Old Testament
Psalms 41
Mercy, Betrayal, and Doxology
Overview
The psalmist declares the blessedness of those who show mercy to the poor, cries out to God amid grave illness and the betrayal of a trusted friend — a moment the New Testament sees foreshadowed in Judas's treachery against Christ — and closes with a confident plea for restoration before a solemn liturgical doxology seals the entire first book of the Psalter with eternal praise.
Passages
Study Resources
No study guides, devotionals, or teaching outlines have been created for this chapter yet.
Psalms 41
1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
2Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
3Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness.
4I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5My enemies speak evil against me: “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
7All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me.
8“An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him. Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”
9Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
10But you, Yahweh, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.
11By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
12As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
13Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen.