PSALM 41 COMME�TARYEDITED BY GLE�� PEASE

I�TRODUCTIO�

SPURGEO�, "Title. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. This title has frequently occurred before, and serves to remind us of the value of the Psalm, seeing that it was committed to no mean songster; and also to inform us as to the author who has made his own experience the basis of a prophetic song, in which a far greater than David is set forth. How wide a range of experience David had! What power it gave him to edify future ages! And how full a type of our Lord did he become! What was bitterness to him has proved to be a fountain of unfailing sweetness to many generations of the faithful.Jesus Christ betrayed by Judas Iscariot is evidently the great theme of this Psalm, but we think not exclusively. He is the antitype of David, and all his people are in their measure like him; hence words suitable to the Great Representative are most applicable to those who are in him. Such as receive a vile return for long kindness to others, may read this song with much comfort, for they will see that it is alas! too common for the best of men, to be rewarded for their holy charity with cruelty and scorn; and when they have been humbled by falling into sin, advantage has been taken of their low estate, their good deeds have been forgotten and the vilest spite has been vented upon them.Division. The psalmist in Psalms 41:1-3, describes the mercies which are promised to such as consider the poor, and this he uses as a preface to his own personal plea for succour: from Psalms 41:4-9 he states his own case, proceeds to prayer in Psalms 41:10, and closes with thanksgiving, Psalms 41:11-13.

PETT, "This Psalm is offered to the person responsible for the sacred music, or the choirmaster, and is of the Davidic collection. ‘To (or ‘for’) David’ may indicate that it was dedicated to David, written for the Davidic house, or even written by David himself.

The Psalm opens with David bewailing an illness which has left him in a weak state, and declaring that those who have consideration for him in that state will be blessed by YHWH. Indeed, he declares that it is YHWH Who will support him on his sickbed, and is in process of restoring him (‘has turned his lying down in his sickness’).

He frankly admits that his suffering is partly due to his sinfulness, and asks for God’s mercy to be shown to him, but at the same time he bewails the fact that his enemies are taking advantage of the situation and are speaking against him, hoping for his death. They come to see him, as befits a king, but it is clear that it is all a false front, and is simply so that they can talk glibly to him, and then take lying tales

about his situation to the outer world, where there is much whispering and expectation of his death.

What saddens him most is that even one who was close to him, whom he had trusted, and who had eaten bread with him, had proved false.

He prays that YHWH will raise him up from his sickbed, and enable him to requite himself on such enemies. Indeed he is so certain that this will be so that he considers that it demonstrates that YHWH delights in him, something further proved by the assurance that he has that YHWH will not allow his enemies to triumph over him. And he closes the Psalm by expressing his confidence that God will uphold him in his integrity, and will indeed set him before His face for ever.

Many relate it to the machinations and plottings of Absalom as being at a time when David was going through a severe illness. Such an illness would explain why he was caught so totally unawares. The treacherous friend is then seen as being Ahithophel. But the very dedication of the Psalm to the Chief Musician gives it a ‘universal’ application to believers.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.

BAR�ES, "Blessed is he - See the notes at Psa_1:1. Literally, “Oh the blessings of him that considers the poor.” The object is to describe the advantages of doing what is here said; or the excellence of the spirit which would be manifested in such a case, and the effect which this would have on his own happiness. These happy effects are described in the remainder of this verse, and in the two following verses.

That considereth - The word used here - from שכל śâkal - means properly to look at,

to behold; then, to be prudent or circumspect; then, to attend to; and then in general to act prudently, wisely, intelligently, in any case. Here it means to attend to; to show an interest in; to care for. The idea is that of not neglecting; not passing by; not being indifferent to; not being hard-hearted and uncharitable toward.

The poor - Margin, “the weak,” or “the sick.” The word used in the Hebrew - dal דל -

means properly something hanging or swinging, as of pendulous boughs or branches; and then, that which is weak, feeble, powerless. Thus it comes to denote those who are

feeble and helpless either by poverty or by disease, and is used with a general reference to those who are in slow or humble condition, and who need the aid of others. The statement here is of a general nature - that he is blessed who shows proper sympathy for all of that class: for those who need the sympathy of others from any cause - poverty, sickness, a low condition, or trouble. The particular thing here referred to was a case of sickness; where one was borne down by disease, perhaps brought on by mental sorrow, and when he particularly needed the sympathy of his friends. See Psa_41:5-8.

The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble - Margin, as in Hebrew: “in the day of evil.” This is the first happy effect or result of showing proper sympathy with others in their troubles. It is a statement of the general principle that the Lord will deal with us as we do with others. See this principle stated and illustrated in Psa_18:24-26.

CLARKE, "Blessed is he that considereth - God is merciful; he will have man to resemble him: as far as he is merciful, feels a compassionate heart, and uses a benevolent hand, he resembles his Maker; and the mercy he shows to others God will show to him. But it is not a sudden impression at the sight of a person in distress, which obliges a man to give something for the relief of the sufferer, that constitutes the merciful character. It is he who considers the poor; who endeavors to find them out; who looks into their circumstances; who is in the habit of doing so; and actually, according to his power and means, goes about to do good; that is the merciful man, of whom God speaks with such high approbation, and to whom he promises a rich reward.

GILL, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor,.... Not the poor of the world in common, nor poor saints in particular, but some single poor man; for the word is in the singular number, and designs our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in Psa_40:17, is said to be "poor and needy": and so read the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions here; who became poor for our sakes, that we might be enriched by his poverty; being born of poor parents, educated in a mean manner, and in public life was ministered to by others: the word (q) here used signifies one that is attenuated, weak, and exhausted either of his substance or strength, or both; as Christ was in his state of humiliation, when he was emptied of his riches, and, though Lord of all, had not where to lay his head; and whose strength was dried up like a potsherd, when he suffered on the cross; and indeed at best he was encompassed with weaknesses and infirmities: and in this his low estate he is to be wisely considered, or attended to with wisdom and understanding; and he may be said wisely to consider him, who considers how great a person he is, that came into such a low estate for us; not a mere man, but above angels and men, that has all the perfections of deity in him, is the eternal Son of God, truly and properly God, and the Creator of all things, and Governor of the universe; which consideration will engage to and encourage faith and hope in him, lead to adore his wonderful grace, and to admire his condescension and humility in becoming poor and weak; as also who considers that the poverty of Christ was for our sakes, and that we might be made rich with the riches of grace and glory; and considers it so as not to be offended with it; see Mat_11:6; and which may serve to support us under all meanness and infirmity, and in whatsoever estate saints may come into; and likewise who considers him in his offices which he exercised in that his estate as the apostle and high priest of our profession; and him in his exalted state in heaven; see Heb_12:3; in a word, he wisely considers him, who believes in him as his Saviour, prizes him as the pearl of great price, cleaves close unto him, and follows him wherever he goes; who desires to know more of him, is concerned for his honour, interest, kingdom and glory, and pities his poor members, and freely and

bountifully communicates to them; and so the Targum,

"blessed is the man that wisely considers the afflictions of the poor, that he may have mercy on him;''

and such an one is an happy man, and the following things said of him prove him to be so;

the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble: or "in the evil day" (r); out of all his trouble, temporal and spiritual, of body and soul; in every time of affliction, private and personal; or in a time of public calamity; perhaps reference may be had to the time of Jerusalem's destruction, which was a time of great tribulation, Mat_24:21; when those who did not consider Christ in his poor and low estate, but despised and rejected him, were destroyed; and such as did were saved from that calamity: and it may also include the day of judgment, which is the evil day, unto which the wicked are reserved, and when they will be punished with everlasting destruction; but then those that consider Christ, and believe in him, will be saved from wrath. Some (s) take these words, with what follows in the two next verses, as a prayer, and as delivered by him that visits the sick, for his comfort; and so Joseph Kimchi interprets it of an honourable man visiting a sick man, and instructing and comforting him with such words as these, that "the Lord will deliver him", &c.

HE�RY 1-3, "In these verses we have,

I. God's promises of succour and comfort to those that consider the poor; and,

1. We may suppose that David makes mention of these with application either, (1.) To his friends, who were kind to him, and very considerate of his case, now that he was in affliction: Blessed is he that considers poor David. Here and there he met with one that sympathized with him, and was concerned for him, and kept up his good opinion of him and respect for him, notwithstanding his afflictions, while his enemies were so insolent and abusive to him; on these he pronounced this blessing, not doubting but that God would recompense to them all the kindness they had done him, particularly when they also came to be in affliction. The provocations which his enemies gave him did but endear his friends so much the more to him. Or, (2.) To himself. He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had considered the poor, that when he was in honour and power at court he had taken cognizance of the wants and miseries of the poor and had provided for their relief, and therefore was sure God would, according to his promise, strengthen and comfort him in his sickness.

2. We must regard them more generally with application to ourselves. Here is a comment upon that promise, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.Observe, (1.) What the mercy is which is required of us. It is to consider the poor or afflicted, whether in mind, body, or estate. These we are to consider with prudence and tenderness; we must take notice of their affliction and enquire into their state, must sympathize with them and judge charitably concerning them. We must wisely consider the poor; that is, we must ourselves be instructed by the poverty and affliction of others; it must be Maschil to us, that is the word here used. (2.) What the mercy is that is promised to us if we thus show mercy. He that considers the poor (if he cannot relieve them, yet he considers them, and has a compassionate concern for them, and in relieving them acts considerately and with discretion) shall be considered by his God: he shall not only be recompensed in the resurrection of the just, but he shall be blessed upon the

earth This branch of godliness, as much as any, has the promise of the life that now is and is usually recompensed with temporal blessings. Liberality to the poor is the surest and safest way of thriving; such as practise it may be sure of seasonable and effectual relief from God, [1.] In all troubles: He will deliver them in the day of evil, so that when the times are at the worst it shall go well with them, and they shall not fall into the calamities in which others are involved; if any be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger, they shall. Those who thus distinguish themselves from those that have hard hearts God will distinguish from those that have hard usage. Are they in danger? he will preserve and keep them alive; and those who have a thousand times forfeited their lives, as the best have, must acknowledge it as a great favour if they have their lives given them for a prey. He does not say, “They shall be preferred,” but, “They shall be preserved and kept alive, when the arrows of death fly thickly round about them.” Do their enemies threaten them? God will not deliver them into the will of their enemies; and the most potent enemy we have can have no power against us but what is given him from above. The good-will of a God that loves us is sufficient to secure us from the ill-will of all that hate us, men and devils; and that good-will we may promise ourselves an interest in if we have considered the poor and helped to relieve and rescue them. [2.] Particularly in sickness (Psa_41:3): The Lord will strengthen him, both in body and mind, upon the bed of languishing, on which he had long lain sick, and he will make all his bed - a very condescending expression, alluding to the care of those that nurse and tend sick people, especially of mothers for their children when they are sick, which is to make their beds easy for them; and that bed must needs be well made which God himself has the making of. He will make all his bed from head to foot, so that no part shall be uneasy; he will turn his bed (so the word is), to shake it up and make it very easy; or he will turn it into a bed of health. Note, God has promised his people that he will strengthen them, and make them easy, under their bodily pains and sicknesses. He has not promised that they shall never be sick, nor that they shall not lie long languishing, nor that their sickness shall not be unto death; but he has promised to enable them to bear their affliction with patience, and cheerfully to wait the issue. The soul shall by his grace be made to dwell at ease when the body lies in pain.

JAMISO�, "Psa_41:1-13. The Psalmist celebrates the blessedness of those who compassionate the poor, conduct strongly contrasted with the spite of his enemies and neglect of his friends in his calamity. He prays for God’s mercy in view of his ill desert, and, in confidence of relief, and that God will vindicate his cause, he closes with a doxology.

God rewards kindness to the poor (Pro_19:17). From Psa_41:2, Psa_41:11 it may be inferred that the Psalmist describes his own conduct.

poor — in person, position, and possessions.

K&D 1-3, "(Heb.: 41:2-4) The Psalm opens by celebrating the lot, so rich in

promises, of the sympathetic man. ל� is a general designation of the poor (e.g., Exo_

30:15), of the sick and weakly (Gen_41:19), of the sick in mind (2Sa_13:4), and of that which outwardly or inwardly is tottering and consequently weak, frail. To show

sympathising attention, thoughtful consideration towards such an one (הש�יל�אל as in

Neh_8:13, cf. על Pro_17:20) has many promises. The verb ח�ה, which elsewhere even

means to call to life again (Psa_71:20), in this instance side by side with preserving, viz., from destruction, has the signification of preserving life or prolonging life (as in Psa_

30:4; Psa_22:30). The Pual signifies to be made happy (Pro_3:18), but also א�ר

declaratively: to be pronounced happy (Isa_9:15); here, on account of the רץ�� that

stands with it, it is the latter. The Chethîb sets forth as an independent promise that יע�ר

which the Kerî Psa_41:3 , ל .joins on to what has gone before as a consequence וא�ר (cf.

Psa_34:6 and frequently), expresses a negative with full sympathy in the utterance. נתן�

�נפש as in Psa_27:12. The supporting in Psa_41:4 is a keeping erect, which stops or

arrests the man who is sinking down into death and the grave. וי� (= davj, similar form to

but wanting in the syllable before the tone) means sickness. If Psa_41:4 ,מעי ,שמי is

understood of the supporting of the head after the manner of one who waits upon the sick (cf. Son_2:6), then Psa_41:4 must, with Mendelssohn and others, be understood of

the making of the couch or bed. But what then is neat by the word מש�ב ?לך is a sick-bed

in Exo_21:18 in the sense of being bedridden; and �,הפכ (cf. Psa_30:12) is a changing of

it into convalescence. By כל־משכבו is not meant the constant lying down of such an one,

but the affliction that casts him down, in all its extent. This Jahve turns or changes, so

often as such an one is taken ill (בחליו, at his falling sick, parallel with דוי .(�htiwעל־ערש�דוי

He gives a complete turn to the “sick-bed” towards recovery, so that not a vestige of the sickness remains behind.

WHEDON, "1. Considereth the poor—A duty of the first rank in Christian morality. It is a discreet and appreciative care, flowing from a true sympathy in the welfare both of soul and body. See Matthew 25:36.

Poor—The word means, sick, weak, or helpless, from whatever cause. David had practiced this sympathy for the sick and afflicted, (Psalms 35:13-14,) and while he comforts himself with the promise that God will remember him now and reward him good, his words also are an implied rebuke of the conduct of his enemies. See Psalms 41:6-7, and Psalms 35:15

SBC, "I. The motive to consideration of the poor. The fundamental element in the motive to care for the poor is the revelation that the poor are the care of God.

