Psalms 41:1-8

1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.

2 Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive, And he shall be blessed upon the earth; And deliver not thou him unto the will of his enemies.

3 Jehovah will support him upon the couch of languishing: Thou makest all his bed in his sickness.

4 I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me: Heal my soul; For I have sinned against thee.

5 Mine enemies speak evil against me, [saying], When will he die, and his name perish?

6 And if he come to see [me], he speaketh falsehood; His heart gathereth iniquity to itself: When he goeth abroad, he telleth it.

7 All that hate me whisper together against me; Against me do they devise my hurt.

8 An evil disease, [say they], cleaveth fast unto him; And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Psalms 41:1-8 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.