispered together, in entrapment collusion against him, devising hurt to him, a thing of Belial, work of the Devil, 1Pe 5:8; They even reported that this evil disease was of Belial-derangement, mental derangement nature, so that he would never be mentally competent again, desiring to destroy his total influence, Psa 101:3; Psa 18:4.
Verse 9 further adds that his most intimate, trusted friend, who had eaten bread at his table, 2Sa 9:11; 2Sa 19:33, (it was a gesture of loyal friendship) had lifted up his hand as an enemy to betray and destroy him, a sure type of our Lord’s betrayal by Judas, as recounted Jer 20:10; Deu 32:15; Oba 1:7; Psa 55:12-14; Mat 26:14-16; Mar 14:10; Mar 14:43-45; Joh 13:18; Joh 18:3; Act 1:16.
Verses 10, 11 appeal for the Lord to be merciful and raise up David from his bodily affliction and enemy oppression that he might fight against and defeat them, vindicating his own righteousness, 2Th 1:8. He added that he knew the Lord favoured him because He had not permitted them to kill or defeat him, even in his hour of bodily sickness, 1Co 15:57-58.
Verse 12 witnesses that the Lord sustained David in his integrity and set him before his face, with His favor to minister to him, Job 36:7; Psa 34:15; Act 2:28.
Verse 13 concludes with the doxology, “Blessed by (exists) the Lord (Jehovah) God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting,” into the ages, adding two “amens,” Amen, and amen, meaning, “So may it ever be!” Psa 106:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. Blessed is he that judgeth wisely of the poor. Interpreters are generally of opinion that the exercise of kindness and compassion manifested in taking care of the miserable, and helping them, is here commended. Those, however, who maintain that the Psalmist here commends the considerate candour of those who judge wisely and charitably of men in adversity, form a better judgment of his meaning. Indeed, the participle משכיל, maskil, cannot be explained in any other way. At the same time, it ought to be observed on what account it is that David declares those to be blessed who form a wise and prudent judgment concerning the afflictions by which God chastises his servants. We have said that he had to contend in his own heart against the perverse judgments of foolish and wicked men, because, when affliction was pressing heavily upon him, many considered that he had fallen into a desperate condition, and was altogether beyond the hope of recovery. Doubtless, it happened to him as it did to the holy patriarch Job, whom his friends reckoned to be one of the most wicked of men, when they saw God treating him with great severity. And certainly it is an error which is by far too common among men, to look upon those who are oppressed with afflictions as condemned and reprobate. As, on the one hand, the most of men, judging of the favor of God from an uncertain and transitory state of prosperity, applaud the rich, and those upon whom, as they say, fortune smiles; so, on the other hand, they act contemptuously towards the wretched and miserable, and foolishly imagine that God hates them, because he does not exercise so much forbearance towards them as he does towards the reprobate. The error of which we speak, namely, that of judging wrongfully and wickedly, is one which has prevailed in all ages of the world. The Scriptures in many places plainly and distinctly declare, that God, for various reasons, tries the faithful by adversities, at one time to train them to patience, at another to subdue the sinful affections of the flesh, at another to cleanse, and, as it were, purify them from the remaining desires of the flesh, which still dwell within them; sometimes to humble them, sometimes to make them an example to others, and at other times to stir them up to the contemplation of the divine life. For the most part, indeed, we often speak rashly and indiscriminately concerning others, and, so to speak, plunge even into the lowest abyss those who labor under affliction. To restrain such a rash and unbridled spirit, David says that they are blessed who do not suffer themselves, by speaking at random, to judge harshly of their neighbors; but, discerning aright the afflictions by which they are visited, mitigate, by the wisdom of the Spirit, the severe and unjust judgments to which we are naturally so prone. I have just adduced as an example the case of Job, whom his friends, when they saw him involved in extreme misery, hesitated not to account an outcast, and one whose case was altogether hopeless. (101) If any one endued with candour, and possessed of a humane disposition, should meet with such a case, he would regard it in the exercise of the same discretion which David here commends. As to ourselves, being admonished by this testimony of the Holy Spirit, let us learn to guard against a too precipitate judgment. We must therefore judge prudently of our brethren who are in affliction; that is to say, we must hope well of their salvation, lest, if we condemn them unmercifully before the time, this unjust severity in the end fall upon our own heads. It ought, however, especially to be observed, what indeed I have already noticed, that the object which David had in view, when he saw himself, as it were, overwhelmed by the malicious and cruel judgments which were expressed concerning him, was to fortify himself by this as a ground of consolation, lest he should sink under the temptation. If, therefore, at any time Satan should endeavor to destroy the foundation of our faith, by the rash and presumptuous judgments of men, let us also learn to have recourse to this device of wisdom, lest unawares we fall into despair. This is the proper use of the doctrine contained in this passage.
The Lord will deliver him in the day of evil. Some connect these words, in the day of evil, with the preceding clause; and the reading thus suggested might indeed be admitted; but the distinction which I have followed is better adapted to the sense, and is also supported by the Hebrew accent. Thus at least the doctrine deducible from these words is susceptible of a fuller meaning, namely, that the Lord will deliver the poor in the day of his adversity. Some think that David here prays for a blessing in behalf of the upright and compassionate; as if he had said, May the Lord himself recompense them again for their kindness, if at any time it happen that they are grievously afflicted! Others suppose that David here records the language of such men from which we may come to the knowledge of their wisdom and uprightness. In my opinion, however, both are equally in error in reading this clause in the form of a desire or prayer. Whether, indeed, David speaks in his own name, or in the name of others, he briefly recommends and enjoins the kindness which we ought to exercise towards the afflicted; for although God may for a time manifest his displeasure against them, yet he will, nevertheless, be gracious to them, so that the issue will at length be happier and more joyful than the judgment we might be led to form from the present aspect of things. We now see that the sense in which I have explained this verse is much more copious and fuller of meaning, namely, that we ought to hope for salvation and deliverance from the hand of the Lord, even in the day of adversity; for otherwise, no man who had once fallen into a state of sorrow and sadness would ever be able to rise again. And this I say, because the design of the Holy Spirit in this passage is not only to exhort the faithful to be ready in showing kindness towards their brethren when they see them in affliction, but also to point out the remedy which has been provided for the mitigation of our sorrow, whenever our faith is shaken by adversity.
(101) “ Pour un homme reprouve et forclos d’esperance de salut.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE RELATION OF A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Psalms 40-41
AN OUTLINE.
PERSONAL40.
A Personal Testimony.
I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord (Psa 40:1-3).
Rom 4:24-25.
An expression of purpose.
Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to usward: They cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required.
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy Law is within my heart.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest.
I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation: I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation (Psa 40:4-10).
A plea for assistance.
Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let Thy loving kindness and Thy truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.
But I am poor and needy: yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God (Psa 40:11-17).
THE MESSIAH OF PROPHECY
Psalms 41
AN OUTLINE.
MESSIANIC
The suffering Messiah.
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee (Psa 41:1-4).
The despised Messiah.
Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise no more.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Psa 41:5-9).
The triumphant Messiah.
But Thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
By this I know that Thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
And as for me, Thou up boldest me in mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen (Psa 41:10-13).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
INTRODUCTION
This psalm, like the preceding one, is from the pen of David, and is addressed to the chief musician, for use in public religious services. It seems to have been composed with reference to a period when the Psalmist was suffering from bodily sickness, and from the malice of his enemies and the faithlessness and ingratitude of friends. The kernel of our psalm, says Hengstenberg, is contained in Psa. 35:13-14. The fundamental idea is this, that he who is compassionate will receive compassion, that he who has the consciousness of having wept with the weeping, may console himself with the assurance that his own weeping shall be turned by God into laughing. Homiletically we shall consider the psalm as setting forthThe blessedness of the compassionate (Psa. 41:1-3); the complaint, prayer, and confidence of the compassionate (Psa. 41:4-12); and the doxology (Psa. 41:13).
THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE COMPASSIONATE
(Psa. 41:1-3.)
The blessings mentioned in these verses are for the man that considereth the poor. By the poor in this place we must understand the weak and feeble, those who are in a depressed condition, and need the sympathy and aid of others. The word may be used in reference to those who are in a low condition by reason of poverty, bodily affliction, or sorrow. The consideration of which the Psalmist speaks is a thoughtful sympathy and help, the manifestations of a tender fellow-feeling. And the man who extends this thoughtful sympathy and help to the poor, the Psalmist pronounces blessed. He is blessed with
I. Divine deliverance. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. Margin: in the day of evil. Hengstenberg: in the day of distress. The day of evil is a period with which all men are more or less acquainted. The present state is characterised by affliction and trial, pain and sorrow, disease and death. But if any be hidden in the day of the Lords anger, the compassionate shall. The Lord will keep them in the day of distress, and will deliver them.
II. Divine preservation. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive. This, says Barnes, refers to a general, not a universal rule in the Divine administration, that acts of piety will be partially rewarded on the earth; or that the Divine favour will be shown to those who deal kindly with others. When the shafts of death fly quickly around them, they shall be shielded by God. He who manifests kindness and care for the afflicted and sorrowful may expect, when he is placed in similar circumstances, that God will interpose for his preservation.
III. Divine blessing. He shall be blessed upon the earth. Hengstenberg: in the land. This is in accordance with the doctrine noticed above, and so often referred to in the psalms and elsewhere, that the effect of religion will be to promote happiness and prosperity in this life.Barnes. If it may be for Gods glory, and the mans good. this temporal life shall be preserved, and evidences of Gods blessing shall be seen upon him.Dickson.
IV. Divine reservation. Thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies. When attacked by foes the Lord will defend the compassionate man, so that they shall neither ensnare him by their wiles, nor overpower him by their might. The most potent enemy we have can have no power against us but what is given him from above. The good-will of a God that loves us is sufficient to secure us from the ill-will of all that hate us, men and devils; and that good-will we may promise ourselves au interest in, if we have considered the poor and helped to relieve and rescue them.M. Henry.
V. Divine support in affliction. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. God has not promised His people that they shall never be sick, nor that they shall not lie languishing, nor that their sickness shall not be unto death; but He has promised to enable them to bear their affliction with patience, and cheerfully to wait the issue. The soul by His grace shall be made to dwell at ease when the body lies in pain.M. Henry. On the second clause, Hengstenberg says, All his couch dost Thou change in his sickness. The couch stands here for the state of the sick; God changes his couch of pain and sickness into one of convalescence and joy, and that entirely. And M. Henry, That bed must needs be well made which God Himself has the making of. When we are in affliction it is no small comfort to remember that we have kindly ministered to others in like circumstances. And God Himself will relieve and comfort those who have so done in all their sufferings.
CONCLUSION:
1. Heed well the principle which underlies our text, that God will deal with us as we do with others. With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful, &c. (Psa. 18:25-27. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.
2. Cultivate a kind and considerate spirit toward the poor, the sorrowful, the afflicted. By so doing, we tread in the footsteps of our Lord and become sharers in His joy.
THE COMPLAINT, PRAYER, AND CONFIDENCE OF THE COMPASSIONATE
(Psa. 41:4-12.)
The relation of this section to the preceding, as we understand it, is thus stated by Hengstenberg: The Psalmist, who, with perfect right, could appropriate to himself the words, Blessed is he who acts wisely towards the poor, goes on to mention, in two strophes, that now it was the day of distress for him, now the rage of his enemies was boiling against him, now he was prostrated with pain, so that it was time for him to receive the fulfilment of the promise, He will deliver him, &c.
I. The complaint of the compassionate. David had shown himself compassionate to the poor and needy, yet now that the day of his distress has come he has to complain bitterly of the treatment he received from men. Here is his complaint concerning.
1. His enemies. He complains of
(1.) Their malignity. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? It is scarcely possible to imagine malignity more intense than this. The malignity that desires the death of another is terrible; that which desires not only anothers death, but also the blotting out of his memory from amongst men is more terrible; whilst that which desires these things concerning a good man is most terrible. Yet such was the malignity of the enemies of the Psalmist.
(2.) Their deceit. If he come to see me, he speaketh vanity; his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. Here is the most cruel hypocrisy. These enemies visited the poet in his affliction under the pretence of friendship and kindly interest in his welfare, uttering empty and hypocritical assurances of love and sympathy. Their real object was to gather materials for slandering him, to discover something in his temper, or speech, or condition, which they might pervert to their own base ends. And then they went abroad and published their base and dastardly perversions. There is no fence against those whose malice thus gathers iniquity.
(3.) Their confederacy. All that hate me whisper together against me; against me do they devise my hurt. Here are combination and consultation with a view to the injury of the poet. His enemies were many, and they conspired to effect his overthrow. Whisperers and backbiters are put together among the worst of sinners (Rom. 1:29-30). They whispered that their plot against him might not be discovered and so defeated; there is seldom whispering (we say) but there is lying or some mischief on foot.M. Henry.
(4.) Their fiendish exultation. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him, and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more. The first clause of this verse is not easily interpreted. Our translation is incorrect. Margin, as in the Hebrew: A thing, or word, of Belial. Professor Alexander: A word of Belial is poured upon him. Hengstenberg says: The first member, literally: a matter of mischief is poured upon him. We take it that the matter of mischief, or word of Belial, is the diabolical plan which the enemies of the Psalmist had framed for effecting his ruin; and in the anticipated success of which they fiendishly exulted. It was not without reason that David complained of his enemies.
2. Those whom he had regarded as his friends. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Mine own familiar friend, or the man of my peace, indicates one who was associated with David in the most peaceful and amicable relations. In whom I trusted, points to one who lived on a footing of confidence with the Psalmist. Who eats my bread, does not refer to one who had been entertained as an occasional guest by the Psalmist, but to one who was supported by him as a member of his family. The participle points to something continued. Such an one, the Psalmist complains, had lifted up his heel against him, like a horse that turns and kicks a kind master. Matthew Henry, Hengstenberg, et al., think that the reference here is to Ahithophel (2Sa. 15:12; 2Sa. 15:31). Well may David complain in bitterness of soul of such treatment. La Fontaine said: Rare is true love; true friendship is still rarer. In trust, said Queen Elizabeth, I have found treason. Friends! said Socrates, there is no friend.
Our Lord applied part of this verse to Judas, the betrayer, Joh. 13:8. But it is significant that He omitted the words, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted. The omission is
(1.) An evidence against the direct Messianic interpretation of the psalm.
(2.) It seems to show that Christ had never regarded Judas as an intimate and trusted friend.
II. The prayer of the compassionate. The Psalmist here prays that the blessing promised to those who consider the poor may be granted unto him. He prays
1. For mercy. In both the fourth and the tenth verses he cries, O Lord, be merciful unto me. The request for mercy implies a consciousness of unworthiness. It is also an appeal to the disposition of God to pity the miserable, and succour the distressed.
2. For restoration. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee; and raise me up. The Psalmist recognises the intimate connection between sin and suffering. He regarded his afflictions as a consequence of his sins. Sin, says Matthew Henry, is the sickness of the soul; pardoning mercy heals it; renewing grace heals it; and this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health. The request, and raise me up, looks back to the cruel boast of his enemies, and now that he lieth down he shall rise up no more. It is a prayer that God would restore him to health and prosperity, and so baffle the wicked designs of his foes. The latter part of the tenth verse is not, in order that I may requite them, but, so will I requite them. The words do not necessarily involve a desire for individual revenge on his enemies. They may mean simply a desire for the vindication of right and truth.
III. The confidence of the compassionate. The Psalmist expresses his assurance of,
1. The Divine favour. By this I know that Thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. The possession of the Divine favour, and the defeat of his enemies, are in his mind inseparably associated, and he expresses a confident assurance of both. When we can discern the favour of God in any mercy, personal or public, that doubles it and sweetens it.
2. The Divine support. And as for me, Thou upholdest me, &c. The remarks of Matthew Henry on this verse are excellent.
(1.) When at any time we suffer in our reputation, our chief concern should be about our integrity, and then we may cheerfully leave it to God to secure our reputation. David knows that, if he can but persevere in his integrity, he need not fear his enemies triumphs over him.
(2.) The best man in the world holds his integrity no longer than God upholds him in it; for by His grace we are what we are; if we be left to ourselves, we shall not only fall, but fall away.
(3.) It is a great comfort to us that, however weak we are, God is able to uphold us in our integrity, and will do it if we commit the keeping of it to Him.
(4.) If the grace of God did not take a constant care of us, we should not be upheld in our integrity; His eye is always upon us, else we should soon start aside from Him.
(5.) Those whom God now upholds in their integrity. He will set before His face for ever, and make happy in the vision and fruition of Himself. He that endures to the end shall be saved.
CONCLUSION.Let us cultivate and pray for strong confidence in God. Then shall we be victorious over the infirmities of the flesh, the weakness or falseness of professed friends, and the scheming malignity of enemies.
DOXOLOGY
(Psa. 41:13.)
This verse of praise marks the close of the first book of the psalms.
I. Blessing is ascribed to God as a God holding relations with His people. The Lord God of Israel. In the past He has conferred many blessings upon them. In the present they trust Him; and He upholds and saves them. He has promised to bless them with eternal glory. The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel. Blessed, i.e., praised, honoured, be the Lord God.
1. God is supremely blessed in Himself. The ever blessed God.
2. God is blessed in His works. All Thy works shall praise Thee, O God.
3. God is blessed by all His intelligent and loyal creatures. By angels, and by the redeemed both in heaven and on earth.
II. Blessing is ascribed to God eternally. From everlasting and to everlasting. From the unbeginning past to the unending future. What an existence is that of God!
III. Blessing is ascribed to Him fervently. Amen, and Amen. The repetition of the Amen shows that the ascription of blessing is the intense wish of the mind and heart. Many and forcible are the reasons which urge all intelligent creatures thus to ascribe blessing to God.
We, whom He has redeemed from sin and hell, are under special obligation to praise and glorify Him. What shall I render unto the Lord? &c. Bless the Lord, O my soul, &c.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 41
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
Regretting that Enemies and Friends should meanly Rejoice in
his Sickness, the Psalmist nevertheless Perseveres in
Prayer for Pardon and Recovery.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psa. 41:1-3, The Blessings that Might have been Won by being Considerate to a Sick Man. Stanza II., Psa. 41:4, The Sick Man Prays for Pardon and Healing. Stanza III., Psa. 41:5-9, How both Enemies and a Particular Friend have turned against him in his Affliction. Stanza IV., Psa. 41:10-12, Prayer for Restoration Rises to Strong Assurance. Doxology (Psa. 41:13).
(Lm.) PsalmBy David.
1
How happy is he who is considerate towards the helpless![439]
[439] Or, perhaps, the weaklyDr. The afflictedDel.
in the day of calamity Jehovah will deliver him,
2
Jehovah will preserve him and keep him alive
he shall be called happy in the land.
Do not then give him up to the desire[440] of his enemies!
[440] U.: Soul. Cp. Intro. Chap. III., Soul.
3
Jehovah will sustain him on a bed of sickness:
All his lying down hast thou transformed in his disease!
4
I have saidJehovah! be gracious unto me,
heal thou my soul[441] for I have sinned against thee.