II. The kind of consideration demanded. (1) Set plainly before the mind’s eye the terrible inequalities of gifts, possessions, culture, advantages, and all that makes the outward joy of life. (2) The man who considers the poor will not believe that God meant life to be anything like this. (3) He will say, It is a solemn part of my duty to mend it. God will have us take on us His ministry to the poor.

III. The blessing in which it fruits, (1) The blessing lies hid in the order of the world. (2) The blessing lies deeper and closer in a warm glow of living joy in our own hearts. (3) Deeper still, it lies in the heart and the hand of God.

F. W. Farrar, Contemporary Pulpit Extra No. 2, 1887.

CALVI�,"1.Blessed is he that judgeth wisely of the poor. Interpreters are generally of opinion that the exercise of kindness and compassion manifested in taking care of the miserable, and helping them, is here commended. Those, however, who maintain that the Psalmist here commends the considerate candour of those who judge wisely and charitably of men in adversity, form a better judgment of his meaning. Indeed, the participle משכיל,maskil, cannot be explained in any other way. At the same time, it ought to be observed on what account it is that David declares those to be blessed who form a wise and prudent judgment concerning the afflictions by which God chastises his servants. We have said that he had to contend in his own heart against the perverse judgments of foolish and wicked men, because, when affliction was pressing heavily upon him, many considered that he had fallen into a desperate condition, and was altogether beyond the hope of recovery. Doubtless, it happened to him as it did to the holy patriarch Job, whom his friends reckoned to be one of the most wicked of men, when they saw God treating him with great severity. And certainly it is an error which is by far too common among men, to look upon those who are oppressed with afflictions as condemned and reprobate. As, on the one hand, the most of men, judging of the favor of God from an uncertain and transitory state of prosperity, applaud the rich, and those upon whom, as they say, fortune smiles; so, on the other hand, they act contemptuously towards the wretched and miserable, and foolishly imagine that God hates them, because he does not exercise so much forbearance towards them as he does towards the reprobate. The error of which we speak, namely, that of judging wrongfully and wickedly, is one which has prevailed in all ages of the world. The Scriptures in many places plainly and distinctly declare, that God, for various reasons, tries the faithful by adversities, at one time to train them to patience, at another to subdue the sinful affections of the flesh, at another to cleanse, and, as it were, purify them from the remaining desires of the flesh, which still dwell within them; sometimes to humble them, sometimes to make them an example to others, and at other times to stir them up to the contemplation of the divine life. For the most part, indeed, we often speak rashly and indiscriminately concerning others, and, so to speak, plunge even into the lowest abyss those who labor under affliction. To restrain such a rash and unbridled spirit, David says that they are blessed who do not suffer themselves, by speaking at random, to judge harshly of their neighbors; but, discerning aright the afflictions by which they are visited, mitigate, by the wisdom of the Spirit, the severe and unjust judgments to which we are naturally so prone. I have just adduced as an example the case of Job, whom his friends, when they saw him involved in extreme misery, hesitated not to account an outcast, and one whose case was altogether hopeless. (101) If any one endued with candour, and possessed of a humane disposition, should meet with such a case, he would regard it in the exercise of the same discretion which David here commends. As to ourselves, being admonished by this testimony of the Holy Spirit, let us learn to guard against a too precipitate judgment. We must therefore judge prudently of our brethren who are in affliction; that is to say, we must hope well of their salvation, lest, if we condemn them unmercifully before the time, this unjust severity in the end fall upon our own heads. It ought, however, especially to be observed, what indeed I have already noticed, that the object which David had in view, when he saw himself, as it were, overwhelmed by the malicious and cruel judgments which were expressed

concerning him, was to fortify himself by this as a ground of consolation, lest he should sink under the temptation. If, therefore, at any time Satan should endeavor to destroy the foundation of our faith, by the rash and presumptuous judgments of men, let us also learn to have recourse to this device of wisdom, lest unawares we fall into despair. This is the proper use of the doctrine contained in this passage.

The Lord will deliver him in the day of evil. Some connect these words, in the day of evil, with the preceding clause; and the reading thus suggested might indeed be admitted; but the distinction which I have followed is better adapted to the sense, and is also supported by the Hebrew accent. Thus at least the doctrine deducible from these words is susceptible of a fuller meaning, namely, that the Lord will deliver the poor in the day of his adversity. Some think that David here prays for a blessing in behalf of the upright and compassionate; as if he had said, May the Lord himself recompense them again for their kindness, if at any time it happen that they are grievously afflicted! Others suppose that David here records the language of such men from which we may come to the knowledge of their wisdom and uprightness. In my opinion, however, both are equally in error in reading this clause in the form of a desire or prayer. Whether, indeed, David speaks in his own name, or in the name of others, he briefly recommends and enjoins the kindness which we ought to exercise towards the afflicted; for although God may for a time manifest his displeasure against them, yet he will, nevertheless, be gracious to them, so that the issue will at length be happier and more joyful than the judgment we might be led to form from the present aspect of things. We now see that the sense in which I have explained this verse is much more copious and fuller of meaning, namely, that we ought to hope for salvation and deliverance from the hand of the Lord, even in the day of adversity; for otherwise, no man who had once fallen into a state of sorrow and sadness would ever be able to rise again. And this I say, because the design of the Holy Spirit in this passage is not only to exhort the faithful to be ready in showing kindness towards their brethren when they see them in affliction, but also to point out the remedy which has been provided for the mitigation of our sorrow, whenever our faith is shaken by adversity.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. This is the third Psalm opening with a benediction, and there is a growth in it beyond the first two. To search the word of God comes first, pardoned sin is second, and now the forgiven sinner brings forth fruit unto God available for the good of others. The word used is as emphatic as in the former cases, and so is the blessing which follows it. The poor intended, are such as are poor in substance, weak in bodily strength, despised in repute, and desponding in spirit. These are mostly avoided and frequently scorned. The worldly proverb bequeaths the hindmost to one who has no mercy. The sick and the sorry are poor company, and the world deserts them as the Amalekite left his dying servant. Such as have been made partakers of divine grace receive a tenderer nature, and are not hardened against their own flesh and blood; they undertake the cause of the downtrodden, and turn their minds seriously to the promotion of their welfare. They do not toss them a penny and go on their way, but enquire into their sorrows, sift out their cause, study the best ways for their relief, and practically come to their rescue: such as these have the mark of the divine

favour plainly upon them, and are as surely the sheep of the Lord's pasture as if they wore a brand upon their foreheads. They are not said to have considered the poor years ago, but they still do so. Stale benevolence, when boasted of, argues present churlishness. First and foremost, yea, far above all others put together in tender compassion for the needy is our Lord Jesus, who so remembered our low estate, that though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor. All his attributes were charged with the task of our uplifting. He weighed our case and came in the fulness of wisdom to execute the wonderful work of mercy by which we are redeemed from our destructions. Wretchedness excited his pity, misery moved his mercy, and thrice blessed is he both by his God and his saints for his attentive care and wise action towards us. He still considereth us; his mercy is always in the present tense, and so let our praises be.The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The compassionate lover of the poor thought of others, and therefore God will think of him. God measures to us with our own bushel. Days of trouble come even to the most generous, and they have made the wisest provision for rainy days who have lent shelter to others when times were better with them. The promise is not that the generous saint shall have no trouble, but that he shall be preserved in it, and in due time brought out of it. How true was this of our Lord! never trouble deeper nor triumph brighter than his, and glory be to his name, he secures the ultimate victory of all his blood bought ones. Would that they all were more like him in putting on bowels of compassion to the poor. Much blessedness they miss who stint their alms. The joy of doing good, the sweet reaction of another's happiness, the approving smile of heaven upon the heart, if not upon the estate; all these the niggardly soul knows nothing of. Selfishness bears in itself a curse, it is a cancer in the heart; while liberality is happiness, and maketh fat the bones. In dark days we cannot rest upon the supposed merit of alms giving, but still the music of memory brings with it no mean solace when it tells of widows and orphans whom we have succoured, and prisoners and sick folk to whom we have ministered.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSTitle. The Syriac says, "It was a Psalm of David, when he appointed overseers to take care of the poor." Adam Clarke.Whole Psalm. A prophecy of Christ and the traitor Judas. Eusebius of Caesarea, quoted by J. M. �eale.Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. Interpreters are generally of opinion that the exercise of kindness and compassion, manifested in taking care of the miserable, and helping them, is here commended. Those, however, who maintain that the psalmist here commends the considerate candour of those who judge wisely and charitably of men in adversity, form a better judgment of his meaning. Indeed, the participle, (lksm), maskil, cannot be explained in any other way. At the same time it ought to be observed on what account it is that David declares those to be blessed who form a wise and prudent judgment concerning the afflictions by which God chastises his servants...Doubtless it happened to him as it did to the holy patriarch Job, whom his friends reckoned to be one of most wicked of men, when they saw God treating him with great severity. And certainly it is an error which is by far too common among men, to look upon those who are oppressed with afflictions as condemned and reprobate...For the most part, indeed, we often speak

rashly and indiscriminately concerning others, and, so to speak, plunge even into the lowest abyss those who labour under affliction. To restrain such a rash and unbridled spirit, David says, that they are blessed who do not suffer themselves, by speaking at random, to judge harshly of their neighbours; but discerning aright the afflictions by which they are visited, mitigate, by the wisdom of the spirit, the severe and unjust judgments to which we naturally are so prone. John Calvin.Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. As Christ considered us in our state of poverty, so ought we most attentively to consider him in his; to consider what he suffered in his own person; to discern him suffering in his poor afflicted members; and to extend to them the mercy which he extended to us. He, who was "blessed" of Jehovah, and "delivered in the evil day" by a glorious resurrection, will "bless" and "deliver" in like manner, such as for his sake, love and relieve their brethren. George Horne.Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. �ot the poor of the world in common, nor poor saints in particular, but some single poor man; for the word is in the singular number, and designs our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the last verse of the preceding Psalm, is said to be poor and needy. John Gill.Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. I call your attention to the way in which the Bible enjoins us to take up the care of the poor. It does not say in the text before us, Commiserate the poor; for, if it said no more than this, it would leave their necessities to be provided for by the random ebullitions of an impetuous and unreflecting sympathy. It provided them with a better security than the mere feeling of compassion—a feeling which, however useful to the purpose of excitement, must be controlled and regulated. Feeling is but a faint and fluctuating security. Fancy may mislead it. The sober realities of life may disgust it. Disappointment may extinguish it. Ingratitude may embitter it. Deceit, with its counterfeit representations, may allure it to the wrong object. At all events, Time is the little circle in which it in general expatiates. It needs the impression of sensible objects to sustain it; nor can it enter with zeal or with vivacity into the wants of the abstract and invisible soul. The Bible, then, instead of leaving the relief of the poor to the mere instinct of sympathy, makes it a subject for consideration —"Blessed is he that considereth the poor, "a grave and prosaic exercise, I do allow, and which makes no figure in those high wrought descriptions, where the exquisite tale of benevolence is made up of all the sensibilities of tenderness on the one hand, and of all the ecstasies of gratitude on the other. The Bible rescues the cause from the mischief to which a heedless or unthinking sensibility would expose it. It brings it under the cognisance of a higher faculty—a faculty of sturdier operation than to be weary in well doing, and of sturdier endurance than to give it up in disgust. It calls you to consider the poor. It makes the virtue of relieving them a matter of computation, as well as of sentiment, and in so doing puts you beyond the reach of the various delusions, by which you are at one time led to prefer the indulgence of pity to the substantial interest of its object; at another, are led to retire chagrined and disappointed from the scene of duty, because you have not met with the gratitude or the honesty that you laid your account with; at another, are led to expend all your anxieties upon the accommodation of time, and to overlook eternity. It is the office of consideration to save you from all these fallacies. Under its tutorage attention to the wants of the poor ripens into principle...

It must be obvious to all of you, that it is not enough that you give money, and add your name to the contributions of charity. You must give it with judgment. You must give your time and your attention. You must descend to the trouble of examination. You must rise from the repose of contemplation, and make yourself acquainted with the object of your benevolent exercises...To give money is not to do all the work and labour of benevolence. You must go to the poor man's sick bed. You must lend your hand to the work of assistance. This is true and unsophisticated goodness. It may be recorded in no earthly documents; but, if done under the influence of Christian principle, in a word, if done unto Jesus, it is written in the book of heaven, and will give a new lustre to that crown to which his disciples look forward in time, and will wear through eternity. From a Sermon preached before the Society for Relief of the Destitute Sick, in St. Andrew's Church, Edinburgh, by Thomas Chalmers, D.D. and L.L.D. (1780-1847.)Ver. 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor. A Piedmontese nobleman into whose company I fell, at Turin, told me the following story: "I was weary of life, and after a day such as few have known, and none would wish to remember, was hurrying along the street to the river, when I felt a sudden check, I turned and beheld a little boy, who had caught the skirt of my cloak in his anxiety to solicit my notice. His look and manner were irresistible. �o less so was the lesson he had learnt—`There are six of us, and we are dying for want of food.' `Why should I not, 'said I, to myself, `relieve this wretched family? I have the means, and it will not delay me many minutes. But what if it does?' The scene of misery he conducted me to I cannot describe. I threw them my purse, and their burst of gratitude overcame me. It filled my eyes, it went as a cordial to my heart. `I will call again tomorrow, 'I cried. `Fool that I was to think of leaving a world where such pleasure was to be had, and so cheaply!'" Samuel Rogers (1763-1855) in "Italy."Ver. 1. He that considereth the poor: —An ardent spirit dwells with Christian love,The eagle's vigour in the pitying dove.It is not enough that we with sorrow sigh,That we the wants of pleading man supply,That we in sympathy with sufferers feel,�or hear a grief without a wish to heal:�ot these suffice—to sickness, pain, and woe,The Christian spirit loves with aid to go:Will not be sought, waits not for want to plead,But seeks the duty—nay, prevents the need;Her utmost aid to every ill applies,And plants relief for coming miseries. George Crabbe, 1754-1832.Ver. 1. How foolish are they that fear to lose their wealth by giving it, and fear not to lose themselves by keeping it! He that lays up his gold may be a good jailer, but he that lays it out is a good steward. Merchants traffic thither with a commodity where it is precious in regard of scarcity. We do not buy wines in England to carry them to France, spices in France to carry them to the Indies; so for labour and work, repentance and mortification, there is none of them in heaven, there is peace and glory, and the favour of God indeed. A merchant without his commodity hath but a sorry welcome. God will ask men that arrive at heaven's gates, ubi opera?

