Psalms 41:10-12

He Prays For Healing And Expresses His Certainty That God Will Help Him Against His Enemies, Confident Also That God Upholds His Integrity And Has Indeed Set Him Before His Face For Ever (Psalms 41:10).

Psalms 41:10

‘But you, O YHWH, have mercy on me, and raise me up,

That I may requite them.

By this I know that you delight in me,

Because my enemy does not triumph over me.'

‘And as for me, you uphold me in my integrity,

And set me before your face for ever.'

The Psalmist prays that God will heal him and raise him up so that he might deal with his enemies as they deserve and maintain the throne for YHWH (we must remember that they were seeking to introduce the dreadful evil of civil war into his kingdom), and expresses his joy in recognising that his deliverance reveals that God delights in him. It demonstrates that God is upholding him in his integrity, and has set him before His face for ever.

We should note that the reason that he does expect God to uphold him is because of his integrity. It is not simply because he is God's ‘favourite' as such, but because he is also loyal and true to YHWH and walks in His ways. That indeed is why He sets him before His face for ever. To be ‘set before His face for ever' is to be living in His presence and under His protection, knowing that His eye is ever upon him, both now and for ever. We note here again David's assurance of God's eternal interest in him (compare Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15; Psalms 23:6). This is especially emphatic in the light of the following reference to ‘from everlasting to everlasting'. He has at this moment eternity in his heart.