[441] Or: person. The soul is the mans whole self; the living personality which results from the union of spirit and fleshKp.
5
Mine enemies keep sayingIt is bad with him![442]
[442] M.T. me. Only the difference (in the length of a stroke) between yod and waw.
when will he die and his name perish?
6
And if one hath come in to see me unreality[443] he speaketh,
[443] That is: insincerity.
his own heart gathereth mischief[444] to itself:
[444] Or trouble (naughtiness Dr.)
7
he goeth forth outsidehe telleth everything.
Against me whisper together all that hate me,
Against me reckon theyIt is bad with him,[445]
[445] M.T. me. Only the difference (in the length of a stroke) between yod and waw.
8
an infliction of the Abandoned One hath been fixed[446] on him;
[446] Ml.: molten, cast.
and now that he hath lien down he will not again rise!
9
Even the great man I used to salutein whom I trusted
accustomed to eat my bread hath lifted against me a high heel![447]
[447] Cp. Psa. 55:12; Psa. 55:20.
10
But thou Jehovah be gracious unto me and raise me up,
and I will repay them!
11
By this I know that thou delightest in me.
that mine enemy shall not shout over me.[448]
[448] Cp. Psa. 55:23.
12
But as for me in my blessedness[449] hast thou held me fast,
[449] Or: devotion, whole-heartedness, integrity: ml. my wholeness, entirety.
and hast caused me to stand before thee to the ages.
13
Blessed be Jehovah God of Israel,
From antiquity even unto futurity![450]
[450] ML: From the age (concealed duration in the past) even unto the age (concealed duration in the future).
Amen and Amen!
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.
(CMm.) For the sons of korah = the patriarchs of song.[451]
[451] These two instructions transposed and brought here by readjustment of titles based on Thirtle. Cp. Intro., Chap. II., 3.
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 41
God blesses those who are kind to the poor. He helps them out of their troubles!
2
He protects them and keeps them alive; He publicly honors them and destroys the power of their enemies.
3
He nurses them when they are sick, and soothes their pains and worries.[452]
[452] Literally, You make all his bed in his sickness.
4
O Lord, I prayer, be kind and heal me, for I have confessed my sins.
5
But my enemies say, May he soon die and be forgotten!
6
They act so friendly when they come to visit me while I am sick; but all the time they hate me and are glad that I am lying there upon my bed of pain. And when they leave, they laugh and mock.
7
They whisper together about what they will do when I am dead.
8
Its fatal, whatever it is, they say. Hell never get out of that bed!
9
Even my best friend has turned against mea man I completely trusted; how often we ate together.
10
Lord, dont You desert me! Be gracious, Lord, and make me well again so I can pay them back!
11
I know You are pleased with me because You havent let my enemies triumph over me.
12
You have preserved me because I was honest; You have admitted me forever to Your presence.
13
Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, who exists from everlasting ages pastand on into everlasting eternity ahead. Amen and Amen!
EXPOSITION
By substituting the word helpless for poor in the first line of this psalm, we at once obviate the appearance of self-righteousness, which would have been seen and been in no wise welcome as a commencement to the psalm. It would have appeared to say, I have always been considerate of the poor, and therefore might have hoped for better treatment than I am receiving. The word poor would have seemed to refer to others than himself, and so the line would have looked like sounding his own praise. But the moment we substitute the equally correct rendering helpless, then we detect a pathetic reference to himself as confessedly in a deplorably helpless bodily condition, and can credit the psalmist with a genuine feeling of regret that he had not received such commiseration under his stroke as would have called forth from him the blessings on his comforters which in this stanza he amplifies.
It must be admitted, however, that although this corrected keynote seems well fitted to introduce the psalm, yet the sound of the keynote appears rather muffled by lines 4 and 6; because line 4 sounds like a wish weakly inserted amidst assurances strong enough to bear out the initial exclamation How happy: How happybecause Jehovah will deliver him, &c., &c. Line 6 seems to disturb the stanza for an opposite reason: it is too strong: it is too much an announcement of prayer already answered: as a further reason for felicitating the considerate man it equally disturbs the stanza. One has only to think of Hezekiah as adapting the psalm to his own circumstances, and interpolating first line 4, and then, after his recovery, adding line 6,to feel how naturally these disturbances might have occurred, and yet how unspeakably too precious they are to be removed for mere symmetrical reasons.
The emphasis on the pronoun I at the head of Psa. 41:4 has, after the foregoing introduction, a welcome effect. It appears to stand out in anticipatory contrast with what his enemies have to say, as recorded in the following verse: as much as to implyWhatever mine enemies have to say about me, what before thee, O Jehovah, I have to say of myself, is this, That I have sinned, and implore the healing which thou alone canst bestow. This, indeed, is a welcome note to catch from the psalmist. His sin has many times of late come before us, and it materially contributes to our edification to observe that, however naturally he resents blows from enemies and friends which they might have spared him, yet at the same time, before God there is no equivocation, no sparing of himself. Before Jehovah, he lies in the dust crying for mercy.
The picture given of the visits of perfidious enemies coming to visit the psalmist with hypocritical professions of friendship on their lips, their malicious eyes closely noting everything that might be construed to the Royal Sufferers disadvantage, and then their lips divulging every damaging appearance and incident to those outside waiting for the verdict,is far too lifelike to need much comment. That a trusted counsellorfor doubtless it was Ahithophelshould have given his late Master an insidious blowthis was one of the hardest things to bear; and the thing which most tended to make David, as shamefully betrayed, a type of his Son and Lord (Joh. 13:18; Joh. 17:12).
We should be glad to think, with Dr. Briggs, that the purpose of retaliation expressed in Psa. 41:11 was an interpolation; but there is just enough reason to suppose that, in his public capacity, David felt compelled to punish so glaring an offence, to make us hesitate to omit a clause which the ancient versions with the Massoretic text retain; and therefore we are content to remind ourselves that we may not curse, but must overcome evil with good!
Before closing our comments on this series of psalms, satisfaction may be expressed that so able an expositor as Kirk-patrick admits how weak are the objections which can be urged against the belief that King David really did suffer the terrible infliction of bodily disease which sufficiently comes to light in these psalms. He says: It is true that the narrative in 2 Samuel makes no reference to an illness such as here described; but that narrative necessarily passes over many details. Such an illness would account for the remissness in attending to his official duties, which Absaloms words to the suitors for justice seemed to imply (2Sa. 15:3). It would account also for the strange failure of Davids natural courage which his flight from Jerusalem at the first outbreak of the rebellion appears to indicate. Unnerved by sickness, in which he recognized a just punishment for his sins, David watched the growing disloyalty of his courtiers, and in particular of Ahithophel, without feeling able to strike and crush the conspiracy before it came to a head. Compare generally Psalms 55. Compare, further, the Exposition of Psalms 38, ante. In a word, it is impossible to overestimate the moral gain to revealed truth rendered by restoring David to his proper place in these penitential psalms. Every one knows how grievously David sinned: nothing can blot out the sad story from the historical records of the time. Let everyone equally know how ignominiously he suffered; how severely he had to be chastised before he repented. Let us be permitted in these psalms to hear his groans, not indeed to our pleasure, but to our lasting profit. Our honourthe honour of our Godthe honour of the whole history of Redemptionis bound up with the sincerity of Davids repentance. Grant us, then, the melancholy and yet salutary opportunity of becoming witnesses to its genuineness and its depth. There is no gain, but much loss, to be had by transferring these penitential psalms bodily to the nation, as their primary subject. And therefore we hope that those critics who have been teaching us to date their origin in and after the exile, will show willingness to revise their conclusions; will not only admit how greatly transmissional and historical evidence is against them, but also how strongly exegetical considerations appeal to us to find their authors in men whom we know, and in occasions clearly indicated for us by evidence which can be no longer overlooked.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
Read II Samuel, chapters eleven through sixteen. Also Psalms 32, 51, to give adequate background for this psalm.
2.
Certain circumstances almost necessitate a sickness on the part of David as a punishment for his sin with Bathsheba. Read 1Sa. 15:3 to catch another detail.
3.
Rotherham has a most clever way of relating this whole psalm to the personal experience of David. How does he relate verses one through three to David? Do you agree?
4.
I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee (Psa. 41:4). How full of meaning this verse is for everyonenotice: (1) Until we admit and confess our sin there can be no healing. (2) We must accept mercyno justification or vindication or rationalizationjust guilt and mercy. Mercy is the personal application of forgiveness. (3) Our soul needs healing much more than our bodiesThe soul is the heartthe essential part of manunless we are whole within we shall be sick withoutmake me cleanpurewhole within. (4) It is against the one who has made us; who died for us;who loves us better than any other that we have sinnedSin as here defined (or applied) is an action against naturewe have taken poison into our systemwhen will be begin to define sin as the unnatural thing to do? The laws of nature are the laws of God. The laws of moral conduct are the laws of nature (God)we do not break them, we simply break ourselves by violating them. Present day doctors will agree that 75% or more of physical sickness is caused by the sin of the soul.
5.
David was suffering the results of his sinwhy complain about the attitudes of those who came to visit him? Discuss.
6.
Verse nine is a prophesyfulfilled in Joh. 13:18. The writers of the New Testament were so saturated with the Old Testament, that at least 180 references or allusions are made to the psalms in the N. T.97 of the 150 psalms are quoted. Every New Testament book but I Thess., II John, Philemon and Jude contain references to the psalmsis this an example or ideal for us? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Blessed is he.This general statement of the great law of sympathy and benevolencefine and noble however we take itmay be explained in different ways, according as we take the Hebrew word dal as poor, with the LXX. and Vulg. (comp. Exo. 30:15), or with the margin, as sick, weak in body (comp. Gen. 41:19), or give it an ethical sense, sick at heart. (Comp. 2Sa. 13:4.) The context favours one of the two latter, and the choice between them depends on whether we take the authors sickness to be real or figurative. Psa. 41:3 strongly favours the view that the sickness is physical.
Considereth.The Hebrew word implies wise as well as kindly consideration. So LXX. and Vulg., he that understands.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Considereth the poor A duty of the first rank in Christian morality. It is a discreet and appreciative care, flowing from a true sympathy in the welfare both of soul and body. See Mat 25:36.
Poor The word means, sick, weak, or helpless, from whatever cause. David had practiced this sympathy for the sick and afflicted, (Psa 35:13-14,) and while he comforts himself with the promise that God will remember him now and reward him good, his words also are an implied rebuke of the conduct of his enemies. See Psa 41:6-7, and Psa 35:15
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Blessing Is Pronounced On The One Who Considers The Sick King In His Illness, And A Prayer Is Made For The Deliverance And Recovery Of The Sick King ( Psa 41:1-3 ).
Psa 41:1-3
‘Blessed is he who considers the weak,
YHWH will deliver him in the day of evil.
YHWH will preserve him,
And will keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth.
And do not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
YHWH will support him on the couch of languishing,
You have turned his lying down in his sickness.’
This first section of the book of Psalms commenced with a declaration of blessedness, on those who meditate in God’s Instruction day and night, and here it ends with a description of the blessedness of those who give consideration to the weak. We may think in terms of, ‘blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy’ (Mat 5:7).
That David sees himself as one of the weak and needy has already come out in Psa 40:17, so that in the first instance it is David who is in mind. He was clearly going through a severe illness, severe enough for his enemies to hope that it would bring about his end.
God’s blessing on those who consider the weak and helpless is considered to be threefold:
He will deliver him in the day of evil so that he might escape the worst of that evil, in the same way as he himself seeks to deliver the weak and helpless from evil.
He will preserve him and keep him alive, just as he seeks to keep alive the weak and helpless.
Such a one will be blessed on the earth, because he has been a blessing.
‘And do not deliver him to the will of his enemies. YHWH will support him on the couch of languishing. You have turned his lying down in his sickness.’ This may be seen as continuing the thought of the first line (with lines 2-5 being seen as an interjection), thus being a prayer for the weak and helpless that he might not be delivered to the will of his enemies, and confidently asserting YHWH’s support for him on his sick bed, and declaring that the illness has turned so that he will soon now recover from his sickness. Or the sixth line may be seen as a prayer for the one being blessed, and a request that he too might be helped when he is ill.
Thus we have here a prayer of gratitude for the aid provided to a person in their illness by those who have their interests at heart, which includes the desire that they might be blessed. Such people were very important in David’s case because they were maintaining the kingdom and keeping his throne safe.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psalms 41
Psa 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Psa 41:9
Joh 13:18, “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”
“Yea, mine own familiar friend” Judas was chosen by Jesus Christ to be one of the twelve apostles (Mat 10:1). Jesus spent three years with these men, training them and befriending them. In the story of Absalom’s effort to upsurpt the throne of David (2Sa 15:1 to 2Sa 18:33), many of David’s government officials forsook the king and followed Absalom. These betrayers had eaten at the king’s table for years. One possible friend David could be referring to in Psa 41:9 is Ahithophel, the counselor of David. Note the similar experiences of Ahithophel and Judas. Both ate bread with their master on many occasions (2Sa 15:31 and Joh 13:26). Both betrayed their master and went out and hung themselves (2Sa 17:23 and Mat 27:5).
Mat 10:4, “Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.”
2Sa 15:31, “And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
Joh 13:26, “Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.”
2Sa 17:23, “And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.”
Mat 27:5, “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
“in whom I trusted” Judas Iscariot was entrusted with the money bag as Jesus and the Twelve travelled throughout Palestine (Joh 12:6; Joh 13:29).
Joh 12:6, “This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.”
Joh 13:29, “For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.”
“hath lifted up his heel against me” – Judas Iscariot lifted up his heel against Jesus Christ in the sense that he tried to crush Him and destroy Him through his betrayal. Note the use of this same idiom in Gen 3:15, which describes the heel of the Messiah bruising the head of Satan.
Gen 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Psa 41:13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
Psa 41:13
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A Psalm of Thanksgiving and Trust in God.
v. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor, v. 2. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth, v. 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, v. 4. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me, v. 5. Mine enemies speak evil of me, v. 6. And if he, v. 7. All that hate me whisper together against me, v. 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him, v. 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, v. 10. But Thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, v. 11. By this I know that Thou favorest me, v. 12. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, v. 13. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE forty-first psalm completes the first book of the Psalter. All the psalms contained in it are assigned to David by the titles, except Psa 1:1-6; Psa 2:1-12; Psa 10:1-18; Psa 33:1-22. The present psalm is closely connected with the other psalms of the concluding group (Psalm 38-41.), which seem to have been all composed a little before, during, or just after the revolt of Absalom. It consists of an introduction (Psa 33:1-3), respecting the blessedness of those who “consider the poor;” a bitter complaint against his enemies generally, and one enemy in particular (Psa 33:4-9); and a conclusion, in which prayer and an expression of confident hope are united (Psa 33:10-12). The concluding paragraph (Psa 33:13) is no part of the psalm, but a mark of division between book 1. and book it. (compare the terminations of Psa 72:1-20; Psa 89:1-52; Psa 106:1-48.). Metrically, the psalm is remarkably regular, since it consists of four stanzas, each of three verses.
Psa 41:1
Blessed is he that considereth the poor. David had concluded the preceding psalm by calling himself “poor and needy.” He commences the present one by pronouncing a blessing on all those who “consider,” or tenderly regard, and, so far as they can, assist the peer and afflicted. It is not so much actual poverty, as humiliation and weakness, of which he is speaking. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble; literally, in the day of evil. As he has pity on his fellow-men, so God will have pity upon him (comp. Mat 6:14, Mat 6:15; Mat 10:42; Mat 18:33; Pro 19:17; Ecc 11:1, etc.).
Psa 41:2
The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive. Continuance in life is always regarded as a blessing in the Old Testament; it is only in the New that to “depart, and be with Christ,” is pronounced “far better” (Php 1:23). And he shall be blessed upon the earth; i.e. his long life shall be a happy one. And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies; rather, as in the margin, do not thou deliver him (comp. Psa 27:12; Psa 74:19). The psalmist changes from dogmatic assertion to prayer, not, however, intending to express any doubt that his prayer will be granted.
Psa 41:3
The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. If he falls into a sickness, God will support him through it. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness; literally, thou wilt turn all his bed; i.e. rearrange it, turn its cushions, make it such that he can comfortably lie on it (see Kay, who quotes Bellarmine). Others understand, “Thou wilt change his couch from one of sickness to one of convalescence.”
Psa 41:4
I said; rather, as for me, I said. The writer pointedly marks that he turns here from considering the blessedness of the compassionate man to contemplation of his own casehis afflictions and sufferings. Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee. The worst of all his woesthe root and origin of them allfons et origo mall, is his own sinfulness. Unless that is cured, all other alleviation is vain. Hence, after the first general cry for mercy, he goes to the root of the matter, “Heal my soul.“ There, within me, in the depths of my nature, is the worst malady. Heal that, and soon all will be well with me.
Psa 41:5
Mine enemies speak evil of me. Another head of suffering, viz. misrepresentation, calumny, abuse, on the part of enemies. Absalom had stolen away the hearts of the children of Israel from David by misrepresenting him (2Sa 15:3, 2Sa 15:4). Shimei had followed the example, adding to his misrepresentation abuse and cursing (2Sa 16:5-8). Absalom’s aiders and abettors generally, no doubt, joined in the chorus. This, then, is David’s second subject of complaint, and one that he felt keenlyhis enemies spoke evil of him. Farther, they desired and anticipated his death. When (they said) shall he die, and his name perish? David evidently was, or had been, when his enemies thus spoke, on the bed of sickness, prostrate, and in danger of his life. While he thus suffered, they rejoiced, expecting his early demise. When he was dead, they intended that his name should “perish;” i.e. that his memory should be utterly rooted out.
Psa 41:6
And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity; rather, he speaketh falsehood (see the comment on Psa 12:2). It is suggested that Ahithophel is especially aimed at. But there is no proof of this. All the enemies are probably intended, only distributively instead of collectively. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself. Dr. Kay’s comment is, “He makes a show of friendship, using hollow compliments; but he is treasuring up every expression as material for misrepresentation.” When he goeth abroad, he telleth it. He reports what he has seen and heard, but untruly.
Psa 41:7
All that hate me whisper together against me; i.e. gather themselves into knots, and hold whispered conversations about meas conspirators are apt to do. Against me do they devise my hurt; literally, hurt to me.
Psa 41:8
An evil disease (literally, a thing of Belial), say they, cleaveth fast unto him. (On the meaning of “Belial,” see the comment on Psa 18:4.) The “thing of Belial” here intended may, perhaps, be the disease from which David was suffering, but is more probably some disgraceful charge or infamous calumny which had been circulated concerning him, and was now crushing him down. This calumny is represented as poured out upon him like a coating of molten metal (see Job 41:23, Job 41:24), and so cleaving to him. And now that he lieth; i.e. “now that he is prostrate upon a sick-bed.” He shall rise up no more. He shall not recover, but die of his malady.