Revelation 22:12. His reward shall be according to our works. Thou hast riches here, and here be objects that need thy riches—the poor; in heaven there are riches enough but no poor, therefore, by faith in Christ make over to them thy moneys in this world, that by bill of exchange thou mayest receive it in the world to come; that only you carry with you which you send before you. Do good while it is in your power; relieve the oppressed, succour the fatherless, while your estates are your own; when you are dead your riches belong to others. One light carried before a man is more serviceable than twenty carried after him. In your compassion to the distressed, or for pious uses, let your hands be your executors, and your eyes your overseers. Francis Raworth, Teacher to the Church at Shore-ditch, in a Funeral Sermon, 1656.Ver. 1,3. It is a blessed thing to receive when a man hath need; but it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive. Blessed (saith the prophet David) is he that considereth the poor. What? to say, alas, poor man! the world is hard with him, I would there were a course taken to do him good? �o, no; but to so consider him as to give; to give till the poor man be satisfied, to draw out one's sheaf, aye, one's very soul to the hungry. But what if troubles should come? were it not better to keep money by one? Money will not deliver one. It may be an occasion to endanger one, to bring one into, rather than help one out of trouble; but if a man be a merciful man, God will deliver him, either by himself, or by some other man or matter. Aye, but what if sickness come? Why, the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; and, which is a great ease and kindness; God, as it were, himself will make all his bed in his sickness. Here poor people have the advantage: such must not say, Alas, I am a poor woman, what work of mercy can I do? for they are they who best can make the beds of sick folk, which we see is a great act of mercy, in that it is said, that the Lord himself will make their bed in their sickness. And there are none so poor, but they may make the beds of the sick. Richard Capel.Ver. 1,5. He that considereth. Mine enemies. Strigelius has observed, there is a perpetual antithesis in this Psalm between the few who have a due regard to the poor in spirit, and the many who afflict or desert them. W. Wilson, D.D.HI�TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHERVer. 1. (first clause). The incidental blessings resulting from considering the pious poor.1. We learn gratitude.2. We see patience.3. We often remark the triumphs of great grace.4. We obtain light on Christian experience.5. We have their prayers.6. We feel the pleasure of beneficence.7. We enter into communion with the lowly Saviour.Ver. 1. The support of the Small pox Hospitals recommended. Bishop Squire, 1760. Scores of sermons of this kind have been preached from this text.WORK UPO� THE FORTY-FIRST PSALM"David's Evidence; or, the Assurance of God's Love: declared in seven Sermons upon the three last verses of the Forty-first Psalme. By WILLIAM BURTO�. Minister of the Word at Reading in Berkshire ...1602." 4to.The ancient Rabbins saw in the Five Books of the Psalter the image of the Five

Books of the Law. This way of looking at the Psalms as a second Pentateuch, the echo of the first, passed over into the Christian church, and found favour with some early fathers. It has commended itself to the acceptance of good recent expositors, like Dr. Delitzsch, who calls the Psalter "the congregation's five fold word to the Lord, even as the Thora (the Law) is the Lord's five fold word to the Congregation." This mat be mere fancy, but its existence from ancient times shows that the five fold division attracted early notice. William Binnie, D.D.God presented Israel with the Law, a Pentateuch, and grateful Israel responded with s Psalter, a Pentateuch of praise, in acknowledgment of the divine gift. J. L. K.HERE E�DETH THE FIRST BOOK OF THE PSALMS

COFFMA�, "A PRAYER FOR DELIVERA�CE

The title selected here is that assigned by Halley, who also agreed with the superscription, assigning the psalm to David, and identifying the occasion as an illness of David that gave the opportunity for the flowering of Absalom's rebellion.[1]

This psalm concludes Book I of the Psalter, according to the common classification. It is the Hebrew method that divides the Psalter into five books, thus making another Pentateuch out of it. Some scholars, however, make the division as three books, instead of five.

This psalm is remarkably balanced and regular with four stanzas, each having three lines, concluded by Psalms 41:13, which is actually the Doxology marking the end of Book I. It is not considered part of the psalm itself.

We appreciate the judgment of Leupold, who rejected the critical device of interpreting many of the psalms as `liturgical,' and thus eliminating the personal element. "We have serious misgivings about this approach,"[2] he wrote, pointing out that similar literature from Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian and Ugarit sources, usually considered as liturgical, "Does not warrant casting many Psalms into the same molds."[3] Dahood's commentary on the Anchor Bible is a type of the interpretations Leupold rejected.

Psalms 41:1-3

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor:

Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.

Jehovah will preserve him and keep him alive,

And he shall be blessed upon the earth;

And deliver not thou him unto the will of his enemies.

Jehovah will support him upon the couch of languishing:

Thou makest all his bed in his sickness."

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor" (Psalms 41:1). "This corresponds with `Blessed are the merciful' from the Sermon on the Mount. Such a person is preserved, blessed and strengthened by God. The psalmist here recognizes himself as an illustration of his case in point."[4]

"Deliver not ... to the will of his enemies" (Psalms 41:2). There is a confidence here, "That the wicked hopes of his enemies shall be confounded by actual events."[5]

"Upon the couch of languishing" (Psalms 41:3). This is an obvious reference to illness; and it is quite obvious that the Bible gives us no information whatever about any such serious illness that might have afflicted David.

"However, if we place this psalm in the times of the rebellion of Absalom, it fits exceptionally well. "The bosom friend" (Psalms 41:9) could well be Ahithophel; and David's illness would have led to David's omission of many duties as charged by Absalom (2 Samuel 15:2-6)."[6]

COKE, "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Title. לדוד מזמור למנצח lamnatseach mizmor ledavid.— The ground of this psalm is the same with that of the 38th and 39th. The author labours under some illness. He complains of the insult and treachery of his enemies, and of one in particular: he prays to be relieved, and accordingly is relieved. This mercy of God to him, he seems to attribute in the first three verses to his own compassion for the afflicted. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that this psalm was written by David after his sickness, when Absalom conspired against him. There is no doubt (says he) but the king, who, as we suppose, discovered the conspiracy in his sickness, took immediate measures to defeat it, as soon as he found himself recovering: �or is it improbable that he dissembled his recovery as long as he could, to prevent the effects of his son's ambition and impetuosity; who appears sufficiently from this psalm to have been determined upon his father's destruction, and fully resolved to out-do the malignity of his disease, and cut him off, if that should spare him; for those, I am satisfied, are Absalom's own words, recorded by David in the 8th verse, And now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more. It must doubtless have been matter of great surprise, and inexpressible affliction, to David, to find the two men in the world, whom he seems to have loved and most confided in, combining against him, and compassing his death. Absalom and Achitophel, his son and his counsellor: both of these are, as I apprehend, clearly characterised in this psalm: the vanity and lying spirit of Absalom in the 6th verse, and the treachery of Achitophel in the 9th, where we have a complaint, not only of trust betrayed, but of the rights of hospitality violated. The man who did this had eaten of his bread. In this exigency David had recourse, as

usual, to the divine mercy and protection, Psalms 41:10 and finding their devices so far defeated as not to terminate in his immediate destruction, he gradually gathered hope and confidence from that delay; which he quickly perceived not to have arisen from any abatement of their malignity, but from the interposition of providence in his behalf, Psalms 41:11-12. If it be urged, that all this is only a comment upon a psalm, not grounded upon any historical relation; I answer, that the psalm itself is plainly historical; is confessedly written by David, and personally applied to himself; and consequently must refer to some circumstances of his life: It can refer to no other but this; and when applied to this gives, as I conceive, new light to the sacred historian's account of Absalom's rebellion. See Life of David, b. i. c. 8. I would only observe, that, supposing the truth of this application, David may properly be considered here as the type of Christ, and Achitophel of Judas; in which view the whole may be applied to our Saviour, who has led us to this application, by referring one verse of it to himself. See John 13:18.

ELLICOTT, "Recalling the treachery of some pretended friends, the writer in this psalm pronounces, in contrast, a eulogy on those who know how to feel for and show compassion to the suffering. There is nothing, however, to indicate who the author was, or what particular incidents induced him to write. Possibly the sickness is entirely figurative, and the psalm is the expression of the feelings of the community of pious Israelites.

The doxology in Psalms 41:13 does not belong to the psalm, but closes the first book of the collection. (See General Introduction.) The parallelism is very imperfect.

Verse 1(1) Blessed is he.—This general statement of the great law of sympathy and benevolence—fine and noble however we take it—may be explained in different ways, according as we take the Hebrew word dal as poor, with the LXX. and Vulg. (comp. Exodus 30:15), or with the margin, as sick, weak in body (comp. Genesis 41:19), or give it an ethical sense, sick at heart. (Comp. 2 Samuel 13:4.) The context favours one of the two latter, and the choice between them depends on whether we take the author’s sickness to be real or figurative. Psalms 41:3 strongly favours the view that the sickness is physical.

Considereth.—The Hebrew word implies wise as well as kindly consideration. So LXX. and Vulg., “he that understands.”

BE�SO�, "Psalms 41:1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor — Or, poor man; that conducts himself wisely and prudently toward him; as משכיל, maschil, properly signifies, that does not rashly and foolishly censure and condemn him, much less insult over him, but considers his case with prudence and tenderness, remembering it may be his own, and therefore pities and helps him; and thus takes the likeliest way to obtain similar pity for himself when in trouble. But the word דל dal, here rendered the poor, means the weak, sick, or languishing person, as appears by comparing this with Psalms 41:3, where the mercy which he is supposed to have

afforded to him is returned to himself, and with Psalms 41:8. To conduct ourselves wisely toward such, is to take cognizance of their wants and miseries; to sympathize with them, and judge charitably concerning them; to pity and relieve them according to our power, or to take measures to provide for their relief. The Lord will deliver him — The poor afflicted man. Though his enemies conclude his case to be desperate, Psalms 41:8, God will confute them and deliver him. Or, rather, the considerer of the poor, the person that visits and relieves him. And so it is a promise of recompense. The wise and merciful man shall find mercy.

PETT, "Verses 1-3Blessing Is Pronounced On The One Who Considers The Sick King In His Illness, And A Prayer Is Made For The Deliverance And Recovery Of The Sick King (Psalms 41:1-3).

Psalms 41:1-3

‘Blessed is he who considers the weak,YHWH will deliver him in the day of evil.YHWH will preserve him,And will keep him alive,And he will be blessed on the earth.And do not deliver him to the will of his enemies.YHWH will support him on the couch of languishing,You have turned his lying down in his sickness.’This first section of the book of Psalms commenced with a declaration of blessedness, on those who meditate in God’s Instruction day and night, and here it ends with a description of the blessedness of those who give consideration to the weak. We may think in terms of, ‘blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy’ (Matthew 5:7).

That David sees himself as one of the weak and needy has already come out in Psalms 40:17, so that in the first instance it is David who is in mind. He was clearly going through a severe illness, severe enough for his enemies to hope that it would bring about his end.

God’s blessing on those who consider the weak and helpless is considered to be threefold:

· He will deliver him in the day of evil so that he might escape the worst of that evil, in the same way as he himself seeks to deliver the weak and helpless from evil.· He will preserve him and keep him alive, just as he seeks to keep alive the weak and helpless.· Such a one will be blessed on the earth, because he has been a blessing.‘And do not deliver him to the will of his enemies. YHWH will support him on the couch of languishing. You have turned his lying down in his sickness.’ This may be seen as continuing the thought of the first line (with lines 2-5 being seen as an

interjection), thus being a prayer for the weak and helpless that he might not be delivered to the will of his enemies, and confidently asserting YHWH’s support for him on his sick bed, and declaring that the illness has turned so that he will soon now recover from his sickness. Or the sixth line may be seen as a prayer for the one being blessed, and a request that he too might be helped when he is ill.

Thus we have here a prayer of gratitude for the aid provided to a person in their illness by those who have their interests at heart, which includes the desire that they might be blessed. Such people were very important in David’s case because they were maintaining the kingdom and keeping his throne safe.

BI, 1-13, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

The Psalmist’s affliction

The central mass of this psalm describes the singer as suffering from two evils: sickness and treacherous friends. This situation naturally leads up to the prayer and confidence of the closing strophe (Psa_41:10-12). But its connection with the introductory verses (1-3) is less plain. A statement of the blessings ensured to the compassionate seems a singular introduction to the psalmist’s pathetic exhibition of his sorrows. It is to be observed, however, that the two points of the psalmist’s affliction are the two from which escape is assured to the compassionate, who shall not be “delivered to the desire of his enemies,” and shall be supported and healed in sickness. Probably, therefore, the general promises of Psa_41:1-3 are silently applied by the psalmist to himself; and he is comforting his own sorrow with the assurance which in his humility he casts into impersonal form. He has been merciful, and believes, though things look dark, that he will obtain mercy. There is probably also an intentional contrast with the cruel exacerbation of his sufferings by uncompassionate companions, which has rubbed salt into his wounds. He has a double consciousness in these opening verses, inasmuch as he partly thinks of himself as the compassionate man and partly as the “weak” one who is compassionated. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The right and wrong treatment of the afflicted

I. The right treatment of the afflicted.

1. Its nature. To consider the poor, in a scriptural and true sense, is—

(1) To honour their nature as men.

(2) To promote their rights as citizens.

(3) To alleviate their woes as sufferers.

(4) To appreciate their work as servants.

Poor though they be, they are children of the same great Father, and endowed with the high attribute of moral intelligence. Poor though they be, they have their rights as citizens of the same state, and they have done more to help on the world than any other class of men. They work our mines, construct our fleets, build our cities, fight our

battles, write some of our best books, and invent many of the most useful and ornamental arts.

2. The happiness of the right treatment.

(1) “Blessed is he that considereth the poor.” Such a man is blessed in the service he renders. The exercise of benevolence is the source of our chiefest joy. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

(2) But the writer specifies certain advantages which are bestowed in addition to this (Psa_41:1-3).

II. The wrong treatment of the afflicted (Psa_41:4-13). Under this ill-treatment—

1. He had a consciousness of his own sins (Psa_41:4).

(1) Great afflictions often awakes a sense of sin.

(2) Under a consciousness of his own sins he appeals for mercy. “Lord, be merciful unto me.”

