"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen."
Psalm 41
The Psalm divides into four stanzas: 1-3 give a statement of the blessings that are ensured to those who are compassionate and merciful; 4-6 give an account of the Psalmist's sufferings, and pictures him in his sick chamber; 7-9 continue the picture of 4-6, with the difference that we now see the conspirators in their meeting place, whispering against him and hoping for his ruin; 10-13 are a prayer for deliverance, and he rises to serene confidence in its certain answer. The setting of the Psalm is thought to be the events associated with the revolt of Absalom (2 Samuel 15ff). The hurt expressed in the Psalm matches Ahitophel's treachery well. We should not miss the significance of the fact that although the central section of the Psalm, and its main bulk, constitutes an utterance of great distress and woe, it is nevertheless bounded at beginning and end with expression of calm confidence and serenity that are impressive indeed. This is the main point of its message, for it shows us how, even in very difficult and trying and discouraging times of opposition, the soul can remain serene, detached and confident. The prominent note, therefore, in the Psalm is not distress, but confidence, and it is salutary for us to realise that confidence in God is not something that expresses itself in stoical indifference to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. David suffered: he felt his woes; he was not insensitive to the treachery of his friends, or the hurtfulness of malicious whisperers. He felt it all very keenly, but in the distress and in the sufferings of it he was still confident. The source of this confidence is to be found in 1-3: he is God's man and the basic fact of his calling and anointing by God is the ultimate ground for his assurance. He knows that in spite of his many faults, he is rightly related to the will of God and that the general direction of his life is Godward. It is this that enables him to pray as he does in 10-13: he knows that there is upholding for him!