Psa 41:9
Yea, mine own familiar friend (literally, the man of my peace), in whom I trusted. Here Ahithophel is almost certainly intended. He is called “the man of my peace,” since he was one of David’s official counsellors (2Sa 15:12), and consequently on the most friendly terms with him (comp. Psa 55:13, Psa 55:14). Which did eat of my bread. At Oriental courts, the king’s counsellors, together with many other members of the court, habitually” eat at the king’s table”. Hath lifted up his heel against me. (For Ahithophel’s defection from David, and share in Absalom’s conspiracy, see 2Sa 15:12, 2Sa 15:31; 2Sa 16:15-23; 2Sa 17:1-23.) His conduct is here compared to that of a vicious horse, which kicks his own master. (For the relation of type and antitype between Ahithophel and Judas, see Joh 15:18.)
Psa 41:10
But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me (comp. Psa 41:4). The writer passes from complaint to prayer, and once more calls on God to deliver him. And raise me up. Falsify the prediction of my enemies (Psa 41:8); raise me up from my sick-bed, and re-establish me in a position of authority. That I may requite them. This was not private revenge, but David’s duty as a king (Rom 13:4).
Psa 41:11
By this I know that thou favourest me; or, delightest in me (comp. Psa 18:19; Psa 22:8; 2Sa 15:26). Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. David’s enemies had not triumphed over him, and he felt assured that they would not be allowed to triumph. This assurance was so strong that he could make it an argument on which to ground his belief that God” delighted in him.” David argues from effect to cause.
Psa 41:12
And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity (comp. Psa 26:1, and the comment ad loc.). And settest me before thy face for ever. So that there falls upon me the light of thy countenance (comp. Psa 4:6). The expression, “for ever,” is remarkable in this connection, and may be fairly taken as indicating a hope of immortality (comp. Psa 16:11; Psa 17:15; Psa 23:6; Psa 30:12).
Psa 41:13
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. A similar doxology occurs at the end of Psa 72:1-20; Psa 89:1-52; Psa 106:1-48; not (apparently) as part of the psalm to which it is attached, but as a mark of pause and separation. The Psalter is thus divided into five books.
HOMILETICS
Psa 41:1
Considerate sympathy.
“Blessed is he that considereth the poor.” A double blessing waits for those who are worthy of it, in these wordsa blessing of heaven above, and a blessing of the deep that lieth under. As Holy Writ,-they utter a Divine promise; as the voice of human experience, they breathe heart-felt gratitude. They are “the blessing of him that was ready to perish.” This word “poor” is not to be restricted to what we specially call “poverty.” It sometimes has that sense (e.g. Exo 23:3), but also means “weak, miserable, downcast.” The psalm expressly refers to bodily sickness and weakness, aggravated by the heartless cruelty of false friends. Consider
(1) the reasons, and
(2) the nature, of this blessing.
I. THE REASON OF THE BLESSING.
1. Considerate sympathy, helpful compassion for the needy, weak, or suffering, is “blessed,” because it is a feature of likeness to God. it is “the mind which was in Christ Jesus.” See the Divine example and the practical inference (1Jn 3:16, 1Jn 3:17). When our Lord rebuked the hypocrisy’ of Judas (” not that he cared for the poor ), he took care to add, “The poor always ye have with you” (Joh 12:8). St. James keenly satirizes the mock charity in which words are not coupled with deeds (Jas 3:15, Jas 3:16). Compassion for the poor runs through the Bible. Care for the poor, for widows, etc; was one of the earliest and most sacred cares of the primitive Church. Our innumerable hospitals and asylums of all kinds receive munificent support from many who lay no claim to Christian faith; yet they rove their deep and sure root in Christian sympathy. They arc among those blessings which “Religion scatters on her march to immortality” (Robert Hall). Two of the main forms of human suffering are specially set before us in these wordspoverty and sickness. Poverty begins where plenty ends. A man is not to be counted “poor” because he dwells in a cottage, lives simply, dresses plainly, earns his children’s bread by the sweat of his brow, as long as his work is healthy, his food plentiful and wholesome, and he can keep out of debt, and have a little to give to God’s work and to a needy neighbour. But when strength is overtasked, when toil and thrift cannot keep the wolf from the door, and work fails or health breaks down, and the question has to be faced how long the home can be kept together,then, indeed, poverty is felt to be one of the bitterest forms of the curse which sin has brought into human life. For though this cruel form of suffering often falls on those who have not themselves to blame for it, somebody is to blame, or society is to blame. Trace it to its deepest root, and you shall find sin. And then it is that the pitiful eye of the All-giver rests on that darkened home, and his voice says, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor.” Sickness often comes as the direct fruit of poverty. Often they terribly aggravate one another’s burden. It would be a heart-rending sight to see all the sick-beds in a nation, or even in a single city; but a blessed and heavenly sight if we could see all the tender sympathy, self-sacrificing love, sleepless, patient labour, self-devoted skill, which sickness is hourly calling forth. None tread closer than the nurse and the physician in the earthly footsteps of him who “went about doing good.” What a hard, selfish world, one imagines, this would become, were there no self-denying ministry to the helpless and suffering! So God brings good out of evil, and “blesses him that considereth the poor.” Note the tender promise, verse 3, Authorized Version, which, I doubt not, is the true sense.
2. There is justice as well as mercy in this claim, enforced not only by Christ’s example, but by his Law (Gal 6:2). True, both poverty and disease are largely the direct result of sloth, intemperance, dishonesty, neglect, or other vices and folliessin’s wages. Yet even in these cases the heavy end of the burden very often falls on innocent shoulders. And in multitudes of cases these calamities come on those who have done their best. They fought bravely, but the battle of life went against them. The causes may lie far back in the pastin bad laws, misgovernment, wars, wasteful expenditure; or in trade disputes; or in far-off lands, by the failure of a crop or the origin of a pestilence. Then, since the poor and the sick are so largely the victims of the mistakes, follies, or crimes of society, nations, mankind; nay, even suffer often from the very causes by which others grow rich,is it not simple justice that those for whom the great wheel of life is spinning a smooth and golden thread should step in to lift their burden,” as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”?
II. THE NATURE OF THE BLESSING HERE PRONOUNCED.
1. One of the greatest of all blessings is to be like God (Mat 5:45).
2. It is blessed to be God‘s almoner (Mat 10:8).
3. The sweetest happiness is to make others happy.
4. it is blessed to have a place in the prayers of God’s afflicted children. Perhaps, if the balance could be struck, it would not be always where the giver expects; he may be more a debtor to their prayers than a creditor by his gifts.
5. After all this, it seems an over-measure of repayment to speak of any future recompense; yet our Saviour does (Luk 14:14; 1Ti 6:17-19; Mat 10:42).
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE
Psa 41:1-3
The poor man’s charter; or, a blessing pronounced on the benevolent.
Though there is no sufficient reason to question the accuracy of the title of this psalm, yet the blessing here pronounced on benevolent souls is entirely independent of its human penman. The two key-words in the first verse”considereth” and “the poor”are words of very wide significance. The first would mean “he who takes a kindly, continuous, intelligent interest in, and who cherishes a tender sympathy for, them; and the word “poor” would include the weak, sick, insignificant, impoverished, wretched, and unfortunateeven the debtor and the slave. Now, we are so accustomed to such kindly thoughts for the helpless, that we often come to regard care for the poor as one of the “ordinary virtues of humanity;” yet such is very, very far from being the case. Where the light of Divine revelation has not shone, it is no social sin, in the estimation of men, to trample on the poor. Thus the merciful consideration for “the poor, the fatherless, and the widow,” shown in the Law of Moses, marked an immense uplifting in legislation; while the continuation of this same philanthropy, on religious grounds, was made of so much account by the prophets, that if it was neglected, men’s external worship was an offence in the sight of God (Isa 50:1-11 :17; Isa 10:1, Isa 10:2; Isa 3:14; Isa 58:5-11; Jer 22:3; Amo 2:6). The Lord Jesus Christ confirmed all this by his precepts, illustrated it by his life, and actually deems it of so much importance that, looking onward to the time when he shall be the Judge of all the nations, he declares that, according as men have attended to his poor or not, will be the stupendous distance between a “Come, ye blessed!” and a “Depart, ye cursed!”, (Mat 25:31-46). Hence the theme before us now is one that is vitally bound up with the essentials of true religion and of acceptable worship to God, so that we have the warrant of the entire Scriptures for dealing with this blessing, which is here pronounced on the benevolent, as being not only the words of David, but a continuous utterance of Divine revelation from beginning to end. Hence it would wonderfully enlarge and strengthen the basis of such an appeal as this verse suggests, to combine with it the two benedictions in Mat 5:7 and Mat 25:34, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy;” “Come, ye blessed of my Father!”
I. THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD SHOWS US HOW TRULY MAN IS THE OBJECT OF A. DIVINE REGARD. No one can study intelligently the book of God and compare it with the pagan estimate of human nature, without being struck with the amazing contrast between heathenism and Christianity, and, indeed, between heathenism and Hebraism. Often, indeed, both Moses and Christ are accused of indifference to the lot of the slave, because neither of them overthrew slavery with a single thrust; but they did a better and a nobler thingthey dropped those seeds of thought concerning man’s dignity, concerning men’s relation to God and to each other, that, in springing up and bearing fruit, would cause slavery to fall most utterly, never to rise again. And, even now, the kindly thoughts of and for us which pervade the book, given in germ in the Law of Moses, and in ripest form in the Epistles of St. John, are such that when they take effect in human hearts and lives, they turn selfishness to love; and if such, effect were to be universal, we should have a Paradise below! A common Fatherhood is over all; hence a common brotherhood should bind all in one. “There is no respect of persons with God.” To despise the poor, to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, the Lord approveth not. And this pure leaven of the kingdom is gradually diffusing itself through the race, and will, till the care of God for us all comes to be mirrored in our care for each other.
II. WHEN AND WHERE GOD‘S CARE FOR MAN AS MAN IS UNDERSTOOD AND COPIED, THERE WILL SPRING UP PRACTICAL BENEVOLENCE; and this will take effect in every form in which such kindness can be shown. The special feature noted here is that of “considering the poor,” which would involve a looking out for cases in which we can render aid of any kind whatever; and when such cases are before us, making them the objects of our deep interest and practical concern. Briefly we may set these under four heads. We should be ready and ever
(1) anxious to be helps everywhere;
(2) anxious to help men for Christ’s sake;
(3) anxiously caring for men as men, either because Christ died for them, or because Christ lives in them; and
(4) anxiously seeking out the cases of special sorrow and distress, that we may cheer the suffering and the sad.
III. ON THOSE WHO LIVE A LIFE OF SUCH PRACTICAL BENEVOLENCE FOR CHRIST‘S SAKE, THERE IS A BLESSING PRONOUNCED. It will be the blessing of both the Father and of the Son, yea, and of the Spirit too. The Spirit; for he pronounces it in the inbreathing of these sacred words. The Son; for he proclaims it now, as our Teacher, in the Sermon on the Mount, and will pronounce it, as Judge, at last. The Father; for the very words of the blessing which the Son pronounces are, “Ye blessed of my Father.“ In this love he blesses specially all whose love is the reflex of his own. And the people’s blessing will attend him who lives to bless the people; in such a case, in a high and holy sense, “vex populi, vox Dei.“
IV. THE BLESSING OF HEAVEN ON THOSE WHO LIVE TO BLESS OTHERS IS DIVINELY RICH AND FULL. What does it involve?
1. Divine approval; for God’s heart of love has diffused its own glow of sympathy within.
2. The heart of the Lord Jesus is touched; for he feels kindness done to others for his sake as done to him. Wonderful, indeed, is his “Inasmuch.”
3. Those who love like Jesus will find their home with him. How inspiring are the words, “Come, ye blessed of my Father”!
4. There will be the recompense of “a kingdom prepared.“ Oh, how infinitely do the recompenses of abounding grace outweigh any little acts of kindness the saints may have shown to the poor of Christ! Only “grace” can account for a reward so large.
V. OF SUCH IMPORTANCE IS THIS LIFE OF SERVICE FOR OTHERS THAT, APART FROM IT, ALL RELIGIOUS FORM IS EMPTY AND VAIN. To call Christ “Lord, Lord,” and then to disregard his injunctions, will be of no use. Note: Here are three lessons urgently calling for enforcement.
1. Let the agnostic and positivist, who are calling out for a religion that means “living for others,” see if they have not here the religion for which they call, and which is only waiting for its professors to act up to it, to revolutionize the world.
2. Let but the spirit of the text inspire man universally, and all struggles and alienation between class and class would forthwith cease.
3. Let some who have given disproportionate attention to doctrine, and who have paid too little heed to life and love, aim at a readjustment. We want doctrine and life; not one without the other.
4. Let Christian Churches learn that if they would commend themselves to the age, they must live to serve the age, by holy thought, pure living, and manifested love I
5. Let us thank God with all our hearts for the ameliorating influence on the lot of man, of this Divine command to care for others; e.g. homes, refuges, hospitals, etc.C.
Psa 41:4, Psa 41:10
Ill treated by man, he flees to God.
(Cf. homilies on Psa 7:1-17; Psa 17:1-15. div. II; Psa 26:1-12. div. III; Psa 39:1-13, div. I. Psa 4:1-8.)C.
Psa 41:5-9
David suffers from
The harshness and treachery of men.
(Cf. homilies on Psa 12:1-8; Psa 17:1-15. div. I; Psa 26:1-12. div. H.)C.
Psa 41:9
Here is an instance of
Very special treachery,
which would be regarded as black indeed in the light of Oriental hospitality. Yet he who was in all points tempted like as we are, endured treachery viler still. To this reference is made in Joh 13:18. The note of Bishop Perowne hereon is so truly helpful, that we quote it in full below) C.
Psa 41:10-12
He prays against his enemies.
(Cf. homily on Psa 35:1-28.)C.
Psa 41:13
The doxology of the Hebrew Church.
This doxology does not appear to be a part of the psalm to which it is annexed. The Psalms are divided into five books. The first book closes with the forty-first psalm. In all probability this was the earliest portion of the songs of the Hebrew sanctuary; and when made up (as we should say) into a volume, the collator added thereto a doxologyas was done also at the end of Psa 72:1-20; Psa 89:1-52; and 106. Perhaps the omission of any doxology after Psa 150:1-6. is because that psalm is entirely one of praise. We have no information as to the name of the collator, nor as to the date at which this first division of the Psalms was made up, and the doxology appended thereto. But, nevertheless, it is of no small interest, and ought to convey no mean instruction; showing us, as it does, most strikingly what jubilation resulted from revelation. In pagan worship there is no delight in God; there is dread, there is homage to greatness, there is even thankfulness for a good harvest; but as for delight in God as God, there is none, and can be none, save where God has revealed himself; nor can there be any delight in adoring the Unknown, nor in the positivist’s worship of humanity. Religious worship, as glad and jubilant, belongs only to those to whom God is known; paganism, whether in ancient or modern days, knows no such songs of delight or ascriptions of loving praise as those which rise up from the lips and hearts of the saints of God.
I. GOD, AS THE REVEALED GOD OF OUR SALVATION, IS THE FITTING OBJECT OF GLADSOME SONG. The declared name of God would yield delight to pious souls (Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7). The various terms added to the covenant name Jehovah show how the saints rejoiced in God: Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rophi, Jehovah-nisei, Jehovah-tsidkenu. Many expressions in the Psalms show what God was to his peopleRock, Fortress, Light, Strength, Refuge, their exceeding Joy, their Deliverer, their Sun, their Shield, pitying as a father, gentle and comforting as a mother, One who put beneath his people “everlasting arms.” Well might their joy rise to songs of rapturous delightas in Deu 32:26-29. This joy in God would arise
(1) from what God is in himselfas a God of power, wisdom, loving-kindness, faithfulness, pity, and love; and also
(2) from what he declared himself to be as Israel‘s Godgiving pardon, help, strength, guidance, light, salvation. And now that, through the larger Scriptures, through the Person of Christ, and through the baptism of the Holy Ghost, our knowledge is so much the larger, our joy should be proportionately greater, and our songs the louder and sweeter, rising to such heights as Eph 3:20, Eph 3:21; 1Pe 1:3-5; Rev 1:5, Rev 1:6; Rev 5:9-13; Rev 7:10; Rev 15:3.
II. THE GLADSOME PRAISE OF THE SAINTS IS THE BEFITTING RESPONSE TO GOD‘S REVELATION OF HIMSELF. “Blessed be,” etc. Here believers have a changeless Object of delight. “From everlasting to everlasting.” “The same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” The response of believers to the revelation of so glorious a Being may be looked at in two ways.
1. As that which God desires to evoke by revealing himself. God, being love, yearns to be loved. Divine love yearns for its object to respond, even as our need yearns for a Being to meet that need.
2. With the Divine revelation of himself there is a power working in and on human souls, whereby such response is elicited. A mighty host of believers, whom their God has rescued from darkness and death, are now exulting in songs of praise to the God of their salvation, acknowledging that all good is from him, that all their trust is reposed on him, that all their love centres round him, that all their strength is derived from him, and that all their hopes are fixed on him; they know that he will never leave them nor forsake them. Yea, it is the revelation of a redeeming God to which we owe the happiest hearts, the noblest songs, the grandest music, and the highest inspiration. And this song will never die. First on earth, and then in heaven, the sacred will ascribe all honour to their God; while the vast redeemed host will never cease to add their grand “Amen.” C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 41:1-13
God’s poor.
here may be a good time coming, when the poor will cease out of the land; but it is not yet. The state of things in our day is much the same as in the past. God has always shown his care for the poor. Under the Law of Moses, special provisions were made for their help (cf. Deu 15:7-11). Besides this, there were manifold exhortations in the Psalms and prophets tending to foster a spirit of love and brotherhood. The duty of kindness to the poor is inculcated still more clearly and forcibly under the gospel. The Jews are remarkable for their charities, but they limit their care chiefly to their own poor. Christians are called to act in a more generous spirit. While we are bound to have special regard to the poor of our own blood and faith, we must not restrict our charity to them; but “do good to all” as we have opportunity, after the example and teaching of our blessed Lord. We may make use of this psalm to illustrate
I. THE DUTY OF CARING FOR THE POOR. (Verse 1.) “Considereth.” This implies thought, insight, and practical brotherly kindness. The very fact that there are so many “poor” should arrest our attention. Surely there must be great wrong somewhere, or there could not be such inequalities and miseries. The more closely we look into the matter, the more will it be impressed upon us that we are bound to take part in remedying the evil. Circumstances and needs vary. Indiscriminate charity is bad. We cannot relieve all. Our powers are limited. We need, therefore, to act circumspectly. But whatever we do should be done in the spirit of love. Consideration without sympathy is torture (Jas 2:15, Jas 2:16; 1Jn 3:17; Rom 12:10).
II. THE BLESSING PROMISED.
1. The blessing is first to the man himself. We cannot do good without being the better for it. Every act of true self-denial and love raises us in dignity and strength. We are “blessed in our deed” (Jas 1:25-27).
2. There is also the blessing of the poor. We have helped them in the time of need. They feel that they have not been forsaken. They have still brothers and sisters who care for them, and they are grateful. It is better to have the confidence of the poor than their contempt; their gratitude than their hate; their prayers than their curses. Remember Job (Job 29:12).