2. He deeply felt the wicked conduct of his enemies (Psa_41:5-9).

(1) They desired his death.

(2) They plot his ruin.

3. He directs his heart to the great God (Psa_41:10-13).

(1) He prays.

(2) He confesses.

(3) He worships. It is well when all our trials and varied experiences end thus. (Homilist.)

The blessedness of considering the case of the poor

There is an evident want of congeniality between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the Christian. Now, so long as this wisdom has for its object some secular advantage, I yield it an unqualified reverence. If in private life a man be wise in the management of his farm, or his fortune, or his family; or if in public life he have wisdom to steer an empire through all its difficulties, and to carry it to aggrandizement and renown—the respect which I feel for such wisdom as this is most cordial and entire, and supported by the universal acknowledgment of all whom I call to attend to it. Let me now suppose that this wisdom has changed its object—that the man whom I am representing go exemplify this respectable attribute, instead of being wise for time, is wise for eternity—that he labours by the faith and sanctification of the Gospel for unperishable honours—what becomes of your respect for him now? Are there not some of you who are quite sensible that this respect is greatly impaired, since the wisdom of the man has taken so unaccountable a change in its object and in its direction? Men do not respect a wisdom which they-do not comprehend. They may love the innocence of a decidedly religious character, but they do not much, if at all, venerate its wisdom. The things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to the natural man. And all that has now been said of wisdom is applicable, with almost no variation, to another attribute of the human character, and which I would call “lovely.” I mean—benevolence. But that which the world admires, and that which is truly Christian, are vastly different. The benevolence of

the world—with its poetical sentiment—the Christian may not understand; that of the Christian, with its self-denial and enduring of “hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” the world does not understand. It is positively nauseated by the poetical amateur. And the contrast does not stop here. The benevolence of the Gospel is not only at antipodes with that of the visionary sons and daughters of poetry, but it even varies in some of its most distinguishing features from the experimental benevolence of real and familiar life. The fantastic benevolence of poetry is now indeed pretty well exploded; and in the more popular works of the age there is a benevolence of a far truer and more substantial kind substituted in its place—the benevolence which you meet with among men of business and observation—the benevolence which bustles and finds employment among the most public and ordinary scenes; and which seeks for objects, not where the flower blows loveliest, and the stream, with its gentle murmurs, falls sweetest on the ear; but finds them in its every-day walks, goes in quest of them through the heart of the great city, and is not afraid to meet them in its most putrid lanes and loathsome receptacles. Now, it must be acknowledged that this benevolence is of a far more respectable kind than poetic sensibility, which is of no use because it admits of no application. Yet I am not afraid to say, that, respectable as it is, it does not come up to the benevolence of the Christian; and is at variance, in some of its most capital ingredients, with the morality of the Gospel. For time, and the accommodations of time, form all its subject, and all its exercise, lit labours, and often with success, to provide for its object a warm and a well-sheltered tenement; but it looks not beyond the few little years when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, when the soul shall be driven from its perishable tenement, and the only benevolence it will need will be that of those who have directed it heavenwards. The one minds earthly things, the other has its conversation in heaven. That which is the chief motive in the heart of the worldly philanthropist are but mere accessories in the heart of the Christian. All will applaud the benevolence of a Howard, but only the Christian will feel enthusiasm for the apostleship of Paul, who in the sublimer sense accomplished the liberty of the captive and brought them that sat in darkness out of the prison house. And hence it is that notwithstanding missionary zeal has ever been the pioneer for civilization, yet because the missionary labours for the eternal salvation of the heathen, the cry of fanaticism is raised against them, and they are regarded by men of the world with prejudice and disgust. Therefore we are to note the way in which the Bible enjoins us to consider the poor. Our text does not say, Commiserate the poor, for if it said only this it would leave them to the precarious provision of mere impulsive sympathy. Feeling is but a faint and fluctuating security. Fancy may mislead it. The sober realities of life may disgust it. Disappointment may extinguish it. Ingratitude may embitter it. Deceit, with its counterfeit representations, may allure it to the wrong object. The Bible, then, instead of leaving the relief of the poor to the mere instinct of sympathy, makes it a subject for consideration—Blessed is he that considereth the poor—a grave and prosaic exercise I do allow, and which makes no figure in those high-wrought descriptions, where the exquisite tale of benevolence is made up of all the sensibilities of tenderness on the one hand, and of all the ecstasies of gratitude on the other. But the poor have souls and need to be saved, and all benevolence, however necessary and praiseworthy, that ignores this deepest need, is but partial and incomplete. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)

The duty of considering the poor

It requires wisdom to understand the constitution of things, but the more a man understands the more he will approve. The inequalities of mankind, and the consequent

state and condition of the poor, is one of those subjects which most of all perplex the mind. Such inequality is an undoubted fact, and has ever and everywhere been so. But when a good man beholds this, and sees his own affluence and the other’s indigence, he will reason that the Divine intent was that he should supply his brother’s need. The inequality of nature should be rectified by religion. Now, let the rich think that what they give to the poor is thrown away, or given to them who can make no return. For to the poor, under God, the rich owe all their wealth. They are the workers and producers of the wealth which the rich only consume. Is society composed only of the noble and opulent? Did you ever hear, or read, of one that was so composed? It could not subsist for a week. As the members of it would not work, they could not eat. Of what value were your estates in the country, if the poor did not cultivate them? Of what account the riches of the nobleman, or the gentleman, if they must want the comforts, the conveniences, and even the necessaries of life? “The king himself is served by the field;” and, without the labours of the husbandman, must starve in his palace, surrounded by his courtiers and guards. The world depends, for subsistence, on the plough, the sickle, and the flail! Mankind, in short, constitute one vast body, to the support of which every member contributes his share; and by all of them together, as by so many greater and lesser wheels in a machine, the business of the public is carried on, its necessities are served, and its very existence is upholden. From hence it appears that the inequality of mankind is not the effect of chance, but the ordinance of Heaven, by whose appointment, as manifested in the constitution of the universe, some must command, while others obey; some must labour, while others direct their labours; some must be rich, while others are poor. The Scripture inculcates the same important truth, and the inference to be deduced from it—“The poor shall never cease,” etc. (Deu_15:11). Such is the method directed by Heaven of balancing the account between the different orders of men. What, then, will be the first consideration of a rich man when he sees a poor man? If he have a clear head, and a good heart, will he not reason in some such manner as this?” God has given the earth for the support of all. While I abound, why does this man want? Plainly, that we may bear one another’s burdens; that my abundance may supply his need, may alleviate his distress, may help to sustain the affliction under which he groans: that I may take off his load of woe, and he take off the superfluity of my wealth; that so the stream, now broken and turbid, may again find its level, and flow pure and tranquil. If I do not act thus, may not the poor justly complain, and would not the fault be mine?” And if the rich man refuse to help the poor, it is but natural to ask whence came this inequality? It was not from the rich man’s merit or the poet’s demerit. It has been permitted that the poor may learn resignation, and the rich be taught charity, and the right employment of the good things vouchsafed to them. “It is more blessed to give than to receive;” let the rich remember this, and the end of their being made rich is answered. And let the rich man remember, too, that had it pleased God, he would have been poor, and it may please Him that he shall he so. He then will need that which now he is recommended to give. Such changes do occur. But whether in your case they do or not, if your riches do not leave you, yet in a little while you must leave them. Death waits to strip you of them all. They wilt only avail you then as you have employed them well now. In the Gospel we must seek full information as to this duty. Our blessed Lord became poor to make us rich, and has thus for ever obliged us to consider the poor. But how are we to obey these precepts? Let charity rule in the heart, and it will not need to be told how much it should give. But for rules take these:—

1. Let each lay aside a due proportion of his income for charities.

2. Practise economy with a view to charity; retrench expenditure on luxury and indulgence for this end.

3. Then, in giving, give work rather than money where the poor would work if they could. Where they would not, let them be made to work. Such is true kindness to them. (G. Horns.)

Considering the poor

When God commends us, or encourages us to consider the poor and needy, He commands and encourages us to do that for our fellow-creatures which we, as poor and needy dependants on His bounty, ask Him to do for us. He was not satisfied with death and the cross only, but He took up with becoming poor also, and a stranger, and a beggar, and naked, and with being thrown into prison, and undergoing sickness, that so, at least, He might call thee off [from covetousness]. If thou wilt not requite Me (He says) as having suffered for thee, show mercy on Me for My poverty; and if thou art not minded to pity Me for My poverty, do for My disease be moved, and for My imprisonment be softened. And if even these things make thee not charitable, for the easiness of the request comply with Me; for it is no costly gift I ask, but bread and lodging, and words of comfort. But if even after this thou still continuest unsubdued, still, for the kingdom’s sake, be improved for the rewards which I have promised. Hast thou, then, no regard even for these? Yet still, for very nature’s sake, be softened at seeing Me naked; and remember that nakedness wherewith I was naked on the cross for thee; or if not this, yet that wherewith I am now naked through the poor . . . I fasted for thee; again I am hungry for thee . . . of thee, that owest Me the requital of benefits without number, I make not request as of one that oweth, but crown thee as one that favoureth Me, and a kingdom do I give thee for these small things . . . I delivered thee from most galling bonds; but for me it is quite enough if thou wilt but visit me when in prison. (Chrysostom.)

They, then, who even in out poor, low way, are conformed, or beginning to be conformed, to God’s mind in considering—that is, in searching out, compassionating, and relieving—distress have that in them which must be the source of blessedness, because they have that in them which is the source of happiness (I speak, of course, after the manner of men) to the Divine Mind; for God rejoices over His works. He rejoices in diffusing life and happiness; and when one province of His fair creation became marred and ruined by sin, and He extended mercy to it, then He delighted in that mercy. We then when, notwithstanding miserable deficiencies and shortcomings, we compassionate those in distress, and relieve their wants, even here enter somewhat into the very joy of God. And there is no Christian grace to the exercise of which God has in His Word so frequently or so emphatically promised a reward in the world to come. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)

On Christian care for the poor

Judaism stood alone among ancient religions, Christianity stands alone among modern, in the inculcation of earnest, solemn, anxious consideration for the poor. And for the same reason. They both try to look on the world as the God who made it looks on it, and to share the burden of its want and its woe which is pressing on His heart. In nothing is the unity of Scripture more beautiful, more conspicuous, than in this great thought about the poor. Perhaps it is the grandest evidence of its inspiration. Christ deemed it

the crowning glory of His kingdom (Mat_11:5).

I. The motive to consideration of the poor. I do not mean the reasons—they are abundant, but the motive. For the reasons and the motive power are, alas! widely different. The reasons are abundant for upright, godly conduct. A man is tempted to selfish, sensual, knavish action. There are ten thousand reasons why he should forbear, not one why he should yield. Every drop of his blood, every beat of his heart, every fibre of his nerve, could it speak, would cry out against it. His whole being, body, soul, and spirit, is against it. The whole structure of the universe is against it. God’s face, God’s hand, are against it. But he does it and faces it all. So here the reason is one thing; the power which makes the reason effective, which touches, moves, compels the conduct, is from a yet deeper spring. The fundamental element in the motive to care for the poor, is the revelation that the poor are the care of God. However man came to it, he has come to a god-like nature. The strongest influence which you can bring to bear on him is the revelation of the mind of God. There is something in him which moves him to imitation. The child’s nature and passion, the cry of his spirit, Father, Father, tends to take shape in acts sympathetic with God.

II. The kind of consideration demanded.

1. Set plainly before the mind’s eye the terrible inequalities of gifts, possessions, culture, advantages, and all that makes the outward joy of life. We like to escape from it. The blessing is for the man who faces it; who in his comfortable home, with art, music, dress, amusement, luxurious appliances, carriages, and food, will set before his face the life of the millions to whom all this is as far off as the stars. Who will think of the laundress shut up in a hot, fetid room, standing over a tub or an ironing-board, four or five young children clinging round her, and one ill up-stairs; but who dares not stop, who must work on lest they starve. Or poor parents watching a fair child dear to them as yours to you, and pining daily for the nourishing food and sea air, but which they are utterly unable to give. The man who considers the poor will keep this in sight while he enjoys God’s blessings.

2. He will not believe that God meant life to be anything like this. The heathen says that this is God’s ordinance, and it is impious to interfere. But the Christian is quite sure God meant nothing like this.

3. He will say, It is a solemn part of my duty to mend it. God leaves it with us, not because He does not care, but because He cares so intensely. He will have us see to it. It is society’s most pressing, most sacred, most blessed work, to consider the poor; to be always meditating, planning, and working at what aims at the extinction of the bitterness of poverty from the world. It is not mere giving. Some do most who give nothing, who have nothing to give. It is the mind and the heart to think and to care which first need to be cultivated; the feeling that it is base and selfish to enjoy our advantages, comforts, and luxuries, while we abstain from systematic thoughtful effort to bridge over the chasm which separates the classes, and to make less bitter the lot of the poor.

III. The blessing in which it fruits. “He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord.” Many may feel that this is a far-away matter—The Lord will repay. They see nothing tangible here; brave words, no more. To me it seems the reality of realities. I see something very intangible in the best of worldly securities; who is to secure them? While this is real, solid, enduring, as the order of the world.

1. The blessing lies hid in the order of the world. God has made man and the world so that this mind shall be blessed. All men honour, love, and cherish it. It draws forth

the best elements of every nature, the sunny side of every heart.

2. The blessing lies deeper and closer, in a warm glow of living joy in his own heart. It is the soul’s health, this care for need. There is the glow of health in the soul of the man who cherishes it, which is incomparable with any other sensation; it is the pure joy of life.

3. Deeper still, it lies in the heart and the hand of God. God loves that man, and counts him His friend. God watches that man, and assures his life. In moments of crisis and strain it is as if a Hand came out of the invisible to clasp and upbear him—the Hand which will one day lift him out of the shades of death to that world where he shall hear the welcome, “Come, thou blessed of my Father,” etc. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)

Benevolence

This the most prominent characteristic of our religion.

I. The duty of considering the poor. It must be performed on Christian principles. Not as did the Pharisees, “to be seen of men.” There are several kinds of poor. Inquire, therefore, what it is to consider the poor. It implies sympathy with them; that we should, if possible, visit them; that we should relieve them; that we should seek to do good to their souls.

II. The privilege of considering the poor. All duty is privilege, for all God requires us to do is for our advantage. God’s blessing attends the considering of the poor. “The Lord will preserve him in the day of trouble.” See this in the history of Job. (Joseph Entwistle.)

