Psalm 41 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. 1 Blessed is he who considers the poor; 2 Yahweh will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. 3 Yahweh will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed. 4 I said, “Lord, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” “Blessed is he that ‘considers’- from שׂכל śâkal - 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 Hebrew - דל 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...“ (Albert Barnes) “This corresponds with `Blessed are the merciful' from the Sermon on the Mount. ‘For they shall obtain mercy.’ ‘Such a person is preserved, blessed and strengthened by God. The psalmist here recognizes himself as an illustration of his case in point.’ [Wycliffe OT Commentary] ‘Yahweh will deliver him in time of trouble.’There is a confidence here, ‘That the wicked hopes of his enemies shall be confounded by actual events.’ {The New Bible Commentary].” (Coffman Commentary) So the merciful ones are the saints who follow their Master wherever He goes. “‘Yahweh will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth. You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.’ This man is “safe and secure; because Christ lives he shall live also, and shall never die the second death, nor be hurt by it, but shall have everlasting life.” (John Gill) “Yahweh will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.’ “‘You will make all his bed’ - הפכת haphachta, thou hast turned up, tossed, and shaken it; and thou wilt do so to all his bed - thou wilt not leave one uneasy place in it - not one lump, or any unevenness, to prevent him from sleeping. Thou wilt do every thing, consistently with the accomplishment of the great decree, ‘Unto dust thou shalt return,’ to give him ease, refreshment, and rest. We may sum up the privileges of the merciful man: He is generally blessed, Psalm 41:1. He will be delivered in the time of trouble, Psalm 41:1. He will be preserved by a particular providence, Psalm 41:2. He shall be kept alive amidst infection and danger, Psalm 41:2. He shall be blessed on the earth in his temporal concerns, Psalm 41:2. His enemies shall not be able to spoil or destroy him, Psalm 41:2. He shall be strengthened on a bed of languishing, to enable him to bear his afflictions, Psalm 41:3. He shall have ease, comfort, and support in his last hours, Psalm 41:3.” (Adam Clarke) “I said, ‘Lord, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.’— that is, I confessed my sins and forsaken them… and I know that I will be made whole in the first resurrection. 5 My enemies speak evil of me: “When will he die, and his name perish?” 6 And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies; his heart gathers iniquity to itself; when he goes out, he tells it. 7 All who hate me whisper together against me; against me they devise my hurt. 8 “An evil disease,” they say, “clings to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.” 9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, as ifted up his heel against me. “My enemies speak evil of me: ‘When will he die, and his name perish?’ (5) The religious Jews were enemies of Jesus “to His person, people, doctrines and ordinances, and would not have Him to reign over them; these spake evil of Him, charged Him with being a glutton and a winebibber; said he had a devil, and was a Samaritan; imputed His miracles to diabolical influence; branded His doctrine with blasphemy, and spoke against His religion and worship, and wished Him ill, saying, ‘when shall he die’; they had a good will to assassinate Him privately, but upon mature deliberation they consulted and determined to take what advantage they could against Him, and deliver Him up to the Roman governor.” (John Gill) “‘Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted’—Heb. the man of my peace. This was a great cut to David, τιγαρ μειζον ελκος η φιλος αδικων, saith Sophocles. What greater wound can there be than a treacherous friend? such as was Ahithophel to David, Judas to our Saviour, Brutus to Julius Caesar (who was slain in the Senate house with three and twenty wounds, given for most part by them whose lives he had preserved), Magnentius to Constans, the emperor, who had formerly saved his life from the soldiers’ fury; Michael Balbus to the Emperor Leo Armenius, whom he slew the same night that he had pardoned and released him. This evil dealing made Socrates cry out, φιλοι ουδεις φιλος, Friends, there is hardly a friend to be found— ‘who did eat of my bread—Judas dipped in the same dish with Jesus, betrayed him with a kiss. Beware the kisses of Judas.—‘has lift up his heel against me’—Heb. Hath magnified the heel, or the foot sole, sc. to supplant me, or to trample upon me, or to spurn against me, a metaphor from unruly and refractory horses.“ (Trapp) There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Prov 18:24): “There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus: No, not one! no, not one! None else could heal all our souls’ diseases: No, not one! no, not one! Jesus knows all about our struggles; He will guide ’til the day is done: There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus: No, not one! no, not one!” “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’ (Isaiah 61:1) Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.” (Luke 4:16-21) After washing the disciple’s feet Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” Now that is consideration of the poor! Jesus then said: “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ (Ps 41:9) Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (John 13:16-20) “But that the Scripture may be fulfilled" (A meditation on John 13:18a) - "or, thus the Scripture is fulfilled." (Adam Clarke)- ‘He who eats My Bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ [Psalm 41:9] "The import of these words seems therefore to be this, 'I know the temper, disposition, and hearts of those whom I have chosen, and what one of them particularly will do; for which cause I said, 'Ye are not all clean';" (Thomas Coke) But, in My wisdom, I have permit this; "and, as Ahithophel betrayed David, though he was his familiar friend; so Judas, my familiar at my table, will betray the Son of God; and so the words recorded, Psalms 41:9 will be fulfilled in him also, of whom king David was the type... " (Thomas Coke) 10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them. 11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me, because my enemy does not triumph over me. 12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your face forever. 13 Blessed be Yahweh God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. “‘But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.’ 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. [As is the firstruits, also is the lump.] ’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.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) “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.” (Coffman)