3. Besides all this, there is the blessing of God. He is the God of the poor. He marks their state. He defends their rights. He provides for their relief. He counts what is done to them as if it were done to himself. The law and order of God in the world secure that a blessing will surely come to him who “considereth the poor.”
III. THE DIFFICULTIES AND ENCOURAGEMENTS. We have not only the abstract, but the concrete. The doctrine is translated into fact. It seems as if the psalmist had been bringing the word home. Let each of us put himself in his place. Then we may not only consider the poor, but consider ourselves with regard to the poor. What are we, what have we done, and what has been the result? In this case there will be:
1. Consciousness of great shortcomings in love and duty. We have not done what we could, and what we have done we have done weakly and imperfectly. Pride and vanity and other unlovely things have mixed themselves with our best endeavours. Men may praise us, but before God we are grievous sinners.
2. There will also be disappointments. We should “do good, hoping for nothing again;” but few of us are so disinterested. Besides, it is reasonable to consider results. Perhaps we have “enemies,” who misrepresent what we do. Or, worse still, there may be people who come to us in the guise of friendship, and profess to inquire as to what we have doneas to our plans and endeavours, and, finding out the secrets of our life, turn their knowledge to base uses. Instead of truth, they spread falsehoods. Instead of giving sympathy, they exaggerate our failures, and prate maliciously of our troubles. But there may be even a worse trial still. Our familiar friend, in whom we trusted, may turn against us (verse 9). Amidst all such difficulties there is always encouragement. We turn to God, and find comfort. We know what he is, and what he would have us to be. We know that he will surely perform his word, and that if we are true, and honestly try to do our duty towards others, and especially the poor, we shall in no wise lose our reward.
Learn a lesson of humility, as we think of our own sins, and ill deserts; of gratitude, when we remember God’s goodness to ourselves; of charity, as we consider the evil ease of many of our brethren, and their claim upon us, if we are of the same mind with Christ, to help them as we can.
“The holy supper is kept indeed,
In whatso we share with another’s need;
Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare.
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three
Himself, his hungering brother, and me.”
(Lowell.)
W.F.
Psa 41:10-12
Influence.
This passage may suggest to us some thoughts as to influence. We have all the power of influencing others for good or for evil. This is the necessary result of our being and relationships. Our chief influence will be upon those with whom we are most closely associated; but we also influence others, often unconsciously. You cannot pay a visit, or reside for a short time in a district, without making some impression upon those you meet, and leaving them the better or the worse for having known you. There are differences as to the way people judge. Some over-estimate themselves. They have a high opinion of their own importance. You might think, from the way they talk, that the world could not get on without them. Others under-estimate themselves. They are poor, and think they can do nothing. They are modest and humble-minded, and set little value on what they can effect. Or it may be they have met with disappointments and reverses, and have lost hope. They have laboured in vain, and have not the heart to try again. It is well to remember that we have this awful power of influencing others, and while we confess our responsibility, we should be careful so to live and act as that our influence shall be for good, and not for evil; a blessing, and not a curse. How is this to be secured?
I. BY LIVING NEAR TO GOD. It is as God is merciful to us, and raises us up, bringing us nearer to himself, that we are able to “requite” others, not after the desire of our own evil hearts, but after the loving way of God (Psa 41:10; Mat 5:45-48). Pray God, that he may set you “before his face” (Psa 41:13), and then as you receive his grace, you will reflect his goodness; as you rejoice in the light of his presence, you will bring sunshine into many a shady place, and hope to many a troubled heart.
II. BY HAVING A HIGH STANDARD OF DUTY. We must not make custom, or convenience, or the etiquette of the world, our rule, but we must learn the “perfect will of God” from Christ. The more loyal we are to our highest ideals, the more shall we gain of moral force, and the greater will be our power of doing good to others. Character settles influence. It is the salt that is good, and not the salt that has lost its savour, that is fit for use. It is the man who has the Spirit of Christ, and not the man who minds earthly things, who is the greatest force in the world. How weak was Lot as compared with Abraham!
III. BY DOING OUR WORK FAITHFULLY IN OUR SEVERAL PLACES. People are influenced more by what others do than by what they say. Example is better than precept. If there be a man of undoubted “integrity,” he is not only respected, but his daily life has a salutary effect upon those with whom he is associated. It is the man we trust that we are disposed to follow. How many are there who do their duty quietly and unobtrusively, and who are never heard or’ far from home, who yet prove a blessing in the society with which they are connected! Their lives are prayers towards God, and powers for good towards men. Virtue goes out of them, even when they know it not. God’s favour is upon them, and they grow in favour with men.
IV. BY CULTIVATION OF THE SPIRIT OF BROTHERLY KINDNESS AND LOVE. Much depends upon the spirit that is in us, because our spirit determines our actions, and our actions are seen of men, and have their effect upon their minds. If we are proud and selfish, we cannot win the hearts of others. But if we are self-forgetful and kind, our influence will be beneficial. There are some who try to do good, but hold themselves aloof, and their efforts are of little avail. Let us strive, therefore, to follow Christ (Joh 13:12-15) humbly, lovingly, patiently, doing good as we have opportunity, and, above all, living ourselves according to the law of godliness, and let us leave results with God.W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 41:1-13
The aggravation and consolation of bodily affliction.
Written by some mighty man, probably by David, on his recovery from an affliction during which conspiracy and slander had been active against him. It may refer to the time of Absalom; and the “familiar friend” may have been Ahithophel.
I. THE AGGRAVATIONS OF BODILY AFFLICTION.
1. The consciousness of guilt. (Psa 41:4 :.) But he was penitent, and prayed for forgiveness and spiritual healing.
2. The malicious conduct of enemies and false friends. (Psa 41:5-9.) At a time when we are little able to contend against them.
II. THE CONSOLATIONS OF AFFLICTION.
1. That he had himself sympathized with sufferers. (Psa 41:1.) He had not been like the enemies and false friends whom he describes, but had been a true friend to the weak and afflicted.
2. He is assured on this account of the Divine sympathy and deliverance. (Psa 41:1-3.) The merciful are blessed in receiving mercy.
3. He has already received tokens of the deliverance for which he is looking. (Psa 41:11, Psa 41:12.) His enemy has not triumphed over him. God has upheld him in general right conduct or integrity. He does not forget his particular sins (Psa 41:4); but he is conscious also of living in the sight of the Divine countenance, and receiving Divine help.S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 41.
God’s care of the poor. David complaineth of his enemies’ treachery: he fleeth to God for succour.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
Title. lamnatseach mizmor ledavid. The ground of this psalm is the same with that of the 38th and 39th. The author labours under some illness. He complains of the insult and treachery of his enemies, and of one in particular: he prays to be relieved, and accordingly is relieved. This mercy of God to him, he seems to attribute in the first three verses to his own compassion for the afflicted. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that this psalm was written by David after his sickness, when Absalom conspired against him. There is no doubt (says he) but the king, who, as we suppose, discovered the conspiracy in his sickness, took immediate measures to defeat it, as soon as he found himself recovering: Nor is it improbable that he dissembled his recovery as long as he could, to prevent the effects of his son’s ambition and impetuosity; who appears sufficiently from this psalm to have been determined upon his father’s destruction, and fully resolved to out-do the malignity of his disease, and cut him off, if that should spare him; for those, I am satisfied, are Absalom’s own words, recorded by David in the 8th verse, And now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more. It must doubtless have been matter of great surprise, and inexpressible affliction, to David, to find the two men in the world, whom he seems to have loved and most confided in, combining against him, and compassing his death. Absalom and Achitophel, his son and his counsellor: both of these are, as I apprehend, clearly characterised in this psalm: the vanity and lying spirit of Absalom in the 6th verse, and the treachery of Achitophel in the 9th, where we have a complaint, not only of trust betrayed, but of the rights of hospitality violated. The man who did this had eaten of his bread. In this exigency David had recourse, as usual, to the divine mercy and protection, Psa 41:10 and finding their devices so far defeated as not to terminate in his immediate destruction, he gradually gathered hope and confidence from that delay; which he quickly perceived not to have arisen from any abatement of their malignity, but from the interposition of providence in his behalf, Psa 41:11-12. If it be urged, that all this is only a comment upon a psalm, not grounded upon any historical relation; I answer, that the psalm itself is plainly historical; is confessedly written by David, and personally applied to himself; and consequently must refer to some circumstances of his life: It can refer to no other but this; and when applied to this gives, as I conceive, new light to the sacred historian’s account of Absalom’s rebellion. See Life of David, b. i. c. 8. I would only observe, that, supposing the truth of this application, David may properly be considered here as the type of Christ, and Achitophel of Judas; in which view the whole may be applied to our Saviour, who has led us to this application, by referring one verse of it to himself. See Joh 13:18.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 41
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David
1Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
2The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive;
And he shall be blessed upon the earth:
And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing:
Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
4I said, Lord, be merciful unto me:
Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee,
5Mine enemies speak evil of me,
When shall he die, and his name perish?
6And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity:
His heart gathereth iniquity to itself;
When he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
7All that hate me whisper together against me:
Against me do they devise my hurt.
8An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him:
And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
9Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
Which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up,
That I may requite them.
11By this I know that thou favourest me,
Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,
And settest me before thy face for ever.
13Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting, and to everlasting.
Amen, and Amen.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its Contents and Composition.The last verse does not belong to this Psalm, but forms the doxology which concludes the entire first book, comp. Introduct. Twelve verses remain, three of which form the introduction, three the conclusion, and between them the substance of the Psalm is contained in twice as many verses. The substance of this Psalm consists of a description how the Psalmist prayed for Divine grace and help in his sufferings, which he regarded as a punishment for his sins (Psa 41:4), whilst his enemies reckoned upon his death (Psa 41:5), and false friends, in visiting him, abused the opportunity in gathering and spreading wicked, false and exaggerated accounts of his hopeless and languishing condition (Psa 41:6-8). One among them is conspicuous, who, as a previous friend and table-companion (Psa 41:9), deceived the trust bestowed upon him in the grossest manner. From this description a new and double petition arises (Psa 41:10) for grace and for help, because the Psalmist recognizes in the fact that his enemies do not triumph, the favor (Psa 41:11) with which God holds fast to his person in the integrity of his heart, so that his person will remain a continual mark for the eyes of His providence (Psa 41:12). Whence the Psalmist has derived this confidence of faith, which is finally expressed in prophetical perfects, is disclosed in the opening strophe, in which the man is pronounced blessed, who conducts himself properly towards the unfortunate (Psa 41:1), because God will act in the same way towards him, as a recompense in his time of trouble (Psa 41:2-3). Since there is expressly named here, protection against the rage of enemies, and assistance upon the bed of sickness; and the form of the prayer (Psa 41:2 c) is already broken through by the statement of the prosperity of such a man, the particular groups unite closely with one another, and serve mutually to explain one another. Only we must not suppose that it is a didactic Psalm, in which there is first expressed a general clause of experience, and then an application of it to particular relations (Olsh.), or in which David speaks from the ideal person of the righteous and their sufferings under the figure of a sickness (Hengst.); or that it is a Psalm of lamentation, which speaks likewise figuratively of the sufferings of the better part of the people under the wickedness of domestic enemies (De Wette); or that it is properly a Psalm of thanksgiving (Ewald), in which all is to be referred to a deliverance from a dangerous sickness (Maurer, Hitzig) which has already transpired, and in which there is a report respecting what then took place in a narrative and commendatory form; but that it is a song of faith, in which a man lying upon a painful and dangerous bed of sickness, with open enemies lurking about him, and vexed by false and treacherous friends, prays and confesses himself a guilty sinner before God; but, since he stands in an internal relation of sincere piety to God, he feels that he is therein supported by God, and with so much the greater confidence of being heard, implores the grace and help of God, as his own behaviour towards the suffering gives him a claim for recompense on the part of God, since, on the one side, men, his friends as well as enemies, treat him badly, and, on the other side, his relation to God and the good pleasure of God in him could not be made known, should the hopes of his adversaries be fulfilled. These are the pure and genuine features of the heart, faith, and life of David, yet not merely in the time of the rebellion of Absalom and the treachery practiced by Ahithophel (Hofm. Weiss. und Erf. II. 122; Delitzsch). It is more in accordance with the advanced age of David, 1Ki 1:1-4, the insurrection of Adonijah and the behaviour of Joab (Bhl). Since now Davids history has a typical meaning, we can thus understand the explanation of Jesus, Joh 13:18, that the action of Judas Iscariot was in fulfilment of Scripture, under which circumstances Psa 41:9 of this Psalm is cited (yet not after the Sept., and even with an essential abbreviation of the Hebrew text), as then, Joh 17:12; Act 1:16, likewise presuppose in general that the act and fate of the traitor were prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. It is well, however, to limit the typical meaning to this verse, or, at most, to the description of this relation stated here (according to the scantiness of the citation in John), and not extend it to the whole Psalm (Calvin, Stier), or, indeed, regard it as directly Messianic (most of the older interpreters, particularly Luther, more recently Bhl). But this is inconsistent with the confession of personal sin (Psa 41:4) and with the reference to the fulfilment of the recompense (Psa 41:10). For the reference is not to the desire of revenge (Hupf.), but yet not to the recompense with good and in love, as Christ suffers and prays on account of the sins of others (Cocc.), or in the sense in which Joseph acted towards his brethren (Burk, v. Meyer, Stier), but to that recompense to which David was obligated as the lawful king. This is more in accordance with 1Ki 2:5 sq. (Bhl), than with his overcoming the rebellion of Absalom (Delitzsch). We cannot refer to the recompensing of Christ as the Judge of the world, because with the Messianic interpretation all else is referred only to the suffering Messiah in the state of humiliation, which, when extended farther, must explain likewise the sickness, the bed, and the rising of the recovered, with reference to the death, the grave, and the resurrection, as indeed some do with a false application of Typology. Psa 41:4 is most decisive, as even Reinke admits. For it is exegetically entirely inadmissible to put the last words in the mouth of the Messiah as the representative of sinful humanity, as many do, particularly after Theodoret, who explains the historical reference to king David or Hezekiah as rash and fool-hardy. This Psalm is related in contents with Psalms 28, and as a Jehovah-psalm belongs closely together with the Elohim-Psalms 55. in like manner as Psalms 39. with Psalms 62. The style is lively and expressive.
Str. I. Psa 41:1. Attentive to an afflicted one.This is either observing the needy with attention, in the sense of loving sympathy (Sept., Aquila, Theod., the Rabbins, Cocc., J. H. Mich., De Wette, et al.), as Neh 8:13 with as here, with Pro 16:20, with Pro 21:11-12, with Psa 101:2; Dan 9:13; or as a wise man considering that which is appropriate (Symm., Luther, Calvin, Ruding., Venema, Hengst.); perhaps the two may be combined (Geier, Stier). In connection with the Messianic interpretation of (tenuis; hence in a physical sense, lean, thin, in a civil sense, insignificant; as a general designation of the poor, Exo 30:15, of the sick and weak Gen 41:19; 2Sa 3:1, of sick in mind, 2Sa 13:4), reference is made to the believing consideration of his suffering, especially of his life in the state of humiliation, sometimes with the view of the summons to follow Him.Since is masculine, can only mean; in the day of adversity, (Symmach.), not in the evil day (Sept.).
Psa 41:2. He shall be blessed. is to be taken as an echo of Psa 41:1, as Pro 3:18; not declarative as Isa 9:15; at any rate not after another derivation Pro 9:6,=be conducted in the right, straight way, that is, in the way of salvation (J. H. Mich.).[And do not give him up.A sudden transition from the future to the optative (Hupfeld) in an appeal to God in prayer. This is to be explained from the personal interest of the poet in the person of the (Riehm).C. A. B.]
Psa 41:3. Support him on the sick bed.This is not the supporting of the head,Song Son 2:6, in accordance with which Psa 41:3 b. is understood of changing the bed of the couch (Mendels.), but designates the contrast to the sinking down in death and the turning of a couch of sickness into one of health by virtue of his recovery.
[Str. II. Psa 41:4. I saidPerowne: The pronoun is emphatic and marks both the transition from the previous eulogy of the compassionate man to the poets personal feelings and desires, and also the opposition to the enemies in the next verse.For I have sinned,etc.David constantly refers to sin as the inward cause of his sufferings. Vid.Psa 31:10; Psa 32:5; Psa 38:3-4; Psa 38:18; Psa 40:12.These words prevent an application of the whole Psalm to Christ.
Psa 41:5. Speak evil for meHupfeld: with elsewhere=to me, as Psa 3:2; Psa 11:1, might heresince we are not to suppose an address to him and a consequent change to the third person as Psa 3:2,simply mean about me, of me (as Gen 20:13), as all interpreters admit: but it is perhaps to be connected rather with : evil for me (dat incommodi), or with speak = devise, wish me, as Psa 41:7.
Psa 41:6. And if he come to see me.This is not impersonal, but the Psalmist has a certain individual in mind, probably Joab, who visited him in his sickness, comp. 2Sa 13:5 sq.; 2Ki 8:29, gathered all the evil of his condition and prospects, and went forth abroad and published it to the conspirators.
Psa 41:7. Whisper together.Comp. Ps. 12:19. It refers here to deceitful plotting, conspiracy as Psa 2:2, and is parallel with devise evil.C. A. B.]
Psa 41:8. Some frightful thing is poured out upon him. is properly a word or thing of worthlessness either in the moral sense as Psa 101:3, comp. Deu 15:9, (the ancient versions and most ancient interpreters), or in the physical sense (Aben Ezra, Kimchi and most recent interpreters) as Psa 18:4, of ruinous fate, frightful evil, at times as the curse of crime. The following expression is difficult. The literal translation is poured upon him. Eze 24:3, seems to point to a kind of Divine, irresistible influence. This would force us to give up the reference to worthless disposition and act; for that such a worthless nature is poured upon him from on high, or that the devil has inspired him to evil as the Spirit of God elsewhere to good (comp. Isa 44:3), is itself in the mouth of enemies a charge which could be accepted only from convincing reasons. The context is likewise against this explanation, since the enemies can only have to do with the consequences, the curse of transgression and not with the source of it (Hupfeld). It is possible to explain it thus: ruin is poured out over him, namely, by the wrath of God (De Wette, Kster, Olsh.); but the usage of the language does not accord with it, still less does it accord with the explanation that he is poured full of it=entirely filled and pervaded by it (Rosenm., Gesenius). It is best to think of something which was poured upon him like metals on a mould holding him fast so that he cannot escape (Job 41:15). This is not to be understood of a hateful designation of the resolution of David to prefer the young Solomon for his successor instead of the older Adonijah (Bhl), nor the villany with which his enemies designed to give the final blow to the languishing man (Luther, Hengst.), but the miserable condition itself, which they regard as an evidence that he has been marked and judged by God. The prayer, Psa 41:11, is the contrast to this.
Psa 41:9. Even the man of my friendship,etc.We are here to notice the sacredness of the rights of hospitality, the meaning of companionship at the table and the friendship of the guest among the ancients, especially in the Orient. It was a particular honor to eat at the kings table (2Sa 9:10 sq.; 1Ki 18:19; 2Ki 25:29). There is no occasion to give up the very natural historical references and explain the expression typically of intimate intercourse (De Wette) or indeed of maintenance (Hupf.) and benefits in general. The conjecture of Bttcher (Neue exeget. krit hrenlese Nr. 1102) is more appropriate: that (=heel) is here a general, already exclusively figurative = deceit, as the masculine of 2Ki 10:19.
[Str. III. Psa 41:10. But Thou Jehovahcause me to arise.The pronoun is emphatic distinguishing Jehovah from the enemies and false friends previously mentioned. He desires that Jehovah will enable him to rise up from his bed of sickness, and disappoint them of their hopes.And I will requite them.Wordsworth: David as king of Israel, and Gods vicegerent, was bound to execute judgment on the wicked. This is the reason of his directions to Solomon concerning Shimei and Joab.
Psa 41:11. That mine enemy doth not shout over me.Barnes: He felt assured now that all the machinations of his foes would be defeated; that all the hopes which they cherished that he was soon to die would be disappointed; that he himself would be recovered from his sickness, contrary to their malicious anticipations and desires. This he regarded as an evidence that God was his friend.
Psa 41:12. And hast placed me before Thy face forever.Alexander: This seems here to mean making one the object of attention, keeping constantly in view. The reciprocal act of man towards God is spoken of in Psa 16:8. As man sets God before him as an object of trust, so God sets man before Him as an object of protection.C. A. B.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Sympathetic, compassionate regard for the situation, feelings and afflictions of a suffering and troubled man, which at the same time observes the leadings of God, does not secure us from personal injury, or protect us from rough and unjust treatment on the part of hostile and violent men, but it is well pleasing to God and will not remain unrewarded on the part of God. In this there is no more reference to external reward than the merit of good works, but to the blessed consequences corresponding with their relationship to the Divine way of thinking and acting. Accordingly the heart which has tender feelings and is observant will be the quickest to obtain the comfort of the nearness of God and the helping strength of communion with God. But those who do not renounce the image of God experience an especial gracious turning of God towards them. We may here recall the two promises Mat 5:1 Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy, and Mat 25:40 What you have done unto one among the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me.
2. The experience of the gracious turning of Gods face towards us is accompanied even in the most miserable situation with the assurance of a change of fortune. Thus the severest cross is rendered lighter and the most bitter pain sweetened. The sick man begins to hope for recovery and the vexed man is filled with fresh courage. The arrows of hate and wicked slander lose their deadly bite, envy its poison, persecution its purpose. God changes the cross and heals in body and soul those, who are regarded by the world as lost and feel themselves stricken even unto death. But the necessary condition of such a gracious change of a severe lot in life into blessing and health is the turning of the heart to the living God in penitence and desire for salvation.
3. Even a sincerely pious man has to confess himself guilty of many sins before God, and to endure his sufferings, often very severe, as punishments which are well deserved. But this gives his enemies no right to suspect his piety, or doubt his gracious state, or calumniate his name. It only discloses their own wickedness and badness of heart when they treat the man, whom Gods hand has stricken, as a wicked villain, appointed to ruin, when they increase the sufferings of the afflicted by scorn, reproach and mortifications of all kinds, and think to trample entirely in the dust the man whom God has prostrated. And when those who in prosperity acted as friends and sat down with him at a well spread table, basely turn away from him when fallen, and instead of the expected comfort, advice and assistance bring new and shameful weapons of attack, then the sufferings of the afflicted are greatly increased in the experience of such treachery, but the sufferings likewise thereby approach their end, and from their greatest intensity there is afforded a prospect of a prosperous future of victorious recovery, just recompense and abiding health before Gods face and through Gods grace. For although perfection is not reached here below, and therefore the heart of the pious man in times of suffering is pervaded with a feeling of ill desert, yet the upright man feels in the purity of his piety that even in the time of trouble he is taken hold of and supported by God, and is delivered from total ruin by an indestructible bond of communion with God, and is secure from entire destruction by being placed and established before Gods face.
4. There is a desire and hope of requital which has nothing in common with a spirit of revenge, but is an evidence that one knows himself to be so closely united in person, cause and honor with the revelation of the righteous government of God, that every unrepented and unreconciled mortification, violation, oppression of the former would be likewise a clouding and restricting the latter. There are, therefore, not only official relations, but likewise positions in life, with respect to which the personal inclination to pardon must yield to the duty of judicial decision and action, yes, in the desire for personal relief may be changed into the execution of Divine judgments. This likewise belongs to the history of the life of the servant of God, and is not opposed to Psa 7:4; Pro 20:22. But every one, who traces the inclination to such a desire in his heart should take care that he has the good pleasure of God, and not merely desire to assert his position in the world, but to strengthen his position before the face of God. Such a position cannot be shaken by anything that originates from the world, but forms a bridge between time and eternity.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
We should not be vexed with human misery or he provoked with human vileness, but should learn from both, and overcome the one as well as the other by the grace of God.Many learn only on the bed of sickness who their enemies are and who are their friends, but they likewise learn only then truly to know themselves and God.There is a severe struggle, when torment of body and necessity of soul are associated with the reproach of enemies and the treachery of friends; but the severer the trial, the more brilliant the victory.Many have been left in the lurch by their own strength and human faithfulness, but never yet has the Lord forsaken those who trust in him with sincerity of heart.God does not leave good unrewarded or evil unpunished; but he uses for both purposes human instruments.To be raised from our prostrations is an evidence of the good pleasure of God.He who is not separated from God by the cross, but driven to God, needs not to doubt of his recovery, however severe the prostration may be.We may have a bad situation in the world and yet a good place before Gods face.There are many changes on earth, in good as well as in evil, but only one sure place, namely before Gods face through the hand of God; and this reaches from time into eternity.We can fulfil the purpose of our life only when we in good as well as in evil times hold on to God.It is well for him who not only ends his days work and crowns every labor with the praise of God, but likewise glorifies his time of suffering and finishes his course in life in this way.He who would remain before Gods face eternally, must in time diligently place himself before Gods face, and be strengthened in this place by the hand and grace of God.
Starke: Since believers have good will towards all men, God causes them to experience His gracious and good will towards them as a reward, and prevents the will of their enemies.The sick bed usually makes all refreshments and cordials bitter; well for those whose longing hearts can find comfort and strength in Jesus.Our hurts are not incurable when we turn to the true physician and pray: Lord, heal me!The race of Judas has not yet perished, his kiss is daily renewed. Well then! we must become accustomed to do good and receive evil for it.The wickedness of men should not weaken our trust in Divine grace, but rather awaken it the more.God gives with the cross sure tokens of His grace and good pleasure, He lets none perish therein.
Selnekker: God preserves His children and brings their enemies to shame.Dauderstadt: God is the best physician in all sicknesses.Pious men discern in all their sufferings a punishment of sin and seek therefore above all their forgiveness.Renschel: God does not promise that we shall be entirely without the cross and trouble, but he promises, that he will redeem us from them.Frisch: If your fellow-man fall into sin and misfortune, do not rejoice on account of this, do not press him closer to the earth; rather help him up again.The poverty of Christ regard as thy noblest riches, His shame as thy highest honor, His cross and His death as pure glory.Arndt: Seek and hunt for mercy and thou wilt find it; if thou sowest unmercifulness thou wilt surely reap it.Tholuck.: Since Gods judgment of us is milder the stronger our judgment of ourselves, the suffering singer introduces his prayer with a confession of his guilt.Guenther: Lord, Lord, we suffer, teach us Thy patience; we are hated, pour Thy love into our heart; we trust in Thee; let us not be put to shame.Taube: Communion with the Lord does not exclude but includes the constant confession of sin.First the prayer for grace then for help.Thym: The disciple of the Lord on his sick-bed. 1) He knows that God sends the sufferings for his good; 2) therefore he feels refreshed under his woe, 3) and waits patiently for his everlasting deliverance.
[Matth. Henry: The good will of a God that loves us is sufficient to secure us from the ill will of all that hate us, men or devils.The soul shall by His grace be made to dwell at ease, when the body lies in pain.Sin is the sickness of the soul; pardoning mercy heals it, renewing grace heals it; and this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health. When we can discern the favor of God to us in any mercy personal or public, that doubles it and sweetens it.Spurgeon: Much blessedness they miss who stint their alms. The joy of doing good, the sweet reaction of anothers happiness, the approving smile of heaven upon the heart, if not upon the estate; all these the niggardly soul knows nothing of.Oh, it is blessed fainting when one falls upon the Lords own bosom, and is upborne thereby!No physician like the Lord, no tonic like His promise, no wine like His love.Out of the sweetest flowers chemists can distil poison, and from the purest words and deeds malice can gather groundwork for calumnious report.To stand before an earthly monarch is considered to be a singular honor, but what must it be to be a perpetual courtier in the palace of the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible?C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Here is another gospel Psalm, and from our Lord’s own application of a verse in it to himself, and his own circumstances, we are sweetly taught to whom it belongs. The contents are the Lord’s attention over him, and man’s treachery against him.
To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Psa 41:1
Reader, where shall we look, or to whom direct our inquiry, to discover of whom the Prophet here speaks, unless we look to the blessed and merciful Jesus? He did indeed consider the poor, even our poor, lost, ruined and undone nature, when he came to seek and save that which was lost. He remembered us (as the hymn tenderly expresses it) in our low estate, for his mercy endureth forever; Psa 136:23 . And Jehovah delivered him who is fairer than the children of men? Grace is poured into his lips, therefore God hath blessed him forever. Psa 45:2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble” Psa 41:1
The Psalmist is here talking experimentally. He recalls the treachery of some who professed to be his friends, and he pours a eulogy upon those whose honour and sympathy he had tested in a crucial hour. There is nothing to show who wrote the psalm, yet in its speech there is a tone that touches all hearts. By “the poor” we are not to understand in all cases the penniless. Poverty is a large word, and requires a large definition. Sickness, weakness, fear, sense of helplessness, sense of desolation all these may be brought under the definition of poverty. Some men are poor mentally, needing continual suggestion, direction, and recruital of mind. Want of money is the most superficial kind of poverty. It is by no means to be neglected either by the individual or by the state, because through want of money men often perish through lack of other things. When money is taken thus typically, then pennilessness becomes a manifold disorder and weakness. The word rendered “considereth” implies a kindliness of consideration. It is not only a statistical or economical view of social circumstances it is also a direct and earnest exercise of the heart. The word may also be rendered “he that understands,” then the text would read, “Blessed is he that understands the poor; “by understanding we are to bring in the idea of sympathy or fellow-feeling. We cannot understand the poor simply as an intellectual study. A man may intellectually concern himself with the condition of the poor without ever knowing what it is to suffer with them. We can only understand the poor by living with them, by making ourselves part of them, by admitting them to our confidence. No man understands hunger who has not been hungry. There are dictionary interpretations of words which help us but a short way towards their true comprehension. Think of turning to the dictionary to find the meaning of poverty, hunger, sorrow, death! All the words may be neatly and clearly defined in terms, but to understand any one of them we must pass through the experience which it indicates. The blessings of the Bible are always poured upon good-doing. Never, in a single instance, do we read of men being blessed simply because they are kingly, rich, mighty, or even intellectually wise. In the Beatitudes there is not a single blessing on merely social greatness. All the persons referred to in the Beatitudes might be extinguished to-morrow, and yet the world in all its higher social phases might not be conscious of any loss. How little the world knows of its own riches! How little we know to whom we are indebted for the preservation of our lives, and for the success of our enterprises! Some of us may today be reaping harvests which our fathers sowed in the fields of the poor. We do not know the harvests because they are so great. The actions done by our forefathers were so small that when we see them in their harvest form we exclaim, These actions have come up again, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundredfold.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XVI
THE MESSIANIC PSALMS AND OTHERS
We commence this chapter by giving a classified list of the Messianic Psalms, as follows:
The Royal Psalms are:
Psa 110 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 72 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 89 ;
The Passion Psalms are:
Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 ;
The Psalms of the Ideal Man are Psa 8 ; Psa 16 ; Psa 40 ;
The Missionary Psalms are:
Psa 47 ; Psa 65 ; Psa 68 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 100 ; Psa 117 .
The predictions before David of the coming Messiah are, (1) the seed of the woman; (2) the seed of Abraham; (3) the seed of Judah; (4) the seed of David.
The prophecies of history concerning the Messiah are, (1) a prophet like unto Moses; (2) a priest after the order of Melchizedek; (3) a sacrifice which embraces all the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament; (4) direct references to him as King, as in 2Sa 7:8 ff.
The messianic offices as taught in the psalms are four, viz: (1) The Messiah is presented as Prophet, or Teacher (Psa 40:8 ); (2) as Sacrifice, or an Offering for sin (Psa 40:6 ff.; Heb 10:5 ff.) ; (3) he is presented as Priest (Psa 110:4 ); (4) he is presented as King (Psa 45 ).
The psalms most clearly presenting the Messiah in his various phases and functions are as follows: (1) as the ideal man, or Second Adam (8); (2) as Prophet (Psa 40 ); (3) as Sacrifice (Psa 22 ) ; (4) as King (Psa 45 ) ; (5) as Priest (Psa 110 ) ; (6) in his universal reign (Psa 72 ).
It will be noted that other psalms teach these facts also, but these most clearly set forth the offices as they relate to the Messiah.
The Messiah as a sacrifice is presented in general in Psa 40:6 . His sufferings as such are given in a specific and general way in Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 . The events of his sufferings in particular are described, beginning with the betrayal of Judas, as follows:
1. Judas betrayed him (Mat 26:14 ) in fulfilment of Psa 41:9 .
2. At the Supper (Mat 26:24 ) Christ said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him,” referring to Psa 22 .
3. They sang after the Supper in fulfilment of Psa 22:22 .
4. Piercing his hands and feet, Psa 22:16 .
5. They cast lots for his vesture in fulfilment of Psa 22:18 .
6. Just before the ninth hour the chief priests reviled him (Mat 27:43 ) in fulfilment of Psa 22:8 .
7. At the ninth hour (Mat 27:46 ) he quoted Psa 22:1 .
8. Near his death (Joh 19:28 ) he said, in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 , “I thirst.”
9. At that time they gave him vinegar (Mat 27:48 ) in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 .
10. When he was found dead they did not break his bones (Joh 19:36 ) in fulfilment of Psa 34:20 .
11. He is represented as dead, buried, and raised in Psa 16:10 .
12. His suffering as a substitute is described in Psa 69:9 .
13. The result of his crucifixion to them who crucified him is given in Psa 69:22-23 . Compare Rom 11:9-10 .
The Penitential Psalms are Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 . The occasion of Psa 6 was the grief and penitence of David over Absalom; of Psa 32 was the blessedness of forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; Psa 38 , David’s reference to his sin with Bathsheba; Psa 51 , David’s penitence and prayer for forgiveness for this sin; Psa 102 , the penitence of the children of Israel on the eve of their return from captivity; Psalm 130, a general penitential psalm; Psa 143 , David’s penitence and prayer when pursued by Absalom.
The Pilgrim Psalms are Psalms 120-134. This section of the psalter is called the “Little Psalter.” These Psalms were collected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, in troublous times. The author of the central psalm of this collection is Solomon, and he wrote it when he built his Temple. The Davidic Psalms in this collection are Psa 120 ; Psa 122 ; Psa 124 ; Psa 131 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 133 . The others were written during the building of the second Temple. They are called in the Septuagint “Songs of the Steps.”
There are four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents,” viz:
1. The first theory is that the “Songs of the Steps” means the songs of the fifteen steps from the court of the women to the court of Israel, there being a song for each step.
2. The second theory is that advanced by Luther, which says that they were songs of a higher choir, elevated above, or in an elevated voice.
3. The third theory is that the thought in these psalms advances by degrees.
4. The fourth theory is that they are Pilgrim Psalms, or the songs that they sang while going up to the great feasts.
Certain scriptures give the true idea of these titles, viz: Exo 23:14-17 ; Exo 34:23-24 ; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1Ki 12:27-28 : Psa 122:1-4 ; and the proof of their singing as they went is found in Psa_42:4; 100; and Isa 30:29 . They went, singing these psalms, to the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Psa 121 was sung when just in sight of Jerusalem and Psa 122 was sung at the gate. Psa 128 is the description of a good man’s home and a parallel to this psalm in modern literature is Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The pious home makes the nation great.
Psa 133 is a psalm of fellowship. It is one of the finest expressions of the blessings that issue when God’s people dwell together in unity. The reference here is to the anointing of Aaron as high priest and the fragrance of the anointing oil which was used in these anointings. The dew of Hermon represents the blessing of God upon his people when they dwell together in such unity.
Now let us look at the Alphabetical Psalms. An alphabetical psalm is one in which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used alphabetically to commence each division. In Psalms 111-112, each clause so begins; in Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 145 ; each verse so begins; in Psa 37 each stanza of two verses so begins; in 119 each stanza of eight verses so begins, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter. In Psa 25 ; 34 37 the order is not so strict; in Psa 9 and Psa 10 there are some traces of this alphabetical order.
David originated these alphabetical psalms and the most complete specimen is Psa 119 , which is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 .
A certain group of psalms is called the Hallelujah Psalms. They are so called because the word “Hallelujah” is used at the beginning, or at the ending, and sometimes at both the beginning and the ending. The Hallelujah Psalms are Psalm 111-113; 115-117; 146-150. Psa 117 is a doxology; and Psalms 146-150 were used as anthems. Psa 148 calls on all creation to praise God. Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn based on this psalm in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister. Psa 150 calls for all varieties of instruments. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel. They were used at the Passover (Psalm 113-114), before the Supper and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the Supper. According to this, Jesus and his disciples sang Psalms 115-118 at the last Passover Supper. These psalms were sung also at the Feasts of Pentecost, Tabernacles, Dedication, and New Moon.
The name of God is delayed long in Psa 114 . Addison said, “That the surprise might be complete.” Then there are some special characteristics of Psa 115 , viz: (1) It was written against idols. Cf. Isa 44:9-20 ; (2) It is antiphonal, the congregation singing Psa 115:1-8 , the choir Psa 115:9-12 , the priests Psa 115:13-15 and the congregation again Psa 115:16-18 . The theme of Psa 116 is love, based on gratitude for a great deliverance, expressed in service. It is appropriate to read at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Psa 116:15 is especially appropriate for funeral services.
On some special historical occasions certain psalms were sung. Psa 46 was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before the decisive battle of Leipzig, on September 17, 1631.Psa 68 was sung by Cromwell’s army on the occasion of the battle of Dunbar in Scotland.
Certain passages in the Psalms show that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices. For instance, Psa 118:27 ; Psa 141:2 seem to teach very clearly that they approved the Mosaic sacrifice. But other passages show that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important and foresaw the abolition of the animal sacrifices. Such passages are Psa 50:7-15 ; Psa 4:5 ; Psa 27:6 ; Psa 40:6 ; Psa 51:16-17 . These scriptures show conclusively that the writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the Royal Psalms?