Considering the poor

Poverty is a large word, and requires a large definition. Sickness, weakness, fear, sense of helplessness, sense of desolation—all these may be brought under the definition of poverty. Some men are poor mentally, needing continual suggestion, direction, and recruital of mind. Want of money is the most superficial kind of poverty. It is by no means to be neglected either by the individual or by the state, because through want of money men often perish through lack of other things. When money is taken thus typically, then pennilessness becomes a manifold disorder and weakness. The word rendered “considereth” implies a kindliness of consideration. It is not only a statistical or economical view of social circumstances, it is also a direct and earnest exercise of the heart. The word may also be rendered “he that understands.” We cannot understand the poor simply as an intellectual study. No man understands hunger who has not been hungry. There are dictionary interpretations of words which help us but a short way towards their true comprehension. Think of turning to the dictionary to find the meaning of poverty, hunger, sorrow, death! All the words may be neatly and clearly defined in terms, but to understand any one of them we must pass through the experience which it indicates. The blessings of the Bible are always poured upon good-doing. (J. Parker.)

The sick and needy (for Hospital Sunday)

1. It is urged that free hospitals for the sick poor are not an unmixed good. The same may be said of every existing human institution. Were we to wait for perfection before we would give our support to any philanthropic scheme, philanthropy would die out entirely from the hearts of men from lack of worthy objects. While occasional and substantial help is a great blessing, and one which neither the receiver nor the giver can well spare without loss of pure emotion and without poverty of soul, too much help, or help too readily obtainable, is a great injury, inasmuch as it undermines manliness and self-reliance, destroys that vigour of independence which all toilers in every rank ought to cultivate, and often creates the poverty and misery it is intended to cure. The change cannot be wrought in a day or a year, or in hardly less than a score of years. It must be gradual. Many of the present generation are incurable, their inveterate pauperism cannot be shaken off. It is to the next generation that we must look for a better state of things. The sick and needy will still be at our doors, for many a year to come; men, women and children will still be helpless and perish if we withhold our pity and relief. While poverty lasts we must keep our manhood, our brotherly sympathy, our tender compassion, and by the agency of our splendid hospitals earn the cheap honour of helping to provide for the sick and needy.

2. The second objection is that the money raised is not distributed as equitably as it should be. Still, assuming this, I ask on what reasonable, just, or humane, grounds will you withhold your help from the fund because some of it is misappropriated? Is it reasonable to cripple the healing resources of ten persons who need your help, simply because one person has received help which he did not so much need? Is it just to punish the deserving hospitals for the undeserving?

3. The third objection is that persons avail themselves of hospital relief who have no right to the benefit. Of this deplorable fact there can be no doubt. The out-patients’ room at the hospital is crowded by persons who can well afford to pay for medical and surgical attendance. Is this abuse of the hospitals a valid objection to our giving them all our support? I venture to say it is not. To destroy a precious and useful thing because some one puts it to a wrong use, or because it has fallen into illegitimate hands, is a manifest folly. If the liberal subscribers to the Hospital Fund were to hand in along with their subscriptions a vigorous protest against the indiscriminate reception of applicants for relief, the abuse would soon be abated, and in time altogether disappear. But not to give is to forfeit your right to be heard; not to support the hospitals is to put yourself out of court and disqualify you from giving evidence. (C. Voysey.)

Practical sympathy: pity shown more by deeds than words

A respectable merchant of London having become embarrassed in his circumstances, and his misfortunes being one day the subject of conversation in the Royal Exchange, several persons expressed the great sympathy they felt for him; whereupon a Quaker who was present said, “I feel five hundred pounds for him, what do you feel?”

The blessedness of the benevolent

“Where is heaven?” asked a wealthy Christian of his minister. “I will tell you where it is,” was the quick reply: “if you will go to the store, and buy £10 worth of provisions and necessaries, and take them to that poor widow on the hillside, who has three of her

children sick. She is poor, and a member of the Church. Take a nurse and some one to cook the food. When you get there, read the twenty-third Psalm, and kneel by her side and pray. Then you will find out where heaven is.”

A despiser of the poor reproved

An eminent surgeon was one day sent for by the Cardinal du Bois, Prime Minister of France, to perform a very serious operation upon him. The Cardinal, on seeing him enter the room, said to him, “You must not expect to treat me in the same rough manner that you treat the more miserable wretches at your hospital.” “My lord,” replied the surgeon, with great dignity, “every one of those miserable wretches, as your eminence is pleased to call them, is a Prime Minister in my eyes, for each is one of God’s poor.”

2 The Lord protects and preserves them— they are counted among the blessed in the land— he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.

BAR�ES, "The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive - This is a farther statement of the same principle, and it refers to a general, not a universal rule in the divine administration, that acts of piety will be partially rewarded on the earth; or that the divine favor will be shown to those who deal kindly with others. This principle is often referred to in the Scriptures. See Psa_1:3, note; Psa_37:3-4, note; Psa_37:11, note; Psa_37:23-26, note; Psa_37:37, note; compare Mat_5:5; 1Ti_4:8. The par ticular application here is, that if any one showed kindness to him that was sick or enfeebled by disease, he might expect that God would interpose in his case under similar circumstances, and would “preserve” him, or “keep him alive.” Of course this is to be regarded as a statement made under the general principle. It is not to be interpreted as teaching that this would be universally true, or that he who did this would never die, but the meaning is, that he might look for special divine aid and favor, when he in turn should be sick.

And he shall be blessed upon the earth - This is in accordance with the doctrine noticed above, and so often referred to in the Psalms and elsewhere, that the effect of religion will be to promote happiness and prosperity in this life.

And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies - Margin: “Do not thou deliver.” The margin, perhaps, expresses most correctly the sense of the original, but still it is an expression of the confident belief of the psalmist that this will not occur; a belief expressed here rather in the form of a prayer than of a direct assertion. The idea is, that he would find God to be a defender and a helper when he was attacked by his foes.

CLARKE, "The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive - It is worthy of remark, that benevolent persons, who consider the poor, and especially the sick poor; who search cellars, garrets, back lanes, and such abodes of misery, to find them out, (even in the places where contagion keeps its seat), very seldom fall a prey to their own benevolence. The Lord, in an especial manner, keeps them alive, and preserves them; while many, who endeavor to keep far from the contagion, are assailed by it, and fall victims to it. God loves the merciful man.

GILL, "The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,.... Amidst a thousand deaths, to which he is exposed for making a profession of his faith in Christ; see 2Co_1:10; or this may refer to his spiritual life, which is hid and preserved in Christ, in whom he believes; and is safe and secure; because Christ lives he shall live also, and shall never die the second death, nor be hurt by it, but shall have everlasting life;

and he shall be blessed upon the earth; with temporal blessings; for whatever he has, be it more or less, he has it with the blessing of God, and as a blessing of the covenant, and in love, and so is a blessing indeed: and with spiritual blessings; with peace, pardon, righteousness, and a right and title to eternal glory and happiness; and he will be blessed in the new earth, in which righteousness will dwell, and where he will dwell, live, and reign with Christ a thousand years;

and thou wilt not deliver him into the will of his enemies; not into the will of Satan, that roaring lion who would devour him if he might; nor of wicked men, and furious persecutors, whose wrath the Lord makes to praise him; and the remainder of it is restrained by him; some read these words as a prayer, "do not thou deliver him", &c. see Psa_27:12; so Pagninus, Montanus, Junius and Tremellius, Ainsworth, and others.

JAMISO�, "shall be blessed — literally, “led aright,” or “safely,” prospered (Psa_23:3).

upon the earth — or land of promise (Psa_25:13; Psa_27:3-9, etc.).

CALVI�,"2.Jehovah will keep him, and preserve him in life. Here David follows out the same sentiment expressed in the preceding verse, when he says that the Lord will keep the afflicted, whose destruction cruel and unjust men represent as inevitable. It is likewise necessary always to bear in mind the contrast which is stated between the day of evil and the blessing of deliverance. In this verse the expressions denoting restoration to life, and blessedness on the earth, are of similar import. By these

expressions, David means to show that although he had been to all appearance a dead man, yet the hope of life both for himself and for all the faithful had not been extinguished. There might, it is true, appear some inconsistency in his promising himself a happy life in this world, seeing our condition here would be miserable indeed if we had not the expectation of a better state in the world to come. But the answer to this is, that as many had despaired of his recovery, he expressly declares that he will yet be restored to his former state, and will continue alive, nay, that in him there will be seen manifest tokens of the favor of God. He does not in the least exclude by these expressions the hope of a better life after death. What follows concerning the bed of sorrow has led some to form a conjecture which, in my opinion, is not at all probable. What David says of affliction in general, without determining what kind of affliction, they regard as applicable exclusively to sickness. But it is no uncommon thing for those who are sorrowful and grieved in their minds to throw themselves upon their bed, and to seek repose; for the hearts of men are sometimes more distressed by grief than by sickness. It is, certainly, highly probable that David was at that time afflicted with some very heavy calamity, which might be a token that God was not a little displeased with him. In the second clause of the verse there is some obscurity. Some understand the expression,turning the bed, in the same sense as if God, in order to give some alleviation to his servant in the time of trouble, had made his bed and arranged it, as we are wont to do to those who are sick, that they may lay themselves more softly. (102) Others hold, and, in my opinion, more correctly, that when David was restored to health, his bed, which had formerly served him as a sick couch, was turned, that is to say, changed. (103) Thus the sense would be, that although he now languish in sorrow, whilst the Lord is chastening him and training him by means of affliction, yet in a little while he will experience relief by the hand of the same God, and thus recover his strength.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 2. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive. His noblest life shall be immortal, and even his mortal life shall be sacredly guarded by the power of Jehovah. Jesus lived on till his hour came, nor could the devices of crafty Herod take away his life till the destined hour had struck; and even then no man took his life from him, but he laid it down of himself, to take it again. Here is the portion of all those who are made like their Lord, they bless and they shall be blessed, they preserve and shall be preserved, they watch over the lives of others and they themselves shall be precious in the sight of the Lord. The miser like the hog is of no use till he is dead—then let him die; the righteous like the ox is of service during life—then let him live. And he shall be blessed upon the earth. Prosperity shall attend him. His cruse of oil shall not be dried up because he fed the poor prophet. He shall cut from his roll of cloth and find it longer at both ends."There was a man, and some did count him mad,The more he gave away the more he had."If temporal gains be not given him, spirituals shall be doubled to him. His little shall be blessed, bread and water shall be a feast to him. The liberal are and must be blessed even here; they have a present as well as a future portion. Our Lord's real blessedness of heart in the joy that was set before him is a subject worthy of earnest thought, especially as it is the picture of the blessing which all liberal saints may look for. And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. He helped the

distressed, and now he shall find a champion in his God. What would not the good man's enemies do to him if they had him at their disposal? Better be in a pit with vipers than to be at the mercy of persecutors. This sentence sets before us a sweet negative, and yet it were not easy to have seen how it could be true of our Lord Jesus, did we not know that although he was exempted from much of blessing, being made a curse for us, yet even he was not altogether nor for ever left of God, but in due time was exalted above all his enemies.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 2. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive. It is worthy of remark, that benevolent persons, who "consider the poor, "and especially the sick poor; who search cellars, garrets, back lanes, and such abodes of misery, to find them out (even in the places where contagion keeps its seat), very seldom fall a prey to their own benevolence. The Lord, in an especial manner, keeps them alive, and preserves them; while many, who endeavour to keep far from the contagion, are assailed by it, and fall victims to it. God loves the merciful man. Adam Clarke.Ver. 2. He shall be blessed upon the earth. �one of the godly man's afflictions shall hinder or take away his begun blessedness, even in this world. David Dickson.

BE�SO�, "Verse 2-3Psalms 41:2-3. The Lord will keep him alive — Hebrew, Will quicken him, that is, revive and restore him. God will either preserve him from trouble, or, if he see that trouble is necessary, or will be useful for him, and therefore suffers him to fall into it, he will raise him out of it. Thou wilt not deliver him, &c. — To the destruction which his enemies earnestly desire and endeavour to effect. Wilt make all his bed in his sickness — Wilt give him ease and comfort, which sick men receive by the help of those who turn and stir up their bed, to make it soft and easy for them.

WHEDO�, "2. Preserve him—�amely, from destruction and from the hurtfulness of adversity.

Keep him alive—Restore him to health, raise him up.

Blessed upon the earth—He shall be happy, prosperous in the land.

Wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies—They shall gain no advantage over him on account of his sickness.

3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed

and restores them from their bed of illness.

BAR�ES, "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing - The word rendered strengthen here means to support; to uphold; to sustain. The idea here is, that God would enable him to bear his sickness, or would impart strength - inward strength - when his body failed, or when but for this aid he must sink under his disease and die. The word rendered languishing means properly languor or sickness; and more generally something sickening; that is, something unclean, unwholesome, nauseating, Job_6:6. The idea here, in accordance with what is stated above, is, that acts of religion will tend to promote our welfare and hap piness in this life; and more particularly that the man who shows favor Psa_41:1 to those who are weak, sick, helpless, will find in turn that God will support him when he is sick. Thus, Psa_18:25, “With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful.”

Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness - Margin, as in Hebrew: “turn.” So the

Septuagint, 3στρεψας estrepsas. Luther renders it, “Thou dost help him.” The idea is, that

God will turn his bed or his couch; that is, that he will render favor like turning his couch, or making his bed when he is sick; or, in other words, he will relieve his suffering, and make him comfortable on his bed. It does not mean that he will turn his sickness to health, but that he will relieve and comfort him, as one is relieved and soothed on a sick bed by having his bed made up. This, too, is in accordance with the general sentiment that God will show himself merciful to those who are merciful; kind to those who are kind. On the bed of languishing it will be much to be able to remember that we, in our health, have contributed to the comfort of the sick and the dying.

(a) The recollection itself will do much to impart inward satisfaction then, for we shall then appreciate better than we did when we performed the act the value of this trait of character, and have a deeper sense of gratitude that we have been able to relieve the sufferings of others;

(b) we may believe and trust that God will remember what we have done, and that he will manifest himself to us then as our gracious supporter and our comforter.

It will not be because by our own acts we have merited his favor, but because this is his gracious purpose, and because it is in accordance with his nature thus to bestow kindness on those who have been kind to others.

CLARKE, "The Lord will strengthen him - Good, benevolent, and merciful as he is, he must also die: but he shall not die as other men; he shall have peculiar consolations, refreshment, and support, while passing through the valley of the shadow of death.

