Psalms 41:1-7

Victory in spite of Betrayal

1

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

1 Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.
2 The Lord will keep him and preserve him; he will be blessed in the land. You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed; You will heal him on the bed where he lies.
4 I said, "Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You."
5 My enemies speak maliciously about me: "When will he die and be forgotten?"
6 When one [of them] comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully; he stores up evil in his heart; he goes out and talks.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they plan to harm me.

Psalms 41:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. In this psalm is a prophecy concerning Christ, and concerning Judas Iscariot, as runs part of the title in the Syriac version; and in the Arabic version it is called a prophecy concerning the incarnation, and the salutation of Judas; and certain it is that Psalm 41:9 is to be understood of him, and of his betraying Christ into the hands of his enemies, since it is cited and applied to him by our Lord himself, John 13:18; so that having such a sure rule of interpretation, we may safely venture to explain the whole psalm of Christ, which treats both of his humiliation and exaltation; for it neither agrees with David wholly, nor with Hezekiah, to whom some ascribe it, as Theodoret remarks.
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