2. What are the Passion Psalms?
3. What are the Psalms of the Ideal Man?
4. What are the Missionary Psalms?
5. What are the predictions before David of the coming Messiah?
6. What are the prophecies of history concerning the Messiah?
7. Give a regular order of thought concerning the messianic offices as taught in the psalms.
8. Which psalms most clearly present the Messiah as (1) the ideal man, or Second Adam, (2) which as Prophet, or Teacher, (3) which as the Sacrifice, (4) which as King, (5) which as Priest, (6) which his universal reign?
9. Concerning the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah as a sacrifice, state the words or facts, verified in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy in the psalms. Let the order of the citations follow the order of facts in Christ’s life.
10. Name the Penitential Psalms and show their occasion.
11. What are the Pilgrim Psalms?
12. What is this section of the Psalter called?
13. When and under what conditions were these psalms collected?
14. Who is the author of the central psalm of this collection?
15. What Davidic Psalms are in this collection?
16. When were the others written?
17. What are they called in the Septuagint?
18. What four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents”?
19. What scriptures give the true idea of these titles?
20. Give proof of their singing as they went.
21. To what feasts did they go singing these Psalms?
22. What was the special use made of Psa 121 and Psa 122 ?
23. Which of these psalms is the description of a good man’s home and what parallel in modern literature?
24. Expound Psa 133 .
25. What is an alphabetical psalm, and what are the several kinds?
26. Who originated these Alphabetical Psalms?
27. What are the most complete specimen?
28. Of what is it an expansion?
29. Why is a certain group of psalms called the Hallelujah Psalms?
30. What are the Hallelujah Psalms?
31. Which of the Hallelujah Psalms was a doxology?
32. Which of these were used as anthems?
33. Which psalm calls on all creation to praise God?
34. Who wrote a hymn based on Psa 148 in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister?
35. Which of these psalms calls for all varieties of instruments?
36. What is the Egyptian Hallel?
37. What is their special use and how were they sung?
38. Then what hymns did Jesus and his disciples sing?
39. At what other feasts was this sung?
40. Why was the name of God delayed so long in Psa 114 ?
41. What are the characteristics of Psa 115 ?
42. What is the theme and special use of Psa 116 ?
43. State some special historical occasions on which certain psalms were sung. Give the psalm for each occasion.
44. Cite passages in the psalms showing that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices.
45. Cite other passages showing that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 41:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
A Psalm of David ] Of the same sense with the four former psalms, saith Kimchi.
Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor ] Heb. that wisely considereth concerning the poor; the poor weakling, whose health is impaired, whose wealth is wasted. Austin rendereth it, Qui praeoccupat vocem petituri, He that preventeth the request of the poor beggar; wisely considering his case, and not staying till he crave; which possibly out of modesty he may be loth to do. The most interpret it of a charitable judgment passed upon the poor afflicted, not holding him therefore hated of God because heavily afflicted, as Job’s friends did. At vobis bene sit qui de me quantumvis calamitoso rectius iudicatis, so Beza here paraphraseth; Well may you fare, my friends, who censure better of me, though full of misery; and deal more kindly with me. The word Maschil signifieth both a prudent judgment and a desire to do all good offices, saith one. It signifieth to give comfort and instruction to the weak, saith another, wisely weighing his case, and ready to draw out, not his sheaf only, but his “soul to the hungry,” Isa 58:10 . This is a blessed man, presupposing him to be a believer, and so to do it from a right principle, viz. “Charity out of a pure heart, of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned,” 1Ti 1:5 .
The Lord will deliver him
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This too is “To the chief musician: a psalm of David.” Thus it also shows us an individual, yea a remnant “poor and needy” in their measure, and “Blessed is he that considereth the poor.” Jehovah will deliver, preserve, strengthen, and be merciful to him, whatever evil enemies may say. And the end will show the Jehovah God of Israel blessed from and to everlasting.
That this psalm embraces Christ as betrayed by Judas is beyond dispute. He indeed was the One Who being rich made Himself poor for His own. But if ver. 9 be truly applied to Him, ver. 4 proves that the godly Jew is really in view, and not the Lord throughout. Sin is confessed but the heart goes thoroughly out to Jehovah. Such will be the righteous in the consummation of the age.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 41:1-3
1How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.
2The Lord will protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;
And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.
Psa 41:1-3 This first strophe is describing the blessings (BDB 80, see note at Psa 1:1, see Special Topic: Blessing [OT]) of the person who obeys the Law of Moses, which requires Israel to be kind, supportive, and attentive to those in need (BDB 195, cf. Exo 23:5; Lev 14:21; Psa 72:13; Psa 82:3; Psa 113:7; Pro 19:17; Pro 21:13; Pro 28:3; Pro 28:8; Pro 29:7; Pro 29:14). Those who help them are, in reality, helping their God (see Jesus’ discussion about the last judgment in Mat 25:31-46).
The type of persons described by this term.
1. widow (cf. Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18; Deu 24:17-18; Deu 27:19; Psa 68:5)
2. orphan
3. alien (cf. Lev 19:33-34; Exo 22:21; Deu 24:17-18; Deu 27:19)
4. blind/lame
5. socially powerless (landless)
6. bereft of worldly provisions (no necessary things for life food, shelter, work, etc.)
Notice what YHWH will do for an obedient covenant follower (helping the poor is just one item but it stands here for the whole law).
1. YHWH will deliver him in a day of trouble
2. YHWH will protect him
3. YHWH will keep him alive
4. he will be called blessed (MT has imperfect but the Masoretic scholars thought the perfect with a waw was better; the meaning does not change)
5. YHWH will not give him over to his enemies
6. YHWH will sustain him upon his sickbed
7. YHWH will restore him to health
Notice all the imperfect verbs, denoting ongoing actions by God throughout life.
Just a note about the general statements like this in Wisdom Literature. This should not be understood as a promise that affects every person, every time, who helps the poor. This is a general statement. This is true the majority of the time but not each and every time. We live in a fallen world!
This is a good illustration of Matthew 7. How one lives, how one speaks, how one allocates his resources and time reveal the priority commitment of the heart!
Psa 41:2 upon the earth The Hebrew word land (BDB 75, see SPECIAL TOPIC: LAND, COUNTRY, EARTH ) can mean
1. field
2. district
3. country
4. area
5. world
Only context can tell. I have been convinced by Bernard Ramm, The Christian View of Science and Scripture that the flood of Genesis 6-9 was local because of the use of this word in that context. See my commentary on Genesis 1-11 online free at www.freebiblecommentary.org.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
Title. A Psalm = Mizmor. See App-65.
of David = by David, and relating to the true David.
Blessed. See App-63.
the poor = weak, or feeble. Hebrew. dal. Not the same as Psa 40:17.
will deliver = may the LORD deliver . . . preserve.
in time of trouble = in the evil day.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Let us turn at this time in our Bibles to Psa 41:1-13 . This is another one of the psalms that begins with a beatitude. The very first psalm begins with a beatitude, “Blessed is the man.” Here again,
Blessed is he that considereth the poor, the LORD will deliver him in the time of trouble ( Psa 41:1 ).
Now the Bible has much to say about God’s concern and God’s interest with the poor. And God is constantly exhorting us in His Word that we should be concerned for the poor. That we should seek to help the poor. It is biblical that our concern should be for the poor. In fact, there is a scripture that says, “He that lendeth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord” ( Pro 19:17 ). So if ever you want to loan the Lord anything, go out and find a poor person and lend them some money. Not looking, really, for a return from them, but just looking to the Lord to return it to you. Because really you are lending to the Lord, and He actually pays fantastic interest. “Blessed is he who considers the poor.” One of the blessings, “The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.”
Secondly,
The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all of his bed in his sickness ( Psa 41:2-3 ).
Now, it is an interesting thing that the psalmist speaks of God in such a personal kind of a way. If you have been generous towards the poor, if you have been interested in giving to the poor, among other things, God will take care of you when you are sick in bed. Now, this is an interesting concept concerning God, and is certainly far from the pagan concepts of their gods. Can you imagine this being said of Jove? Or of Jupiter or of Buddha or whatever? That he will take care of you when you’re sick in bed. And yet, we think of God in these beautiful, intimate kind of relationships, of even watching over us when we are sick. When we are languishing on our bed, taking care of us.
Now, this is the first part of the psalm. The first three verses declaring, really, the interest, the concern, and the blessedness if we will just take care of the poor. The interest we should have, the concern for the poor.
Now he turns to his own case and he said,
I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? ( Psa 41:4-5 ).
This is what his enemies were saying, “When is he going to die, when is he going to perish?”
And if he comes to see me he, speaks emptiness: his heart gathereth iniquity to himself; and when he goeth abroad, he tells it ( Psa 41:6 ).
He comes and he sort of, you know, interrogates me. Or he acts in very friendly, gets me to confide in him, and then he goes out and tells everything that I have confided. And,
All that hate me whisper together against me: and they seek to devise my hurt. They say an evil disease cleaves fast to him: and now he is lying down, he is not going to rise again ( Psa 41:7-8 ).
As the psalmist is crying out his woe, in the next verse, actually, he utters a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ and His betrayal by Judas Iscariot.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me ( Psa 41:9 ).
In the thirteenth chapter of the gospel of John, verse Joh 13:18 , Jesus quotes this verse as referring to Judas Iscariot and the betrayal of one of His own followers. So it is interesting that as the psalmist is speaking of his own position, that suddenly he lapses over into prophecy and speaks to the Lord.
But thou, LORD, be merciful unto me, raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. And as for me, you uphold me in mine integrity, and you set me before thy face for ever ( Psa 41:10-12 ).
And the psalm closes with a benediction.
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen ( Psa 41:13 ).
Now this is the end of the first book of psalms. There are actually five books of psalms. Some of the old Bible scholars see in the five books of psalms sort of a sequel to the five books of Moses, the five books of the Pentateuch. In the five books of the Pentateuch you find God speaking unto man, giving the laws, and establishing the covenant with man. In the Psalms, they see in the five psalms the sequel to the Pentateuch, only it is now man expressing himself to God in his worship and his praise and all. Whether or not they can actually be tied together, the five books of the psalms with the five books of the Pentateuch, is a thing for theologians to worry about. We don’t need to concern ourselves with it. However, each of the books of the psalms do end with a benediction, similar to what we have here, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Amen, and amen.” “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
You will see, dear friends, from these holy songs, that the saints of God in those olden days were not screened from trials and troubles, but were tempted in all points like as we are. If we happen to be in similar trying circumstances, let us take comfort from their experiences; the footsteps of the flock that has gone before should make the sheep feel that it is not lost. Psalms 41 To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Psa 41:1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
David delivered others, and God will deliver him. When he is poor and needy, God will think upon him, even as he considered the poor and the needy when they cried unto him.
Psa 41:2-3. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
God will be condescendingly gentle to such as are kind and gentle to the poor. If we love God first, and then exhibit the result of that love in our care for the poor and the needy, we shall certainly be recompensed, for he that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord, and the Lord will pay him back, sometimes in his own coin, and oftener in a coin of heavenly currency. Let us take note of this, and let us never harden our heart against the poor and the needy in the time of their extremity.
Psa 41:4. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me:
David had been very kind to the poor at all times; but when he gets into trouble, he does not plead that, he just mentions it, but the main stress of his pleading is quite in another direction, namely, for mercy: I said, Lord be merciful unto me.
Psa 41:4-5. Heal my soul; for have sinned against thee. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
But good men do not die to please wicked men, and sometimes, when the good men have been dead and buried, and their memory has been insulted by the wicked, they have risen up again in their posthumous influence. Good men live too long for the wicked, but they live as long as God wills that they should; they are immortal till their work is done. The story of Wycliffe is but a typical case of what has often happened. When the monks gathered round his bed, and expected that their opponent would soon be gone, he said, I shall not die, but live, and so he did; and even after he had died, he continued to be a living power in the land; indeed, we know not how much of the blessings we enjoy is the result of the light that was shed upon England by the morning star of the Reformation.
Psa 41:6. And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
Those are bad visitors to the sick who, when they speak, talk only nonsense or that which galls the sufferer; and then, when they go out, begin to tell an idle tale against him to his injury.
Psa 41:7-9. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth .fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Many a child of God has had his character whispered down by slanderers, many a man has had a hard time of it through the evil speaking of men of the world; yea, even the Lord of saints and the King of pilgrims knew what it was to find a traitor in his most familiar friend, and to receive the basest ingratitude from one who had eaten of his bread. Do not be carried away with too much sorrow if you are slandered or betrayed; better men than you have suffered through this fearful evil. Therefore, take the trouble to your Lord, and bear it with such patience as he will give you.
Psa 41:10-11. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
He may think that he shall triumph over me, he may even begin in his mind to divide the spoil; but he shall never really get it: Mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
Psa 41:12-13. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
That is the sick mans praise; it is full of fervor and full of life. Let us never rob God of the revenue of his praises; let us not have such a cupboard love for him that we only praise him when he gives us good things. Let us bless his name just as much when he takes away, when he afflicts, when he chastises. That is true praise which comes from the bed of affliction, and from a heart that is sore broken with sorrow. Now in the next Psalm we find the good man in trouble again.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 41, 42.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 41:1-3
A PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
The title selected here is that assigned by Halley, who also agreed with the superscription, assigning the psalm to David, and identifying the occasion as an illness of David that gave the opportunity for the flowering of Absalom’s rebellion.
This psalm concludes Book I of the Psalter, according to the common classification. It is the Hebrew method that divides the Psalter into five books, thus making another Pentateuch out of it. Some scholars, however, make the division as three books, instead of five.
This psalm is remarkably balanced and regular with four stanzas, each having three lines, concluded by Psa 41:13, which is actually the Doxology marking the end of Book I. It is not considered part of the psalm itself.
We appreciate the judgment of Leupold, who rejected the critical device of interpreting many of the psalms as `liturgical,’ and thus eliminating the personal element. “We have serious misgivings about this approach, he wrote, pointing out that similar literature from Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian and Ugarit sources, usually considered as liturgical, “Does not warrant casting many Psalms into the same molds. Dahood’s commentary on the Anchor Bible is a type of the interpretations Leupold rejected.
Psa 41:1-3
“Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.
Jehovah will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he shall be blessed upon the earth;
And deliver not thou him unto the will of his enemies.
Jehovah will support him upon the couch of languishing:
Thou makest all his bed in his sickness.”
“Blessed is he that considereth the poor” (Psa 41:1). “This corresponds with `Blessed are the merciful’ from the Sermon on the Mount. Such a person is preserved, blessed and strengthened by God. The psalmist here recognizes himself as an illustration of his case in point.
“Deliver not … to the will of his enemies” (Psa 41:2). There is a confidence here, “That the wicked hopes of his enemies shall be confounded by actual events.
“Upon the couch of languishing” (Psa 41:3). This is an obvious reference to illness; and it is quite obvious that the Bible gives us no information whatever about any such serious illness that might have afflicted David.
“However, if we place this psalm in the times of the rebellion of Absalom, it fits exceptionally well. “The bosom friend” (Psa 41:9) could well be Ahithophel; and David’s illness would have led to David’s omission of many duties as charged by Absalom (2Sa 15:2-6).
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 41:1. So much of the activity of mankind is for the gaining of the things of this world that selfishness has become one of the most outstanding traits. Because of that fact we observe that David has very frequently referred to the fine but rare practice of helping the poor. So this is another verse to show how the Lord considers the subject and how he will treat the persons concerned.
Psa 41:2. This verse expresses the same thoughts as the first verse. God has such tender regard for the poor that he will bless the man who has a like regard.
Psa 41:3. Make is from HAPHAK which Strong defines, “a primitive root; to turn about or over; by implication to change, overturn, return, pervert.” It means that when the merciful man is on a bed of sickness, the Lord will take care of him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This whole song depends for interpretation on its opening beatitude. The man who is considerate toward the weak, who is compassionate, is blessed. His blessings are then described. Emphasize “him” and “he” and “his” in verses Psa 41:1-3. It will then be seen that all these things come to the man at first described, namely the compassionate man. Then the psalmist confesses his sin. In the light of the beatitude the sin is seen to have been lack of compassion, and this is the secret of the bitter hatred of his enemies, which he proceeds to describe.
Returning to his cry for mercy, his words should be carefully noted (verse Psa 41:10). What is the meaning of “requite”? Almost all expositors agree it indicates revenge, and then attempt to explain it away. The word may certainly be translated recompense and is far oftener used to indicate a kind action than a vindictive one. If that be so here, the consistency of the argument is apparent. The psalmist has failed in compassion, therefore his enemies and even his friends are against him. He asks for Jehovah’s mercy, that being raised up he may treat his enemies differently. The Messianic reference is not destroyed. The wrong of those who harmed the Christ is greater because they acted without cause. Even then His prayer, “Father, forgive,” harmonizes with this interpretation. His raising up by God was for blessing on men.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Lord, Heal My Soul
Psa 41:1-13
This psalm was probably composed, with the adjacent ones, during the four years in which Absaloms conspiracy was being hatched. Perhaps the anxiety thus caused induced some serious illness, over which Davids enemies exulted with unseemly glee. His sensitive nature was evidently greatly pained. But who does not realize the applicability of the psalm to the betrayal of our Lord? Psa 41:9 is quoted in Joh 13:18.
In the day of trouble, when enemies oppose, Psa 41:5-8, and friends prove false, Psa 41:9, God draws near. Look after Gods poor and He will care for you in the evil day. The blessings that you have endeavored to communicate will return to your own comfort in the hour of tribulation. God will make (or change) your bed in sickness, Psa 41:3; will heal your soul, Psa 41:4; and will set you before His face forever, Psa 41:12. What a sweet conception of God as nurse in the room where feet must be shod with velvet and voices speak in gentlest tones!
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
We have already noticed that the book of Psalms is divided into five separate books. We come now to consider the last of this particular collection. We noticed that the first book of the Psalms is linked very intimately with the first book of the Pentateuch. It has to do with God as the Creator and Upholder of all things and as the Deliverer of His people, as the One who took us up in His electing love and having made us His own undertakes to carry us on in spite of all circumstances until at last we behold His face in righteousness. And everything hangs on the work of the Cross. As in the book of Genesis we have type after type setting forth the work of the Cross, so in this first part of the Psalms we have one Psalm after another that emphasizes the fact that every blessing for time and eternity comes to us through the work that our Lord Jesus Christ did when He took our place in judgment and was made sin for us upon the tree. That came out very clearly in Psalm 22 where we heard His anguished cry, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? We saw it also in the fortieth Psalm where we looked upon the Lord Jesus as the burnt offering, presenting Himself without spot unto God, dying to glorify God in the scene where He had been so terribly dishonored by mans sin, and in glorifying God, working out salvation for us. We heard the voice of the Lord Himself speaking in that fortieth Psalm and noticed His cry in the closing verse, I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon Me: Thou art My help and My deliverer; make no tarrying, O My God. The One who uttered these words by the Spirit was really God over all blessed forevermore, who became Man in order that He might die for us. We read in 2Co 8:9, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.