Thou wilt make all his bed - haphachta, thou hast turned up, tossed, and הפכת

shaken it; and thou wilt do so to all his bed - thou wilt not leave one uneasy place in it -not one lump, or any unevenness, to prevent him from sleeping. Thou wilt do every

thing, consistently with the accomplishment of the great decree, “Unto dust thou shalt return,” to give him ease, refreshment, and rest. We may sum up the privileges of the merciful man:

1. He is generally blessed, Psa_41:1.

2. He will be delivered in the time of trouble, Psa_41:1.

3. He will be preserved by a particular providence, Psa_41:2.

4. He shall be kept alive amidst infection and danger, Psa_41:2.

5. He shall be blessed on the earth in his temporal concerns, Psa_41:2.

6. His enemies shall not be able to spoil or destroy him, Psa_41:2.

7. He shall be strengthened on a bed of languishing, to enable him to bear his afflictions, Psa_41:3.

8. He shall have ease, comfort, and support in his last hours, Psa_41:3.

GILL, "The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing,.... When on a sick bed, or a death bed, where he lies languishing, and ready to expire; when his natural strength, spirits, and heart fail him, then the Lord strengthens him with strength in his soul; and is the strength of his heart, and his portion for ever. The Targum is,

"the Word of the Lord shall help him in his life, and shall appear to him on the bed of his illness, to quicken him;''

thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness; or "all his bed thou hast turned" or "wilt turn in his sickness" (t); meaning not the recovery of him from a bed of sickness to a state of health, which is the sense given by many; much less a turning him from a state of ease and rest into trouble and distress; but making him easy and comfortable on a bed of sickness; which, in a literal sense, is done when a sick person's bed is turned or made, or he is turned upon it from side to side; so the Lord, by the comforts of his Spirit, makes a sick and death bed easy to them that believe in Christ, and often puts that triumphant song into their mouths in their dying moments, "O death! where is that sting?" &c. 1Co_15:55; and this is the peaceful end and blissful state of such who wisely consider Christ and believe in him; low estate, through the sins of his the insults of his enemies, and the treachery of one of his disciples, is described in the following verses.

JAMISO�, "The figures of Psa_41:3 are drawn from the acts of a kind nurse.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. The everlasting arms shall stay up his soul as friendly hands and downy pillows stay up the body of the sick. How tender and sympathising is this image; how near it brings our God to our infirmities and sicknesses! Whoever heard this of the old heathen Jove, or of the gods of India or China? This is language peculiar to the God of Israel; he it is who deigns to become nurse and attendant upon good men. If he smites with one hand he sustains with the other. Oh, it is blessed fainting when one falls upon the Lord's own bosom, and is borne up thereby! Grace is the best of restoratives; divine love is the noblest stimulant for a languishing patient; it makes the soul strong as a giant, even when the aching bones are breaking through the

skin. �o physician like the Lord, no tonic like his promise, no wine like his love. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. What, doth the Lord turn bed maker to his sick children? Herein is love indeed. Who would not consider the poor if such be the promised reward? A bed soon grows hard when the body is weary with tossing to and fro upon it, but grace gives patience, and God's smile gives peace, and the bed is made soft because the man's heart is content; the pillows are downy because the head is peaceful. �ote that the Lord will make all his bed, from head to foot. What considerate and indefatigable kindness! Our dear and ever blessed Lord Jesus, though in all respects an inheritor of this promise, for our sakes condescended to forego the blessing, and died on a cross and not upon a bed; yet, even there, he was after awhile upheld and cheered by the Lord his God, so that he died in triumph.We must not imagine that the benediction pronounced in these three verses belongs to all who casually give money to the poor, or leave it in their wills, or contribute to societies. Such do well, or act from mere custom, as the case may be, but they are not here alluded to. The blessing is for those whose habit it is to love their neighbour as themselves, and who for Christ's sake feed the hungry and clothe the naked. To imagine a man to be a saint who does not consider the poor as he has ability, is to conceive the fruitless fig tree to be acceptable; there will be sharp dealing with many professors on this point in the day when the King cometh in his glory.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 1,3. See Psalms on "Psalms 41:1" for further information.Ver. 3. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. Into what minuteness of exquisite and touching tenderness does the Lord condescend to enter! One feels almost as we may suppose Peter felt when the Saviour came to him and would have washed his feet, "Lord! thou shalt never wash my feet; "thou shalt never make my bed. And yet, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me; "if the Lord make not our bed in our sickness, there is no peace nor comfort there. We have had David calling on God to bow down his ear, like a loving mother listening to catch the feeblest whisper of her child; and the image is full of the sweetest sympathy and condescension; but here the Lord, the great God of heaven, he that said when on earth, "I am among you as one that serveth, "does indeed take upon him the form, and is found in fashion as a servant, fulfilling all the loving and tender offices of an assiduous nurse. Barton Bouchier.Ver. 3. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. The meaning rather is, "it is no longer a sick bed, for thou hast healed him of his disease." J. J. Stewart Perowne.Ver. 3. When a good man is ill at ease, God promises to make all his bed in his sickness. Pillow, bolster, head, feet, sides, all his bed. Surely that God who made him knows so well his measure and temper as to make his bed to please him. Herein his art is excellent, not fitting the bed to the person, but the person to the bed; infusing patience into him. But, oh! how shall God make my bed, who have no bed of mine own to make. Thou fool, he can make thy not having a bed to be a bed unto thee. When Jacob slept on the ground, who would not have had his hard lodging, therewithal to have his heavenly dream? Thomas Fuller.Ver. 3. Sure that bed must need be soft which God will make. T. Watson.Ver. 3. We must not forget that Oriental beds needed not to be made in the same sense as our own. They were never more than mattresses or quilts thickly padded,

and were turned when they became uncomfortable, and that is just the word here used. C. H. S.Ver. 3. When I visited one day, as he was dying, my beloved friend Benjamin Parsons, I said, "How are you today, Sir?" He said, "My head is resting very sweetly on three pillows—infinite power, infinite love, and infinite wisdom." Preaching in the Canterbury Hall, in Brighton, I mentioned this some time since; and many months after I was requested to call upon a poor but holy young woman, apparently dying. She said, "I felt I must see you before I died." I heard you tell the story of Benjamin Parsons and his three pillows; and when I went through a surgical operation, and it was very cruel, I was leaning my head on pillows, and as they were taking them away I said, "May I keep them?" The surgeon said, "�o, my dear, we must take them away." "But, "said I, "you cannot take away Benjamin Parsons three pillows. I can lay my head on infinite power, infinite love, and infinite wisdom." Paxton Hood, in "Dark Sayings on a Harp, "1865.Ver. 3-4. What saith David from the very bottom of his heart, in his sickness? �ot, take away this death only. �o; but David being sick, first comforts himself with this promise, The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness; and then adds, I said, Lord, be merciful unto me, and heal my soul; that is, destroy my lusts, which are the diseases of my soul, Lord; and heal my soul, and renew life and communion with thee, which is the health and strength of my soul. Do not take this sickness and death only away; but this sin away, that hath dishonoured thee, hath separated between me and thee: Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. Thomas Goodwin.

ELLICOTT, "Verse 3(3) Will strengthen.—Literally, will prop him up, support him.

Wilt make.—Literally, hast turned. Some think with literal allusion to the fact that the Oriental bed was merely a mat, which could be turned while the sick man was propped up. But such literalness is not necessary. To turn here is to change, as in Psalms 66:6; Psalms 105:29, and what the poet says is that, as in past times, Divine help has come to change his sickness into health, so he confidently expects it will be now, “in his sickness” being equivalent to “in the time of his sickness.”

WHEDO�, "3. Strengthen him—The figure belongs to the sick bed, Thou wilt prop him up, support him, as a careful nurse would a sick person. See Song of Solomon 2:6.

Make all his bed—Turn, turn over, change all his bed, namely, for the greater ease and comfort of the sick one. The most delicate and tender care is here described. God’s loving presence will make a sick bed easy. As the word rendered “make,” here, properly means to turn, and the word “bed” is derived from the verb to lie down, and sometimes means recumbency, it has been supposed that the turning the sick bed, that is, the recumbency or bedridden condition, denotes convalescence. Thus Delitzsch: “He gives complete turn to the sick bed towards recovery.” But the former is the more easy and natural sense.

4 I said, “Have mercy on me, Lord; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

BAR�ES, "I said, Lord - I said in my sickness, or in the trial referred to in the psalm. I called on God to be merciful to me when others had no mercy; to be near to me when others turned away; to save me when pressed down with disease on account of my sins. All that follows relates, like this passage, to what occurred when he was sick; to the thoughts that passed through his mind, and to the treatment which he then experienced from others.

Be merciful unto me - In forgiving my sins, and restoring me to health.

Heal my soul - In restoring my soul to spiritual health by forgiving the sin which is the cause of my sickness; or it may mean, Restore my life - regardng his life as (as it were) diseased and in danger of extinction. The probability, however, is that he had particular reference to the soul as the word is commonly understood, or as designating himself; heal, or restore me.

For I have sinned against thee - Regarding his sin as the cause of his sickness. See the notes at Psa_38:3-5.

CLARKE, "I said, Lord, be merciful unto me - I need thy mercy especially, because I have sinned against thee, and my sin is a deadly wound to my soul; therefore heal my soul, for it has sinned against thee.

GILL, "I said, Lord, be merciful unto me,.... See Gill on Psa_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 Isa_57:18;

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, Psa_40:12; he was treated as a sinner, and as

guilty before God, Isa_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" (w), so the word is used, Lev_6:26; and so it might be rendered in Lev_5:7; and perhaps may be better rendered so in Lev_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, Psa_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, 1Ti_3:16.

HE�RY, " David's prayer, directed and encouraged by these promises (Psa_41:4): I said, Heal my soul. It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay, in our practices, any thing that we said in our prayers. Here is, 1. His humble petition: Lord be merciful to me. He appeals to mercy, as one that knew he could not stand the test of strict justice. The best saints, even those that have been merciful to the poor, have not made God their debtor, but must throw themselves on his mercy. When we are under the rod we must thus recommend ourselves to the tender mercy of our God: Lord, heal my soul. Sin is the sickness of the soul; pardoning mercy heals it; renewing grace heals it; and this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health. 2. His penitent confession: “I have sinned against thee, and therefore my soul needs healing. I am a sinner, a miserable sinner; therefore, God be merciful to me,” Luk_18:13. It does not appear that this has reference to any particular gross act of sin, but, in general, to his many sins of infirmity, which his sickness set in order before him, and the dread of the consequences of which made him pray, Heal my soul.

JAMISO�, "I said — I asked the mercy I show.

heal my soul — (Compare Psa_30:2). “Sin and suffering are united,” is one of the great teachings of the Psalms.

ELLICOTT, "(4) I said.—After the general statement, the poet applies it to his own case, which showed such sadly different conduct on the part of friends from whom more than sympathy might have been expected. The pronoun is emphatic: In my case, I said, etc.

But it is a singular mark of the psalmist’s sincerity and genuineness that he first looks into his own heart for its evil before exposing that of his friends.

BENSON, "Psalms 41:4. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me — He appeals to mercy, as one that knew he could not stand the test of strict justice. The best saints, even those that have been merciful to the poor, have not made God their debtor; but must throw themselves on his mercy. When we are under the rod, we must thus recommend ourselves to the tender mercy of our God. Heal my soul — Sin is the sickness of the soul and the soul is healed when, being pardoned by mercy, it is also renewed by grace. And this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health. For I have sinned against thee — And, therefore, my soul needs healing: I am a sinner, a miserable sinner; and, therefore, God, be merciful to me. The psalmist does not appear here to

refer to any particular gross act of sin, but to his sins in general, which his sickness, and the troubles he met with, set in order before him; and the dread of the consequences of which made him pray, Heal my soul.

ELLICOTT, "(6) And if he come.—Some one particular individual is here singled out from the body of enemies.

To see.—The usual word for visiting a sick person. (Comp. 2 Samuel 13:5; 2 Kings 8:29.)

Vanity.—Better, lies. No more vivid picture of an insincere friend could be given. Pretended sympathy lies at the very bedside, while eye and ear are open to catch up anything that can be retailed abroad or turned into mischief, when the necessity of concealment is over.

The scene of the visit of the king to the death-bed of Gaunt in Shakespeare’s King Richard II. illustrates the psalmist’s position, and the poet may even have had this verse in his mind when he wrote.

“Should dying men flatter with those that live

No, no; men living flatter those that die.

K&D 4-6, "(Heb.: 41:5-7) He, the poet, is treated in his distress of soul in a manner totally different from the way just described which is so rich in promises of blessing. He

is himself just such a ל�, towards whom one ought to manifest sympathising

consideration and interest. But, whilst he is addressing God in the language of penitential prayer for mercy and help, his enemies speak evil to him, i.e., with respect to

him, wishing that he might die and that his name might perish. ה� hs is as an.�רפ

exception Milra, inasmuch as א draws the tone to its own syllable; cf. on the other hand

Isa_32:11 ,רגזה (Hitzig). מתי (prop. extension, length of time) has only become a Semitic

interrogative in the signification quando by the omission of the interrogative אי

(common Arabic in its full form Arab. 'ymtâ, êmata). בד� .is a continuation of the future ו

In Psa_41:7 one is singled out and made prominent, and his hypocritically malicious

conduct described. ראות of a visit to a sick person as in 2Sa_13:5., 2Ki_8:29. אם is used

both with the perf. (Psa_50:18; Psa_63:7; Psa_78:34; Psa_94:18; Gen_38:9; Amo_7:2; Isa_24:13; Isa_28:25) and with the fut. (Psa_68:14; Job_14:14), like quum, as a

blending together of si and quando, Germ. wenn (if) and wann (when). In ידבר�לבו two

Rebias come together, the first of which has the greater value as a distinctive, according to the rule laid down in Baer's Psalterium, p. xiv. Consequently, following the accents, it must not be rendered: “falsehood doth his heart speak.” The lxx, Vulgate, and Targum have discerned the correct combination of the words. Besides, the accentuation, as is

seen from the Targum and expositors, proceeds on the assumption that ו� is equivalent ל

to ו��ל. But why may it not be the subject-notion: “His heart gathereth” is an expression

of the activity of his mind and feelings, concealed beneath a feigned and friendly outward bearing. The asyndeton portrays the despatch with which he seeks to make the material for slander, which has been gathered together, public both in the city and in the country.

