Psalm 41:1-9

1 Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.

2 The LORD protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies.

3 The LORD nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health.

4 “O LORD,” I prayed, “have mercy on me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

5 But my enemies say nothing but evil about me. “How soon will he die and be forgotten?” they ask.

6 They visit me as if they were my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.

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

8 “He has some fatal disease,” they say. “He will never get out of that bed!”

9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.

Psalm 41:1-9 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.