Psalms 41:1-13
1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor:a 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 makeb all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
XLI. The Prayer of a Sick man against Cruel and Treacherous Foes.
Psalms 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.
Psalms 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.
Psalms 41:8. Follow mg.
Psalms 41:9. lifted up his heel: read probably, Made his mouth (?) against me.
Psalms 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.
Psalms 41:13 is no part of the previous Ps. It is a doxology added to mark the close of Book I.