Psalms 41:1-6

1 {To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} Blessed is he that understandeth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.

2 Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive; he shall be made happy in the land; and thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

3 Jehovah will sustain him upon the bed of languishing: thou turnest all his bed in his sickness.

4 As for me, I said, Jehovah, be gracious unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

5 Mine enemies wish me evil: When will he die, and his name perish?

6 And if one come to see [me], he speaketh falsehood; his heart gathereth wickedness to itself: he goeth abroad, he telleth [it].

Psalms 41:1-6 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'attendeth to,' 'giveth heed to,' 'owneth.'
• [b]. Or 'on the earth.'
• [c]. As Ps. 8.2; also vers. 5,11.
• [d]. Or 'speak evil of me.'