Psalms 41:1-8

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in the time of trouble.

2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; [and] he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

4 I said, LORD, be merciful to me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

5 My enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

6 And if he cometh to see [me], he speaketh vanity: 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 to him: and [now] that he lieth he shall rise 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.