CALVI�,"4.I have said, O Jehovah! have mercy upon me. By this verse he shows that in his adversity he did not seek to soothe his mind by flattery, as the greater part of men do, who endeavor to assuage their sorrows by some vain consolation. And, certainly, the man who is guided by the Spirit of God will, when warned of God by the afflictions with which he is visited, frankly acknowledge his sins, and quietly submit to the admonitions of his brethren, nay, he will even anticipate them by a voluntary confession. David here lays down a mark by which he distinguishes himself from the reprobate and wicked, when he tells us that he earnestly entreated that his sin might not be laid to his charge, and that he had sought refuge in the mercy of God. He indeed requests that some alleviation might be granted to him under the affliction which he endured: but he rises to a higher source of relief, when he asks that through the forgiveness of his sins he might obtain reconciliation to God. Those, as we have said elsewhere, invert the natural order of things, who seek a remedy only for the outward miseries under which they labor, but all the while neglect the cause of them; acting as a sick man would do who sought only to quench his thirst, but never thought of the fever under which he labors, and which is the chief cause of his trouble. Before David, therefore, speaks at all of the healing of his soul, that is to say, of his life (104) he first says, Have mercy upon me: and with this we must connect the reason which immediately follows — for I have sinned against thee. In saying so, he confesses that God is justly displeased with him, and that he can only be restored again to his favor by his sins being blotted out. I take the particle כי, ki, in its proper and natural signification, and not adversatively, as some would understand it. He asks then that God would have mercy upon him because he had sinned. From that proceeds the healing of the soul, which he interposes between his prayer and confession, as being the effect of the compassion and mercy of God; for David expects that as soon as he had obtained forgiveness, he would also obtain relief from his affliction.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 4-9. Here we have a controversy between the pleader and his God. He has been a tender friend to the poor, and yet in the hour of his need the promised assistance was not forthcoming. In our Lord's case there was a dark and dreary night in which such arguments were well befitting himself and his condition.Ver. 4. I said —said it in earnest prayer—Lord, be merciful unto me. Prove now thy gracious dealings with my soul in adversity, since thou didst aforetime give me grace to act liberally in my prosperity. �o appeal is made to justice; the petitioner but hints at the promised reward, but goes straightforward to lay his plea at the feet of mercy. How low was our Redeemer brought when such petitions could come from

his reverend mouth, when his lips like lilies dropped such sweet smelling but bitter myrrh! Heal my soul. My time of languishing is come, now do as thou hast said, and strengthen me, especially in my soul. We ought to be far more earnest for the soul's healing than for the body's ease. We hear much of the cure of souls, but we often forget to care about it. For I have sinned against thee. Here was the root of sorrow. Sin and suffering are inevitable companions. Observe that by the psalmist sin was felt to be mainly evil because directed against God. This is of the essence of true repentance. The immaculate Saviour could never have used such language as this unless there be here a reference to the sin which he took upon himself by imputation; and for our part we tremble to apply words so manifestly indicating personal rather than imputed sin. Applying the petition to David and other sinful believers, how strangely evangelical is the argument: heal me, not for I am innocent, but I have sinned. How contrary is this to all self righteous pleading! How consonant with grace! How inconsistent with merit! Even the fact that the confessing penitent had remembered the poor, is but obliquely urged, but a direct appeal is made to mercy on the ground of great sin. O trembling reader, here is a divinely revealed precedent for thee, be not slow to follow it.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 3-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 41:3" for further information.Ver. 4. I said, Lord, be merciful. Mercy, not justice! The extreme of mercy for the extreme of misery. Righteousness as filthy rags; a flesh in which dwelleth no good thing, on the one side; on the other, it is "neither herb nor mollifying plaster that restored" to health; "but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things." Wisdom16:12. Thomas Aquinas, quoted by J. M. �eale.Ver. 4. God is the strength of a Christian's heart, by healing and restoring him when the infused habits of grace fail, and sin grows strong and vigorous. A Christian never fails in the exercise of grace, but sin gives him a wound; and therefore David prayed, Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned. And what David prayed for, God promises to his people: "I will heal their backsliding." Hosea 14:4. The weakness and decay of grace, brings a Christian presently to the falling sickness; and so it did in David and Ephraim; aye, but God will be a physician to the soul in this case, and will heal their diseases; and so he did David's falling sickness, for which he returned the tribute of praise. Psalms 103:3. Samuel Blackerby.Ver. 4. (last clause). Saul and Judas each said, "I have sinned; "but David says, "I have sinned against thee." William S. Plumer.

COFFMA�, "Verse 4"I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me:

Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil against me, saying,

When will he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh falsehood;

His heart gathereth iniquity to itself:

When he goeth abroad he telleth it."

"O Jehovah, have mercy upon me" (Psalms 41:4). Kidner remarked that, "David got more mercy from God whom he had wronged than from the 'familiar friend' whom he had helped."[7]

"Heal my soul" (Psalms 41:4). Although this is the equivalent of "heal me," "The single pronoun does not convey the rich meaning of the Hebrew,"[8] which refers to both "soul and body." David was particularly in need of such a healing, for it was not long since his double sin of adultery and murder. The severe illness that probably came upon David may have been a divine punishment for his sins, an illness that doubtless hastened and might have caused the formation of Absalom's plot to unseat him.

"Mine enemies speak evil against me" (Psalms 41:5). As Jamieson noted, "We have here a graphic picture of the conduct of a malignant enemy,"[9] The following verse shows that this enemy visited David in his illness, spoke lying words of good will and hopes for his recovery; but he then went out and spread the false news that the king was on his death bed.

"And if he come to see me" (Psalms 41:6). This enemy that came to see David in his illness is thought by some to have been "Ahithophel,"[10] but there is no proof of this; and it is this writer's opinion that it was much more likely to have been David's rebellious son Absalom. Ahithophel was the High Priest and probably would not have had easy access to David's bedchamber; but Absalom, the king's son, would not have been restricted from seeing the king. It is easy enough to understand why David did not name Absalom in this psalm.

COKE, "Psalms 41:4. Heal my soul— As rational conjectures, says Dr. Delaney, are oftentimes useful inlets to knowledge, the candid reader will, I hope, be indulgent to mine, in relation to David's distemper, (see the note on the title of the 38th psalm,) which I am far from obtruding as a truth; for, after all, possibly, all his psalms upon this head may be no more than figurative descriptions of the state of his mind, sick with sin; nor is this supposition ill-grounded upon the present verse: And, agreeably to this way of thinking, we find sin figured out to us, in the prophetic style, under the ideas of bruises, and wounds, and putrifying sores, Isaiah 1:6, See on Psalms 38:7. We cannot any where introduce more properly the following judicious observations from Bishop Lowth's 8th Prelection.

"The Hebrew laws," says he, "are very much occupied in discriminating things clean and unclean, in removing and expiating what is foul, polluted, profane; in which ceremonies, as under a veil, the most holy and weighty meanings are couched, as is evident from the thing itself, as well as from many plain and express declarations. Amongst these, certain diseases and infirmities of the body have place;

which, however light they may seem to a cursory, appear of great consequence to an attentive reader. It is on this account not to be wondered, that the sacred poets apply these images in expressing the most important matters, when they either lay open the defilement of the human mind, wholly depraved and contaminated; Isaiah 44:6 or Ezekiel 36:17 or lament the miserable, abject, and most contemptible lot of the virgin, the daughter of Zion, spoiled and made bare: Lamentations 1:8-9; Lamentations 1:17; Lamentations 2:2. Images which, considered in themselves, are truly deformed and hateful; if referred to their true origin, and to religion, are devoid neither of weight nor majesty. Of this kind, or at least analogous to this kind, are those which the royal poet (who in his divine poems generally sustains a character far more august than his own) pours forth full of sorrow and the most ardent affections; when he complains, as in Psalms 38 that he is worn down, and wearied out with punishments and sufferings, and entirely depressed with the most grievous burden of sin, to the support whereof human nature is absolutely unequal: In which passages some have enquired under what disease the writer then laboured; not less absurdly, in my judgment, than if they had sought after the situation and name of the river in which he was plunged, when he says that he was overwhelmed with great floods of waters."

PETT 4-9, "Verses 4-9The Psalmist Acknowledges That His Problems Partly Arise Because Of His Own Sinfulness, And Then Explains To YHWH About The Behaviour Of His Enemies (Psalms 41:4-9).

Psalms 41:4

‘I said, O YHWH, have mercy on me,Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.Lying on his sick bed the Psalmist has been made to face up to his own sins. And he confesses his sin to God and prays that He will have mercy on him and heal him wholly within. There is nothing like an illness for making us face up to the truth about ourselves.

Psalms 41:5-8

My enemies speak evil against me, saying,“When will he die, and his name perish?”And if he come to see me,He speaks falsehood,His heart gathers iniquity to itself,When he goes abroad, he tells it.’‘All who hate me whisper together against me,Against me do they devise my hurt.“An evil disease,” say they, “cleaves fast to him,And now that he lies he will rise up no more.”He explains to God the behaviour of his enemies towards him;

· They are looking forward to his death, constantly asking how soon it will come.· They come to see him, pretending to be loyal, when all the time he knows very well that once they leave his sick room they spread abroad anything that is derogatory to him and continually add to the rumours of his soon demise.Behind his words there clearly lies a plea that God will observe their behaviour and counteract it.

‘An evil disease.’ Literally ‘a thing of Belial’. They might have intended by this that in their view David was stricken because of his wickedness. Thus his death must be seen as certain.

Psalms 41:9

‘Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,Who did eat of my bread,Has lifted up his heel against me.’What grieves him most is that one of his closest friends, to whom he has demonstrated such love and generosity, even inviting him to the king’s g’s table, has taken the part of his enemies and has acted against him.

In John 13:18 these words are applied by Jesus to the behaviour of Judas. He was saying that what had happened to David himself, had also now happened to great David’s greater son. It was the fate of all who truly served God.

5 My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perish?”

BAR�ES, "Mine enemies speak evil of me - They take occasion to speak evil of me in my weak and feeble state, thus adding to my sorrows. The word “evil” here refers to their calumnies or reproaches. They spoke of him as a bad man; as if it were desirable that he should die; that his influence in the world should come to an end, and that his name should be forgotten.

When shall he die - “He is sick; sick on account of his sins; it seems certain that he will die; and it is desirable that such a man should die. But he seems to linger on, as if there were no hope of his dying.” Nothing can be imagined more unkind, cutting, severe than this - the desire that a man who is sick shall die, and be out of the way. Nothing

could add more to the sorrows of sickness itself than such a wish; than to have it talked about among men - whispered from one to another - that such a man was a nuisance; that he was a bad man; that he was suffering on account of his sins; that it was desirable that his death should occur as soon as possible, and that all remembrance of him on earth should cease.

And his name perish - That he should be forgotten altogether; that his name should be no more mentioned; that all the influence of his life should cease forever. Of a truly bad man - a corrupter of the faith and the virtue of others - this is desirable, for the sooner such men are forgotten the better. Forgotten they will be Pro_10:7, but there is no more malignant feeling in regard to a good man, and especially when such a man is suffering under a severe disease, than the wish that he should die, and that his name should wholly fade away from recollection.

CLARKE, "Mine enemies speak evil - It is often a good man’s lot to be evil spoken of; to have his motives, and even his most benevolent acts, misconstrued.

GILL, "Mine enemies speak evil of me,.... That is, the Jews, who were enemies to his person, people, doctrines and ordinances, and would not have him to reign over them; these spake evil of him, charged him with being a glutton and a winebibber; said he had a devil, and was a Samaritan; imputed his miracles to diabolical influence; branded his doctrine with blasphemy, and spoke against his religion and worship, and wished him ill, saying,

when shall he die; they had a good will to assassinate him privately, but upon mature deliberation they consulted and determined to take what advantage they could against him, and deliver him up to the Roman governor; they feared, should he go on and succeed, through his doctrines and miracles, as he did, it would go ill with them; and they concluded, could he be brought to death, it would clearly appear to the common people that he was not the Messiah; though this was the very thing he came into the world for, and which he himself was very desirous of; because hereby, and hereby only, the salvation of his people could be brought about; and though this was a thing foretold in prophecy, yet it seems as if Christ's enemies the Jews, and Satan himself, were ignorant of it, and of its virtue and use to save men; however, though it was an ill wish in them, it was well for us that he did die, though the consequence is not as they wished;

and his name perish? that is, the fame of his doctrine and miracles, the memory of him and his worthy deeds, particularly his Gospel, which so fully expresses the glory of his person and grace; yea, he himself, for they hoped that upon his death he would come into general disgrace, that his name would never be mentioned but with reproach, that his Gospel would be no more preached, and that he would be accursed of God and men: in all which they were sadly disappointed; for, upon his resurrection from the dead, he had a name given him above every name; his memory became precious to thousands; an ordinance was appointed to remember him to the end of the world in all his churches; his Gospel was ordered to be preached to all the world, as it was; and he himself is blessed for evermore.

HE�RY 5-6, "David often complains of the insolent conduct of his enemies towards

him when he was sick, which, as it was very barbarous in them, so it could not but be very grievous to him. They had not indeed arrived at that modern pitch of wickedness of poisoning his meat and drink, or giving him something to make him sick; but, when he was sick, they insulted over him (Psa_41:5): My enemies speak evil of me, designing thereby to grieve his spirit, to ruin his reputation, and so to sink his interest. Let us enquire,

I. What was the conduct of his enemies towards him. 1. They longed for his death: When shall he die, and his name perish with him? He had but an uncomfortable life, and yet they grudged him that. But it was a useful life; he was, upon all accounts, the greatest ornament and blessing of his country; and yet, it seems, there were some who were sick of him, as the Jews were of Paul, crying out, Away with such a fellow from the earth.We ought not to desire the death of any; but to desire the death of useful men, for their usefulness, has much in it of the venom of the old serpent. They envied him his name, and the honour he had won, and doubted not but, if he were dead, that would be laid in the dust with him; yet see how they were mistaken: when he had served his generation he did die (Act_13:36), but did his name perish? No; it lives and flourishes to this day in the sacred writings, and will to the end of time; for the memory of the just is, and shall be, blessed. 2. They picked up every thing they could to reproach him with (Psa_41:6): “If he come to see me” (as it has always been reckoned a piece of neighbourly kindness to visit the sick) “he speaks vanity; that is, he pretends friendship, and that his errand is to mourn with me and to comfort me; he tells me he is very sorry to see me so much indisposed, and wishes me my health; but it is all flattery and falsehood.” We complain, and justly, of the want of sincerity in our days, and that there is scarcely any true friendship to be found among men; but it seems, by this, that the former days were no better than these. David's friends were all compliment, and had nothing of that affection for him in their hearts which they made profession of. Nor was that the worst of it; it was upon a mischievous design that they came to see him, that they might make invidious remarks upon every thing he said or did, and might represent it as they pleased to others, with their own comments upon it, so as to render him odious or ridiculous: His heart gathereth iniquity to itself, puts ill constructions upon every thing; and the, when he goes among his companions, he tells it to them, that they may tell it to others. Report, say they, and we will report it, Jer_20:10. If he complained much of his illness, they would reproach him for his pusillanimity; if he scarcely complained at all, they would reproach him for his stupidity. If he prayed, or gave them good counsel, they would banter it, and call it canting; if he kept silence from good, when the wicked were before him, they would say that he had forgotten his religion now that he was sick. There is no fence against those whose malice thus gathers iniquity.

