Psalm 41:4

4 I said, Lord, have thou mercy on me; heal thou my soul, for I have sinned against thee.

Psalm 41:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 41:4

I said, Lord, be merciful unto me
(See Gill on Psalms 40:11);

heal my soul;
not that it was diseased with sin in such sense as the souls of other men are; but it is to be understood as a petition for comfort while bearing the sins of others, and which Christ as man stood in need of when in the garden and on the cross; so healing signifies comfort in trouble, as in ( Isaiah 57:18 ) ( Malachi 4:2 ) ;

for I have sinned against thee;
or "unto thee", or "before thee", as the Targum; not that any sin was committed by him in his own person, but he having all the sins of his people on him, which he calls his own, ( Psalms 40:12 ) ; he was treated as a sinner, and as guilty before God, ( Isaiah 53:12 ) ; and so the words may be read, "for I am a sinner unto thee" {u}; I am counted as one by thee, having the sins of my people imputed to me; and am bound unto thee, or under obligation to bear the punishment of sin; or thus, "for I have made an offering for sin unto thee" ^F23, so the word is used, ( Leviticus 6:26 ) ( 9:15 ) ; and so it might be rendered in ( Leviticus 5:7 Leviticus 5:11 ) ; and perhaps may be better rendered so in ( Leviticus 4:3 ) ; and be understood, not of the sin of the anointed priest, but of his offering a sacrifice for the soul that sinned through ignorance, ( Psalms 41:2 ) , which offering is directed to: and then the sense here is, heal me, acquit me, discharge me, and deliver me out of this poor and low estate in which I am; for I have made my soul an offering for sin, and thereby have made atonement for all the sins of my people laid upon me; and accordingly he was acquitted and justified, ( 1 Timothy 3:16 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Kl) "tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius.
F23 "Obtuli sacrificium pro peccato", Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 249, 923.

Psalm 41:4 In-Context

2 The Lord keep him, and quicken him, and make him blessful in the land; and betake not him into the will of his enemies. (The Lord shall keep him safe, and alive, and make him happy in the land; and he shall not deliver him unto the power, or the will, of his enemies.)

3 The Lord (shall) bear help to him on the bed of his sorrow; thou hast oft turned all his bedstraw in his sickness.

4 I said, Lord, have thou mercy on me; heal thou my soul, for I have sinned against thee.

5 Mine enemies said evils to me; When shall he die, and his name shall perish?

6 And if he entered for to see (me), he spake vain things (to me); his heart gathered wickedness to himself. He went withoutforth; and spake to the same thing/and spake to the same end. (And when he entered to see me, he spoke to me of empty, or useless, things; and his heart gathered wickedness unto itself. And then he went withoutforth; and spoke the same thing everywhere he went.)