"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
This Psalm is the final one in Book 1 of the Psalter, ending with a suitable ascription of praise in 13. Here we see the servant of God suffering from a double distress, sickness on the one hand, and on the other, treacherous friends who have initiated a whispering campaign against him. We may find it remarkable that so many Psalms speak so much about enemies; but the truth is, you cannot make a stand for God without making enemies. The kingdom of God is a divisive force, and when that kingdom really breaks in and confronts men in earnest, it invariably precipitates reaction. Jesus Himself bears witness to this realism in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:10, 11). The striking thing is that the kingdom of God proves even natural friendship to be wanting when it comes to the issues of the gospel (9). One never really sees what a man is at heart until he is stirred in opposition to Christ and the things of the kingdom. Natural friendship, and natural friendliness, are certainly no proof against the malevolence and hate that arise in the human heart when the gospel stirs it and awakens its natural opposition to the things of God.