Psalms 41:1-7

1 For the leader. A psalm of David: How blessed are those who care for the poor! When calamity comes, ADONAI will save them.

2 ADONAI will preserve them, keep them alive, and make them happy in the land. You will not hand them over to the whims of their enemies.

3 ADONAI sustains them on their sickbed; when they lie ill, you make them recover.

4 I said, "ADONAI, have pity on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you!" 830

5 My enemies say the worst about me: "When will he die and his name disappear?"

6 When they come to see me they speak insincerely, their hearts meanwhile gathering falsehoods; then they go out and spread bad reports.

7 All who hate me whisper together against me, imagining the worst about 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.