We have noticed throughout this book that very frequently the last verse of one Psalm suggests the first thought of the one that follows it. And so we turn immediately to the first verses of the forty-first Psalm and read, Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. When we realize that the poor one here is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, we can see the real force of these words. It is not so much that He is the poverty-stricken One; it is poor in the sense that one is weak and helpless, and that is what our Lord Jesus chose to become on the Cross. He was crucified through weakness (2Co 13:4), we read. And this verse may be translated, Blessed is he that thinketh upon the weakened one, the One who though He had all power and all might yet chose to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, refusing to exercise His divine omnipotence in order to deliver Himself, but was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth (Isa 53:7). We can see how David typified Him.
The Psalm would suggest that it may have been written by David when he fled from Absalom, his son, when his own son turned against him and the great bulk of the army of Israel followed after Absalom. David left the city of Zion and passed over the brook Kedron, climbed the Mount of Olives, weeping, descended into the valley on the other side, and fled eventually across the Jordan. When his own son had turned against him, then he was indeed the poor one, the weakened one. You remember the story of Barzillai who heard of Davids need and distress and came with all manner of fruit and provisions, and one can imagine David receiving these things with a grateful heart and sitting down to write this Psalm, Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. And of course the principle comes down to us. Do you want blessing yourself? Then be thoughtful and considerate of others who are in need. Do you know why some Christians, when they get in distress and trouble, cry to God and do not seem to get any answer? The reason often is this, when they were prosperous and others cried to them in their need and distress they did not give to them; they did not consider the poor, they did not minister to them, and the Lord says, as it were, Now you can just have a dose of your own medicine. You were not interested in others in the days of your prosperity; you were thinking of your own comfort; you knew that the poor and needy were all about you, and they pleaded in vain for help from you. So do not be surprised now if I turn you down. That is exactly what the Spirit of God intimates in the first Epistle of John when speaking of answers to prayer. The Lord has never promised to answer the prayer of one who is not walking in manifest love and concern for other people. Look at 1 John 3:16 to 22, Hereby perceive we the love of God [Hereby know we love, R.V.], because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this worlds good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before HimIf our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. If our own consciences tell us that we are indifferent to the needs of others in their distress, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not-if we know that we have walked before God with real concern for others, that we have not been living for self, then in our time of trial-then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. This is the New Testament way of saying, Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
J. Elder Cumming calls this Psalm The Sick Mans Cry, and as you read it you can realize that the writer was passing through a time of great physical stress. If he was not suffering from some actual disease, he was under a strain-his mind, and nervous system were under a terrible strain, but in the midst of it all he turned to God. Did you ever know what it was to be so tired and sick and nervous that it seemed you could not pray? That is a good time to use a prayer book. God has written some wonderful prayers for us in His own Word, and some of these we can use when we are so distracted and distressed that we do not know what to say ourselves. Many a time when so troubled I did not know how to pray or what to do I have sat down and read the Psalms and I would get hold of something that was the exact expression of my own personal need, and I have said, Lord, this is Thine own Word, and this is the expression of my heart. Sometime when you are sick and nervous and tired and people do not understand you and everything is going wrong, sit down and take this forty-first Psalm and see if it does not make a wonderful prayer for you.
In the first three verses you will notice the Psalmist is really meditating; he is speaking about God and about what He will do for those who trust Him, but when he comes to verse 4 and down to the end of verse 12, he addresses the Lord directly. Let us notice his meditation. Verse 2, The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. Who? The one who considers the poor-first of all, the one who considers the poor Man, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and has put his trust in Him. But then the one who remembers the words of the Lord Jesus, Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good (Mar 14:7). I do not know any joy on earth like helping folk in their distress if they do not know who did it and then seeing how happy they are because of the help they get. I used to know a man in Sacramento, California, who was very wealthy and was always doing little things in a quiet way. He would find a Christian family in real distress, maybe in need of food, and he would go down to the grocers and order such a splendid supply of things and then send it out to be delivered on the back porch with no explanation. The folk would come out and find the porch loaded with all these things and then would come to meeting and say, Oh, die Lord did such a wonderful thing for me. I was in such need and did not know which way to turn, and then He sent me such a large supply of provisions. And that man would be so happy he would almost give away his secret and laugh out loud. Nothing gives more joy if you do it in a loving, Christlike, unostentatious way. Then when your day of trouble comes, and it is coming, do not think it is not, you can count on God to undertake for you.
The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. Is that not a wonderful thing when laid aside so weak you cannot rise, when you are confined to your bed with illness, to realize the Lord Himself is smoothing your pillow and freshening your covers? Think of the Lord making your bed for you. He will make all his bed in his sickness. I have not been ill very much in my life but some of the greatest blessings I have had were when I was sick. I remember so well the first real sickness I had. I took typhoid fever and was sick for six weeks. I saw more as I lay there on my back looking up than I had seen for years walking around and looking down. The Lord made things more real and precious than I have ever known them to be in all the days going about in good health. And then I found that after I had been in that position I could help other people. I did not like to go to visit sick people before that. I would go to some poor sick one and would try to talk to him and I always felt that he thought, What do you know about it? It is all right for you to tell me to trust the Lord and be patient, but you do not know anything about it. After that I could say, I know all about it and know what the Lord can do for one in sickness. Some years before I had run across a little group of Christians in Idaho. A group of Swiss Christians had taken up large claims for farms, had cleared the forest and built their homes and raised their families. They built a chapel in the woods and as they came to service they would be singing in French as they rode down the river or as they came driving through the woods, and they filled the place. They loved the Word, but I could not speak French, and many of them could not talk English, so I would speak in English and one would interpret. They did not have a prayer meeting, and I talked to one of them about it and said, I understand you do not have a prayer meeting.
Oh, he said, we come together to break bread in remembrance of the Lord, and for Bible study, but there is no need to come together to pray.
Why not? I asked.
What do we have to pray for? We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:3), so we do not need to pray for more spiritual blessings. As for temporal blessings, the Lord knows what we need more than we do, and so we do not need to pray for temporal blessings. We do not have to pray for bigger farms for we have all the farms we can manage. We do not have to pray for children for I have nine and Brother So and So has thirteen. We do not need to pray for any of these things, so we do not have prayer meetings.
Well, I had a second attack of typhoid fever, and again I was looking up to heaven for six weeks, and when I got well enough to get home again I met this same brother, and he said, We are so glad to see you. When we got word that you were down with typhoid fever again and were so far away from home, our hearts went out to you and we had prayer meetings, sometimes two or three times a week, praying for the Lord to raise you up again. Then we were so glad to hear that you were on your way back to California, and we havent had any prayer meeting since.
I said, I thank you for praying for me, but you know, when I was sick, I was having a wonderful time with the Lord. I need prayer more when I am strong and well than I do when sick.
When we come to verse 4 the Psalmist changes, and instead of speaking about the Lord, David speaks to the Lord. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee. There is nothing that exercises one like the trials that David went through. I am sure David had deep thoughts of heart when Absalom rebelled against him, when he had to flee from his presence; and I have an idea that David said to himself, Oh, my son is treating me the way I treated God. David would not be able to forget those terrible failures that had come into his life, and he was suffering still under the hand of God because of them. Sin may be confessed, but after all, there are temporal consequences that follow. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Gal 6:7), and when David committed that awful sin that made such a blot upon his record you remember how he gave judgment against himself. Nathan came and told that story about the ewe lamb. David loved sheep and more than once he had put his life in jeopardy to save a lamb, and so when Nathan told of this rich man who took the ewe lamb and killed it in order to make a dinner for his visitors, he was wrought up and said, The man that hath done this thingshall restore the lamb fourfold (2Sa 12:5-6). And in this, David pronounced his own judgment. Nathan brought the word home to him and said, Thou art the man. And David said, I have sinned against the Lord. The Lord put away his sin, but there were temporal consequences still. David had said, The man that hath done this thingshall restore the lamb fourfold.
The little child that Bathsheba bore took sick, and David went in and threw himself down before God and pled with the Lord to save that little childs life. By-and-by he noticed his servants whispering together, and he asked, Is the child dead? They said, Yes. David went out and washed himself, sat down, and took food. Why, they said, what a strange thing! When the child was living you fasted and would not eat, and now the child is dead and you anoint yourself and eat. David said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is deadI shall go to him, but he shall not return to me (2Sa 12:22-23). There was Davids first lamb taken away.
Then you remember how Amnon committed the very same kind of sin that his father had committed. It is an awful thing, Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation (Exo 20:5). The father goes into sin and the first thing you know the son goes into the same thing. And Absalom was so angry about the wrong wrought upon his sister that he slew Amnon. There was Davids second lamb.
And then Absalom turned against his father, and this Psalm was written, perhaps, while David was fleeing from his presence. How David would have saved Absalom if he could. When Joab went out against Israel David said, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom (2Sa 18:5). But when Joab found him caught in the boughs of the tree, he drove three darts through his heart and Davids third lamb had gone.
And now David is an old man, and Solomon has come to the throne, and it looks as though David is going to have to restore only threefold. But no, the last sorrow that he had was Adonijah, another son, who rebelled against Solomon and was put to death, and so David had restored fourfold. We need to realize that it is a serious thing to have to do with the living God. We get so careless about sin; we get so indifferent and imagine we can sin with impunity, but Gods Book says, Be sure your sin will find you out. David faces his sin and says, I have sinned against Thee. He does not say, Why do You call me to suffer like this? No, he says, there is good reason for it for I have sinned. If he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him (Jam 5:15). Then David speaks of enemies, and here we may realize how he becomes a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and this name perish? That is the way they spoke of the Lord Jesus. And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity. Was that not like Judas coming to the Lord Jesus and saying, Hail, Master, and kissing Him, pretending to be His friend? His heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. And then they are anxious to lay something on him. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. In other words, now we have him where we want him. That is what they said when they crucified the Lord of glory but God raised Him from the dead.
And then in the ninth verse the reference is to Ahithophel the Gilonite, who had been Davids friend. Do you know why he turned against him? Look up those names in the early chapters of Chronicles and you will make a remarkable discovery. Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba. That is why he turned against David. David had wronged his granddaughter, and he betrayed David. Jesus had not wronged anybody, but Judas turned against Him, and the Lord uses these words about Judas, Yea, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me. Do you get the meaning of that expression? You have read it often. If it were translated into modern English it would be, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath kicked Me. You understand what it means to be disappointed in one you thought to be your friend, to have him turn against you and then kick you. If you have to suffer like that, go and talk it over with Jesus, for He has been through it all and
In every fang that rends the heart
The Man of Sorrows hath a part.
In the next three verses David expresses his full confidence in God in spite of all that the enemies can do. But Thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that Thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. He puts God between himself and the enemy. And as for me, Thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever. No one could say that like Jesus. Every one else must have certain reservations when using language like that, but the Lord Jesus could say it without any reservations whatever. As for Me, Thou upholdest Me in Mine integrity, and settest Me before Thy face for ever.
The last verse not only closes the Psalm but it also closes this first book; and as we noticed on the first occasion that we examined the book of Psalms every one of the books ends with a doxology something like this, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Psa 41:1
I. The motive to consideration of the poor. The fundamental element in the motive to care for the poor is the revelation that the poor are the care of God.
II. The kind of consideration demanded. (1) Set plainly before the mind’s eye the terrible inequalities of gifts, possessions, culture, advantages, and all that makes the outward joy of life. (2) The man who considers the poor will not believe that God meant life to be anything like this. (3) He will say, It is a solemn part of my duty to mend it. God will have us take on us His ministry to the poor.
III. The blessing in which it fruits, (1) The blessing lies hid in the order of the world. (2) The blessing lies deeper and closer in a warm glow of living joy in our own hearts. (3) Deeper still, it lies in the heart and the hand of God.
F. W. Farrar, Contemporary Pulpit Extra No. 2, 1887.
References: Psa 41:1.-J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 394; F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 305. Psa 41:1, Psa 41:2.-H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxv., p. 148. Psa 41:9.-Congregationalist, vol. vi., p. 267; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 56. Psalm 41-A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 234; T. Guthrie, The Way to Life, p. 333. Psa 42:1.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 822; G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 151. Psa 42:1, Psa 42:2.-S. Cox, Expositions, 3rd series, p. 109.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Psalm 41
Faith and Unbelief in View of the Cross
1. Faith in Him and the Results (Psa 41:1-3)
2. Unbelief and its hatred (Psa 41:4-9)
3. The vindication of the Christ of the cross (Psa 41:10-13)
The poor one (literally: the miserable, exhausted one) is the Lord Jesus suffering on the cross. Blessed are they who understand as to Him, who consider Him, for it means deliverance, salvation, preservation, victory and happiness. But unbelief mocks and sneers at Him. They speak against Him, make evil devices against Him, the sin-bearer, that an evil disease (literally: a thing of Belial) is upon Him and that He shall rise no more. All this points back to the cross and is still true of the unbeliever who rejects the cross. Verse 9 refers to Judas who betrayed Him. See Joh 13:18 and notice when our Lord quotes from this Psalm He omits the words whom I trusted, for the Omniscient One knew Judas, and did not trust him. And He, the Poor and Needy One, the Miserable One, the Forsaken One, had His prayer answered; He is the Risen One (Psa 41:10); in Gods own presence, before His face (Psa 41:12). The first book of the Psalms ends with praise, prophetic of the praise which is yet to fill all the earth. Amen and Amen.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
– Title This Psalm is supposed to have been written on the same occasion as the three former; and to relate to David’s affliction, and the evil treatment he received from his enemies during its continuance.
Blessed: Psa 112:9
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The cross as seen by faith and by unbelief.
To the chief musician: a psalm of David.
The first book closes now with the double view of the Cross; as seen by faith or by unbelief; with the occasion and the true ground of the latter. The work is accepted of God, who raises up the Worker, and sets Him before His face forever, while faith finds in it that which brings help and deliverance in every kind of trial and evil. The book ends with the ascription of praise; as the numerical structure indicates; from all the earth.
The psalm has three parts essentially; the fourth being but the praise with which all ends. The first part gives us the blessedness of the knowledge of that Poor Man; whose poverty makes many rich. Only with such an application can we see the true significance of this blessedness. To make it the recompense of mere benevolence; as is the common thought; would be not merely unevangelic, but render the body of the psalm wholly unintelligible. The Lord’s own application of the ninth verse to Judas (Joh 13:18) would seem almost; at first sight; to necessitate that of the Speaker to Christ Himself. But the fourth verse; on the other hand; seems just as plainly to forbid this. How could He say, as the psalmist does, “Heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee”? But the subject of the psalm, as even the first verse shows; implies a mystery. There is something which needs an understanding heart, and that something concerns in some way the “poor man;” to whom we may then naturally expect our attention to be directed. Faith penetrates the mystery, and finds unspeakable blessing. Unbelief reads it in quite another way, and its recompense is in correspondence with this; an opposite one.
This word “poor;” although a possible rendering of the Hebrew; is not the only one possible; nor (I believe) its significance in this case. The meaning of the original is “swinging, waving to and fro;” hence “wavering; weak, exhausted,” and thus may be used as synonymous with “poor;” but this weakness may; of course; be produced in a very different way, -as by injury or by sickness; and here the enigma of the psalm begins. “Weakened” the Sufferer is; but from what cause? Look on to the fourth verse, and his own words seem to make it still more equivocal: “I said; Jehovah, be favorable unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee.” Indeed, this seems more than equivocal: healing must; no doubt, be as needful in the case of “bruising” as of disease; but how explain of the Sinless One; “I have sinned against Thee”? Strong as the expression is; even this is not decisive; and; if we cannot easily accept it as suitable from the lips of the Substitute for sinners; Bishop Horsley has well reminded us that the same word exactly is used by Judah; in the book of Genesis; where we must unquestionably render it; as the common version does, “bear the blame” or “sin” (Gen 44:32 : chatathi lo.).
The words; then; may be equivocal, and designedly so; and yet all the more suit the application to the Lord here. For here is just the mystery which faith is called to penetrate. Granted that this suffering implies sin, and is owned to do so; yet is it “in;” or only “on,” the One who suffers? Think of the darkness on the Cross; and the awful cry that God had forsaken Him; -the seeming justification of the accusations of His enemies! How natural to the heart; ignorant of its need; to say; “A thing of Belial cleaves to him,” which the common version renders; “an evil disease”: unbelief so interpreting this “heal my soul”; while faith; adoring, sees the atoning sacrifice!
Thus; then; the meaning of the psalm emerges; completely in accordance with its connection with the preceding one, and its place at the conclusion of the book. It is the moral conclusion: unbelief the result of hostility in heart to Him who has in the very revelation of God to man; revealed him to himself. Thus “Me the world hateth;” He says; “because I bear witness of it; that its deeds are evil.” Unbelief is the issue of unrepentance; and fatally misinterprets all the divine ways. Grace is an offense to it; the humiliation of Christ a stumbling-stone; the cross an inconceivable requirement on God’s part: the whole mystery of “God manifest in flesh” is utterly rejected.
1. “He weakened my strength in my journey,” says the Sufferer of the 102nd psalm; “He shortened my days.” Yet this is He who of old laid the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the work of His hands. They, therefore; may pass, but He remaineth (comp. Heb 1:10-12). We can realize; therefore; the happiness of the man who understandeth as to the Weakened One. It is the clear sight of faith which discerns the glory of Christ under the veil of His sufferings: therefore “in the evil day Jehovah will deliver him.” Whatever the character of the evil, grace will manifest its sufficiency. Enemies; though there may be many in a hostile world; cannot prevail against him: “Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive; and Thou wilt not give him up to the will of his enemies.” Be the attack from within, and upon the forces of life, “Jehovah will sustain him on the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.”
2. These, then, are blessings attendant upon faith; though in their character as here given; they have the external aspect so marked in the Old Testament. The psalm, then -though the Speaker may be the same -takes voice as the utterance evidently of the Weakened One Himself, -faith’s mysterious object. And here is the text with all its mystery, upon which unbelief now comments after its own manner: “I said, Jehovah, be favorable to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned [or, borne sin] toward Thee.” There is the mystery: “sinned,” “borne sin,” -which is it? And this is that which the heart-stricken cry upon the cross involves. Even now, multitudes of even true believers have never realized its true meaning. Was that forsaking simply His being given up to death? was that the unequaled sorrow, -unequaled only because of the glory of Him who endured it? Here that very glory which faith discerns in Him, seems as if it had blinded it to the depths into which He must descend. In the darkness over the cross at mid-day, they see not the outward expression of the Light of light withdrawn, but nature’s sympathy with the dying Saviour. They talk of “equivalent penalty”, nay, of “substitute for penalty,” and of His death as but the “close of His life-work.” From this descent has been made through every possible phase of unbelief to the complete denial of atonement, in any true sense of the word. But we will not follow this now: look back only at the sin-offering (Lev 4:1-35; Lev 5:1-13), and see how great may be the “poverty” of apprehension, to which God has been pleased yet to come down, because in the Christ that faith confesses there is a divine sufficiency, where the apprehension of the work itself is yet all-insufficient.
But we turn to look back at the awful enmity of his maddened adversaries. “Mine enemies speak evil of me: When will he die, and his name perish?” True it is, they are strangers to His glorious Name, or they could not ask such a question. As the apostle says, “Whom none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory” (1Co 2:8). Of course: they would not have dared. None the less had they seen in Christ the image of God, and seen it to hate it only. He who hates goodness hates of necessity the God of all goodness, and yet may not know that it is God he hates. Thus Christ in the world tested the world, and “the world knew Him not” (Joh 1:10); and yet “light had come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Joh 3:19). Thus, in either way, the story may be truly told, and in either way be the same story: for evil knows not good, -cannot fathom it, or believe in it; “the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not” (Joh 1:5). Faith in the light is only coincident with a new birth -a new nature.
In the next verse the hypocrisy that links itself with this real enmity is manifest: “And if he come to see me, he speaketh deceit: his heart gathereth falsehood to itself; when he goeth without, he speaketh it.” Thus he finds just what he looks for; his heart is a magnet that, by a terrible principle of natural selection, attracts wickedness to itself; -wickedness which it has forged first. Then he goes out and proclaims his acquisition; but indeed to show himself out for what he is.
Then come plots and treacherous whisperings, and they persuade themselves that God is against the One they would make their victim. “A thing of Belial,” they say, “cleaveth fast to him; and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.” How readily the cry upon the cross would be for such an implication of guilt! God Himself confessedly against the holy Sufferer; and this was but the last, doubtless, in their eyes, of many similar things. The betrayal of Judas closes the story of man’s uttermost wickedness with the spurning heel of a false friend. The sop dipped in the dish was the sign of friendship: he receives it, and goes out; love’s last witness finding no response, -“after the sop, Satan entered into him” (Joh 13:27).
3. Such, then, is man, and towards Him who in grace has come to be his Deliverer. But if he is thus in his innermost heart revealed, God manifests Himself at length in behalf of the object of his enmity. This is not needful here to be told at length, for it has been again and again the subject of these psalms; but it is clearly enough shown out in the words of the same Speaker who has been heard throughout. He is answered in resurrection, raised up for the recompense of friends and foes alike. The enmity of His adversaries cannot prevail against Him in whom Jehovah delights. His perfection is owned, and in it He is sustained, and set before the face of God forever. There is but One of whom all this could be said, and the psalm as a whole speaks of Him, as we have seen. It is thus a most suited close to this precious first book of the divine counsels as to Christ.
4. The formal close in the last verse is, I believe, indicated by the number as the voice of man universally at last, giving praise to the God of Israel, the Eternal, from that eternity before time began, and now on to eternity -a praise therefore which contemplates all time from first to last, the period of the creature and his failure, and of the dishonor done to the glorious Creator by his means. It is sealed with the Old Testament “verily, verily,” which the Christ of the New has taken up and made His own.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psa 41:1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor Or, poor man; that conducts himself wisely and prudently toward him; as , maschil, properly signifies, that does not rashly and foolishly censure and condemn him, much less insult over him, but considers his case with prudence and tenderness, remembering it may be his own, and therefore pities and helps him; and thus takes the likeliest way to obtain similar pity for himself when in trouble. But the word dal, here rendered the poor, means the weak, sick, or languishing person, as appears by comparing this with Psa 41:3, where the mercy which he is supposed to have afforded to him is returned to himself, and with Psa 41:8. To conduct ourselves wisely toward such, is to take cognizance of their wants and miseries; to sympathize with them, and judge charitably concerning them; to pity and relieve them according to our power, or to take measures to provide for their relief. The Lord will deliver him The poor afflicted man. Though his enemies conclude his case to be desperate, Psa 41:8, God will confute them and deliver him. Or, rather, the considerer of the poor, the person that visits and relieves him. And so it is a promise of recompense. The wise and merciful man shall find mercy.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A psalm of David, when sick with grief at Absaloms rebellion.
Psa 41:4. Heal my soul. It would appear that David was visited with some temporary sickness, prior to Absaloms rebellion, and that the disaffected took every advantage of it to strengthen their revolt. They spread reports that an evil, a supernatural disease, consumed him: Psa 41:8.
Psa 41:9. Mine own familiar friend. Hebrews the man of my peace; or as the Chaldaic, the man who ought to have sought my peace. It can scarcely be doubted but the reference is to Ahithophel, who ate at his table, and took the kings arm when walking to the house of God; yet this consummate hypocrite was the eye and soul of Absaloms revolt, and like Judas, sold the life of his master.
Psa 41:13. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. This verse closes each of the five books of Hebrew psalms, as Psalm 72. 89. 106. and 150.
REFLECTIONS.
When David was sick and in trouble, it was a consolation to him that he had shown compassion to the poor. Though there can be no merit in man, yet when he is weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, God is not unrighteous to forget his work of faith and labour of love. The language of such a character is very exuberant: The Lord will deliver himthe Lord will preserve himthe Lord will keep him alivethe Lord will bless him on the earththe Lord will not deliver him to the will of his enemiesthe Lord will strengthen him on the bed of sickness, and like a kind nurse, make his bed in his affliction.
We must notice here the disguised wickedness of court-factions. Sauls old partizans, ready enough to join in Absaloms revolt, filled the land with unfavourable reports concerning the kings health. Truly the beasts are not so fierce against man as the wicked are against one another.
David regarded his recovery from sickness as a special mark of divine favour, a mark of favour calculated to depress the unhallowed joys of his enemies. Recent mercies after sickness refresh the soul, like the fragrance of spring after the desolations of winter. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever and ever. In all these troubles we are to see the Saviour of men betrayed, persecuted, and crucified; yet rising from the tomb to the throne, and the necks of all his enemies put under his feet.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XLI. The Prayer of a Sick man against Cruel and Treacherous Foes.
Psa 41:1. Kindness to the poor is a favourite virtue in the OT, but seems to have no natural place at the beginning of this Ps. We gain a better connexion by reading: Blessed is he who acts circumspectly though poor.
Psa 41:3. thou makest all his bed is a rendering which the Heb. scarcely admits, and the change from the third to the second person is suspicious. A plausible conjecture is, On his couch he supporteth him in his sickness.
Psa 41:8. Follow mg.
Psa 41:9. lifted up his heel: read probably, Made his mouth (?) against me.
Psa 41:10 is far removed, further perhaps than any verse in the Psalter, from Christian feeling. The Psalmist desires to recover that he may requite his enemies.
Psa 41:13 is no part of the previous Ps. It is a doxology added to mark the close of Book I.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 41
The humiliation of the godly but despised remnant in the midst of an ungodly nation. Christ’s identification with the remnant and hence their blessing.
(vv. 1-3) The blessedness of the man who considers (or understands) the position of the godly remnant in Israel – here referred to as the poor. Christ, as we know from the Gospels, fully entered into this position, and tasted their sorrows (See Mat 5:3; Luk 6:20). Therefore there are expressions in the psalm which are used by Christ, though the psalm as a whole cannot be applied exclusively to Him. Nevertheless, seeing that Christ so perfectly entered into the position and sorrows of the poor of the flock, the blessedness consists, not only in considering the poor remnant, but very especially in recognizing Christ as the poor Man, who identified Himself with the godly.
It must indeed be blessed to pay attention to those who, like the poor of the flock, and like Christ who became poor, are the special care of the Lord. Such will be delivered in the time of trouble, preserved, kept alive, and blessed in the land, when delivered from all their enemies. They will be strengthened in weakness, and healed of their sicknesses.
(vv. 4-10) The verses that follow describe in detail the humiliations to which the godly in Israel have to submit from an ungodly nation. First, however, the soul casts itself upon the mercy of the Lord owning his sins that have called down the chastisement of the Lord.
His enemies, taking occasion by this chastisement, express their hatred of the godly, desiring his death. Nevertheless, they act with utter hypocrisy, visiting the godly to seek evil against them, fancied or real, and then spreading it abroad. They plot secretly against the godly man, devise mischief, malign him, and maliciously anticipate for him a speedy end. He is betrayed by one who affects the closest friendship – a trial which the Lord had to face (Joh 13:18).
(vv. 10-12) In the presence of these humiliations the Lord is the resource of the godly man, to whom he looks for mercy and deliverance. He realizes the favour of the Lord, seeing the enemy is not allowed to triumph over him. He is upheld in his path of integrity and set before the face of the Lord for ever.
(v. 13) Seeing that Christ has so blessedly entered into the sufferings of the godly, the glorious outcome of all God’s dealings with His people will be that the Lord God of Israel will be blessed from everlasting to everlasting.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
41:1 [To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.] Blessed [is] he that {a} considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
(a) Not condemning him as accused whom God visits, knowing that there are various reasons why God lays his hand on us, yea and afterwards he restores us.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 41
David assured the godly in this thanksgiving psalm that those who help the needy would experience deliverance themselves from the Lord. He had learned this lesson through a difficult experience, to which he referred.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. God’s blessings on the merciful 41:1-3
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This verse succinctly states the lesson this whole psalm teaches. God blesses people who take care of those who cannot care for themselves, and He delivers them when they need help. "Blessed is" begins and closes the first book of Psalms (cf. Psa 1:1), forming an inclusio or envelope for this part of the collection.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 41:1-13
THE central mass of this psalm describes the singer as suffering from two evils: sickness and treacherous friends. This situation naturally leads up to the prayer and confidence of the closing strophe (Psa 41:10-12). But its connection with the introductory verses (Psa 41:1-5) is less plain. A statement of the blessings ensured to the compassionate seems a singular introduction to the psalmists pathetic exhibition of his sorrows. Cheyne thinks that the opening verses were added by the framer of the collection to adapt the poem to the use of the Church of his own time, and that “the original opening must have been different” (“Orig. of Psalt.,” 246, n.). It is to be observed, however, that the two points of the psalmists affliction are the two from which escape is assured to the compassionate, who shall not be “delivered to the desire of his enemies,” and shall be supported and healed in sickness. Probably, therefore, the general promises of Psa 41:1-3 are silently applied by the psalmist to himself; and he is comforting his own sorrow with the assurance which in his humility he casts into impersonal form. He has been merciful, and believes, though things look dark, that he will obtain mercy. There is probably also an intentional contrast with the cruel exacerbation of his sufferings by uncompassionate companions, which has rubbed salt into his wounds. He has a double consciousness in these opening verses, inasmuch as he partly thinks of himself as the compassionate man and partly as the “weak” one who is compassionated.
The combination of sickness and treachery is remarkable, especially if the former is taken literally, as the strongly marked details seem to require. The sick man is visited by an insincere sympathiser, who is all eyes to note symptoms of increasing weakness, and all tongue, as soon as he gets out of the sickroom, to give the result, which is to his malice the better the worse it is. Such a picture looks as if drawn from life, and the sketch of the traitor friend seems to be a portrait of a real person. The supporters of the post-exilic date and national interpretation of the psalm have not succeeded in pointing out who the false friends of Israel were, who seemed to condole with, and really rejoiced over, its weakness, or who were the treacherous allies who failed it. The theory of the Davidic origin has in its favour the correspondence of Ahithophels treason with the treachery of the trusted friend in the psalm; and, while it must be admitted that there is no mention of sickness in the narrative in 2 Samuel, the supposition that trouble of conscience had brought illness gains some countenance from Psa 32:1-11, if it is Davidic, and would naturally explain Davids singular passiveness whilst Absalom was hatching his plot.
The psalm may be divided into four strophes, of which, however, the two middle ones cohere very closely. Psa 41:1-3 give the mercy requited to the merciful; Psa 41:4-6, after a brief prayer and confession begin the picture of the psalmists sufferings, which is carried on through the next strophe (Psa 41:7-9), with the difference that in the former the scene is mainly the sick mans chamber, and in the latter the meeting place of the secret conspirators. Psa 41:10-12 build on this picture of distress a prayer for deliverance and rise to serene confidence in its certain answer. The closing doxology is not part of the psalm, but is appended as the conclusion of the first book of the Psalter.
The principle that Gods dealings with us correspond to our dealings with men, as clouds are moulded after the curves of the mountains which they touch, is no less characteristic of the New Testament than of the Old. The merciful obtain mercy; God forgives those who forgive their brethren. The absoluteness of statement in this psalm is, of course, open to misunderstanding; but the singer had not such a superficial view of his relations to God as to suppose that kindly sympathy was the sole condition of Divine compassion. That virtue, the absence of which added pangs to his pains, might well seem to a sufferer writhing under the bitterness of its opposite the Divinest of all excellences, and worthiest of recompense. That its requital should be mainly considered as consisting in temporal deliverance and physical health is partly due to the characteristics of the Old Testament promises of blessedness, and partly to the psalmists momentary needs. We have noted that these are reflected in the blessings promised in Psa 41:1-3. The “happy” of Psa 41:1 is caught up in the abruptly introduced “He shall be counted happy” of Psa 41:2 which may carry tacit reference to the malicious slanders that aggravated the psalmists sufferings, and anticipates deliverance so perfect that all who see him shall think him fortunate. The next clause rises into direct address of Jehovah, and is shown by the form of the negative in the Hebrew to be petition, not assertion, thus strongly confirming the view that “me” lurks below “him” in this context. A similar transition from the third to the second person occurs in Psa 41:3, as if the psalmist drew closer to his God. There is also a change of tense in the verbs there: “Jehovah will sustain”; “Thou hast turned,” the latter tense converting the general truth expressed in the former clause into a fact of experience. The precise meaning of this verse is questioned, some regarding both clauses as descriptive of tender nursing, which sustains the drooping head and smoothes the crumpled bedding, while others, noting that the word rendered “bed” (A.V. and R.V.) in the second clause means properly “lying down,” take that clause as descriptive of turning, sickness into convalescence. The latter meaning gives a more appropriate ending to the strophe, as it leaves the sick man healed, not tossing on a disordered bed, as the other explanation does. Jehovah does not half cure.
The second and third strophes (Psa 41:4-9) are closely connected. In them the psalmist recounts his sorrows and pains, but first breathes a prayer for mercy, and bases it no longer on his mercifulness, but on his sin. Only a shallow experience will find contradiction here to either the former words, or to the later profession of “integrity” (Psa 41:12). The petition for soul healing does not prove that sickness in the following verses is figurative, but results from the belief that sorrow is the effect of sin, a view which belongs to the psalmists stage of revelation, and is not to be held by Christians in the same absolute fashion. If the Davidic origin of the psalm is recognised, the connection of the kings great sin with all his after sorrows is patent. However he had been merciful and compassionate in general, his own verdict on the man in Nathans parable was that he “showed no pity,” and that sin bore bitter fruit in all his life. It was the parent of all the sensual outrages in his own house; it underlay Ahithophels treachery; it had much to do in making his reign abhorred; it brought the fuel which Absalom fired, and if our supposition is right as to the origin of the sickness spoken of in this psalm, that sin and the remorse that followed it gnawed at the roots of bodily health. So the psalmist, if he is indeed the royal sinner, had need to pray for soul healing first, even though he was conscious of much compassion and hoped for its recompense. While he speaks thus to Jehovah, his enemies speak in a different tone. The “evil” which they utter is not calumny, but malediction. Their hatred is impatient for his death. The time seems long till they can hear of it. One of them comes on a hypocritical visit of solicitude (“see” is used for visiting the sick in 2Ki 8:29, and speaks lying condolence, while he greedily collects encouraging symptoms that the disease is hopeless. Then he hurries back to tell how much worse he had found the patient; and that ignoble crew delight in the good news, and send it flying. This very special detail goes strongly in favour of the view that we have in this whole description a transcript of literal, personal experience. There were plenty of concealed enemies round David in the early stages of Absaloms conspiracy, who would look eagerly for signs of his approaching death, which might save the need of open revolt and plunge the kingdom into welcome confusion. The second strophe ends with the exit of the false friend.
The third (Psa 41:7-9) carries him to the meeting place of the plotters, who eagerly receive and retain the good news that the sick man is worse. They feed their ignoble hate by picturing further ill as laying hold of him. Their wish is parent to their thought, which is confirmed by the report of their emissary. “A thing of Belial is poured out on him,” or “is fastened upon him,” say they. That unusual expression may refer either to moral or physical evil. In the former sense it would here mean the sufferers sin, in the latter a fatal disease. The connection makes the physical reference the more likely. This incurable disease is conceived of as “poured out,” or perhaps as “molten on him,” so that it cannot be separated from him. Therefore he will never rise from his sick bed. But even this murderous glee is not the psalmists sharpest pang. “The man of my peace,” trusted, honoured, admitted to the privileges, and therefore bound by the obligations, of hospitality so sacred in the old world, has kicked the prostrate sufferer, as the ass in the fable did the sick lion. The treachery of Ahithophel at once occurs to mind. No doubt many treacherous friends have wounded many trustful hearts, but the correspondence of Davids history with this detail is not to be got rid of by the observation that treachery is common. Still less is it sufficient to quote Oba 1:7 where substantially the same language is employed in reference to the enemies of Edom, as supporting the national reference of the present passage. No one denies that false allies may be described by such a figure, or that nations may be personified; but is there any event in the post-exilic history which shows Israel deceived and spurned by trusted allies? The Davidic authorship and the personal reference of the psalm are separable. But if the latter is adopted, it will be hard to find any circumstances answering so fully to the details of the psalm as the Absalomic rebellion and Ahithophels treason. Our Lords quotation of part of Psa 41:9, with the significant omission of “in whom I trusted,” does not imply the Messianic character of the psalm, but is an instance of an event and a saying which were not meant as prophetic, finding fuller realisation in the life of the perfect type of suffering godliness than in the original sufferer.
The last strophe (Psa 41:10-12) recurs to prayer, and soars to confidence born of communion. A hand stretched out in need and trust soon comes back filled with blessings. Therefore here the moment of true petition is the moment of realised answer. The prayer traverses the malicious hopes of enemies. They had said, “He will rise no more”; it prays, “Raise me up.” It touches a note which sounds discordant in the desire “that I may requite them”; and it is far more truly reverential and appreciative of the progress of revelation to recognise the relative inferiority of the psalmists wish to render quid pro quo than to put violence on his words in order to harmonise them with Christian ethics, or to slur over the distinction between the Law, of which the keynote was retribution, and the Gospel, of which it is forgiveness.
But the last words of the psalm are sunny with the assurance of present favour and with boundless hope. The man is still lying on his sick bed, ringed by whispering foes. There is no change without, but this change has passed: that he has tightened his hold of God, and therefore can feel that his enemies whispers will never rise or swell into a shout of victory over him. He can speak of the future deliverance as if present; and he can look ahead over an indefinite stretch of sunlit country, scarcely knowing whether the furthest point is earth or no. His integrity is not sinless, nor does he plead it as a reason for Jehovahs upholding, but hopes for it as the consequence of His sustaining hand. He knows that he will have close approach to Jehovah; and though, no doubt, “forever” on his lips meant less than it does on ours, his assurance of continuous communion with God reached, if not to actual, clear consciousness of immortality, at all events to assurance of a future so indefinitely extended, and so brightened by the sunlight of Gods face, that it wanted but little additional extension or brightening to be the full assurance of life immortal.