Psalms 41:1-11

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

2 The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

3 The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.

4 I said, "Lord, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You."

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

6 And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies; His heart gathers iniquity to itself; When he goes out, he tells it.

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

8 "An evil disease," they say, "clings to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more."

9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up, That I may repay them.

11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me, Because my enemy does not triumph over me.

Psalms 41:1-11 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.