JAMISO�, "A graphic picture of the conduct of a malignant enemy.

CALVI�,"5.My enemies have spoken evil of me. To speak is here used in the sense of to imprecate. In thus describing the unbecoming conduct of his enemies, he seeks, as has been elsewhere said, to induce God to have mercy upon him: because the more that God sees his own people cruelly treated, he is so much the more disposed mercifully to succor them. Thus David, by his own example, stirs up and encourages us to greater confidence in God; because the more that our enemies break forth in their cruelty towards us, so much the more does it procure for us favor in the sight of God. The terms in which his enemies uttered this imprecation show how cruel their hatred had been towards him, since it could only be appeased by his

destruction, and that, too, accompanied with shame and ignominy; for they wished that with his life the very remembrance of his name should also be blotted out.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 5. Mine enemies speak evil of me. It was their nature to do and speak evil; it was not possible that the child of God could escape them. The viper fastened on Paul's hand: the better the man the more likely, and the more venomous the slander. Evil tongues are busy tongues, and never deal in truth. Jesus was traduced to the utmost, although no offence was in him. When shall he die, and his name perish? They could not be content till he was away. The world is not wide enough for evil men to live in while the righteous remain, yea, the bodily presence of the saints may be gone, but their memory is an offence to their foes. It was never merry England, say they, since men took to Psalm singing. In the Master's case, they cried, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, it is not fit that he should live." If persecutors could have their way, the church should have but one neck, and that should be on the block. Thieves would fain blow out all candles. The lights of the world are not the delights of the world. Poor blind bats, they fly at the lamp, and try to dash it down; but the Lord liveth, and preserveth both the saints and their names.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 1,5. He that considereth. Mine enemies. Strigelius has observed, there is a perpetual antithesis in this Psalm between the few who have a due regard to the poor in spirit, and the many who afflict or desert them. W. Wilson, D.D.Ver. 5. Mine enemies speak evil of me. To speak is here used in the sense of to imprecate. John Calvin.Ver. 5. His name. It is the name, the character, and privileges of a true servant of God, that calls out the hatred of ungodly men, and they would gladly extirpate him from their sight. W. Wilson, D.D.

BE�SO�, "Verses 5-7Psalms 41:5-7. Mine enemies speak evil of me — Designing thereby to grieve my spirit, ruin my reputation, and sink my interest. And if he come to see me — If any of mine enemies visit me in my sickness, according to the custom; he speaketh vanity — Or falsehood, pretending sympathy with, and friendship to me, while he is contriving mischief in his heart against me. His heart gathereth iniquity, &c. —Even when he is with me, and pretends a sincere affection for me, his heart is devising evil against me. When he goeth abroad he telleth it — Partly to delight his companions, and partly to encourage them to, and direct them in, their malicious designs against me. They whisper together against me — Secretly defame me, and closely plot against me.

�ISBET, "HUMA� FOES A�D DIVI�E FRIE�D‘Mine enemies.… But Thou, O Lord!’Psalms 41:5; Psalms 41:10I. It was a season of bodily suffering.—The Psalmist was prone on a couch of languishing; his discomfort was increased by the consciousness of guilt, and aggravated by the ingratitude of friends and the calumny of foes. His enemies spoke evil against him, wondering when he would die and his name perish. They gloated

over his misfortunes. Under such conditions he began to ask with new desire for healing: ‘Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee.’ ‘Have mercy upon me, and raise me up.’

II. How suitable is this prayer for us all!—‘Heal my soul, for it is stricken with many diseases.’ John describes our Lord’s miracles as signs, because each one sets forth an ailment of the inner life, and the Divine method of treatment. Some blind, some paralysed, some on the verge of death—the Great Physician is bending over us. By faith let us derive healing virtue as we touch the hem of His garment. The Lord Jesus referred Psalms 41:9 to Judas, except the clause about trusting; for from the first He had been aware of the untrustworthiness of the traitor.

III. But what comfort there is in turning from faithless friends and persistent foes to the Divine vindication!—He who vindicated Abel, whilst his blood was yet warm, has done as much for all His murdered and misunderstood saints; and He will set them before His face for ever in that world where they see eye to eye, and are face to face with faithfulness that cannot forget, a truth that cannot deceive, a love which cannot misunderstand.

Illustrations

(1) ‘Of whom could the words “Happy he who deals considerately with the afflicted” be so truly used as of Him who applies other words of the forty-first psalm to Himself?’

(2) ‘That promise to God’s child, “All his bed thou turnest in his sickness,” has been touchingly paraphrased, “Thou art wont to soothe him as one soothes a sick man, who turns his whole bed over and over that he may lie softer and get some rest.”’

6 When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it around.

BAR�ES, "And if he come to see me - If he condescends to visit me in my

sickness. The word me is not in the original; and perhaps the idea is not that he came to see the sufferer, but that he came to see “for himself,” though under pretence of paying a visit of kindness. His real motive was to make observation, that he might find something in the expressions or manner of the sufferer that would enable him to make a report unfavorable to him, and to confirm him in his impression that it was desirable such a man should die. He would come under the mask of sympathy and friendship, but really to find something that would confirm him in the opinion that he was a bad man, and that would enable him to state to others that it was desirable he should die.

He speaketh vanity - He utters no expressions of sincerity and truth; he suggests nothing that would console and comfort me; his words are all foreign to the purpose for which a man should visit another in such circumstances, and are, therefore, vain words. What he says is mere pretence and hypocrisy, and is designed to deceive me, as if he had sympathy with me, while his real purpose is to do me mischief.

His heart gathereth iniquity to itself - Or, in his heart he is gathering mischief. That is, in his heart, or in his secret purpose, under the pretence of sympathy and friendship, he is really aiming to gather the materials for doing me wrong. He is endeavoring to find something in my words or manner; in my expressions of impatience and complaining; in the utterances of my unguarded moments, when I am scarcely conscious - something that may be uttered in the honesty of feeling when a man thinks that he is about to die - some reflections of my own on my past life - some confession of sin, which he may turn to my disadvantage, or which may justify his slanderous report that I am a bad man, and that it is desirable that such a man should live no longer. Can anything be imagined more malicious than this?

When he goeth abroad, he telleth it - literally, he tells it to the street, or to those who are without. Perhaps his friends, as malicious as himself, are anxiously waiting without for his report, and, like him, are desirous of finding something that may confirm them in their opinion of him. Or perhaps he designs to tell this to the friends of the sufferer, to show them now that they were deceived in the man; that although in the days of his health, and in his prosperity, he seemed to be a good man, yet that now, when the trial has come, and a real test has been applied, all his religion has been found false and hollow; his impatience, his complaining, his murmuring, and his unwillingness to die, all showing that he was a hypocrite, and was at heart a bad man. Compare the notes at Job_1:9-11.

CLARKE, "And if he come to see me - This may relate to Ahithophel; but it is more likely that it was to some other person who was his secret enemy, who pretended to come and inquire after his health, but with the secret design to see whether death was despatching his work.

When he goeth abroad, he telleth it - He makes several observations on my dying state; intimates that I am suffering deep remorse for secret crimes; that God is showing his displeasure against me, and that I am full of sorrow at the approach of death.

GILL, "And if he come to see me,.... Meaning anyone of his enemies, when they came, as pretended, to pay him a friendly visit. A late learned writer (x) interprets this of Absalom, who visited his father when he had the smallpox, which he thinks, after

mentioned, of which his enemies expected he would die, when Absalom pretended great concern for his life; though he, with others, were plotting against him, should he live, to destroy him;

he speaketh vanity; lies and falsehoods, in an hypocritical manner, with a double heart; his mouth and his heart not agreeing together; see Mat_22:16;

his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; amasses to itself greater treasures of wickedness still, thought that itself is desperately wicked, and very wickedness: this is to be understood of the enemies of Christ observing his words and actions, and laying them up, with a wicked intention, against a proper time;

when he goeth abroad, he telleth it; as in the instances concerning giving tribute to Caesar, destroying the temple, and saying he was the son of God, Mat_22:17; compared with Luk_23:2; compared with Mat_26:60, compared with Joh_19:5.

(x) Delaney's Life of King David, vol. 2. p. 157, 158.

JAMISO�, "to see me — as if to spy out my case.

he speaketh ... itself — or, “he speaketh vanity as to his heart” - that is, does not speak candidly, “he gathereth iniquity to him,” collects elements for mischief, and then divulges the gains of his hypocrisy.

WHEDON, "6. If he come to see me—Professedly to inquire after my health as a friend.

He speaketh vanity—His professions of friendship are empty and hypocritical.

His heart gathereth iniquity—Not only is his false profession of friendship an accumulation of his guilt, but it is in his heart even there to gather up material for my injury. Nay, this was the real object of his professedly friendly visit. Compare with this the feigned friendship but real malignity of Christ’s enemies. Luke 20:20.

He telleth it—He reports my sickness, and my private conversation, in a way to hurt me with the people.

CALVI�,"6.And if he come to see me, he speaketh lies. What is contained in this verse relates to his false and treacherous friends. Those who were his professed enemies made no secret of their enmity against him, but openly persecuted him; and that he has already shown in the preceding verse. In addition to this, he now complains that many came to him with professions of attachment to him, as if they had been his friends, who, nevertheless, afterwards poured forth their malicious ill-will in secret against him. Enemies of this sort, who thus cover and conceal their malice, and insinuate themselves under the mask of a fair appearance, only for the purpose of secretly doing us mischief, are indeed much more to be feared than those

who openly declare their wicked intentions. Accordingly, having complained of his open enemies, he proceeds to speak of his pretended friends, of whom he declares that they come to see him with no other design than to speak lies, and yet that they are meanwhile devising some deceitful and malicious purpose against him, nay, that they are even secretly heaping up iniquity, and, so to speak, laying it up in store in their hearts; and then he adds, that when they have gone forth from his presence, they manifest their hypocrisy and deceitfulness.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 6. And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity. His visits of sympathy are visitations of mockery. When the fox calls on the sick lamb his words are soft, but he licks his lips in hope of the carcass. It is wretched work to have spies haunting one's bedchamber, calling in pretence of kindness, but with malice in their hearts. Hypocritical talk is always fulsome and sickening to honest men, but especially to the suffering saint. Our divine Lord had much of this from the false hearts that watched his words. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself. Like will to like. The bird makes its nest of feathers. Out of the sweetest flowers chemists can distil poison, and from the purest words and deeds malice can gather groundwork for calumnious report. It is perfectly marvellous how spite spins webs out of no materials whatever. It is no small trial to have base persons around you lying in wait for every word which they may pervert into evil. The Master whom we serve was constantly subject to this affliction. When he goeth abroad, he telleth it. He makes his lies, and then vends them in open market. He is no sooner out of the house than he outs with his lie, and this against a sick man whom he called to see as a friend—a sick man to whose incoherent and random speeches pity should be showed. Ah, black hearted wretch! A devil's cub indeed. How far abroad men will go to publish their slanders! They would fain placard the sky with their falsehoods. A little fault is made much of; a slip of the tongue is a libel, a mistake a crime, and if a word can bear two meanings the worse is always fathered upon it. Tell it in Gath, publish it in Askelon, that the daughters of the uncircumcised may triumph. It is base to strike a man when he is down, yet such is the meanness of mankind towards a Christian hero should he for awhile chance to be under a cloud.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 6. If he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: many fair words, but none of them true. David Dickson.Ver. 6. I remember a pretty apologue that Bromiard tells: —A fowler, in a sharp, frosty morning, having taken many little birds for which he had long watched, began to take up his nets, and nipping the birds on the head laid them down. A young thrush, espying the tears trickling down his cheek by reason of the extreme cold, said to her mother, that certainly the man was very merciful and compassionate, who wept so bitterly over the calamity of the poor birds. But her mother told her more wisely, that she might better judge of the man's disposition by his hand than by his eye; and if the hands do strike treacherously, he can never be admitted to friendship, who speaks fairly and weeps pitifully. Jeremy Taylor.Ver. 6. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself.1. By adding sin to sin, in that he covers over his malice with such horrid hypocrisy.2. By inventing or contriving all the several ways he can to ensnare me, or do me some mischief, thereby seeking to satisfy and please his corrupt lusts and affections;

3. (Which I like best), by observing all he can in me, and drawing what he can from me, and so laying all up together in his mind, as the ground of his unjust surmises and censures concerning me. Arthur Jackson.

7 All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying,

BAR�ES, "All that hate me whisper together against me - They talk the matter over where they suppose that no one can hear; they endeavonr to collect and arrange all that can be said against me; they place all that they can say or think as individuals, all that they have separately known or suspected, into “common stock,” and make use of it against me. There is a conspiracy against me - a purpose to do me all the evil that they can. This shows that, in the apprehension of the sufferer, the one who came to see for himself Psa_41:6 came as one of a company - as one deputed or delegated to find some new occasion for a charge against him, and that he had not to suffer under the single malignity of one, but under the combined malignity of many.

Against me do they devise my hurt - Margin, as in Hebrew: “evil to me.” That is, they devise some report, the truth of which they endeavor to confirm by something that they may observe in my sickness which will be injurious to me, and which will prove to the world that I am a bad man - a man by whose death the world would be benefited. The slanderous report on which they seemed to agree is mentioned in the following verse - that he was suffering under a disease which was directly and manifestly the result of a sinful life, and that it must be fatal.

CLARKE, "All that hate me whisper together against me - This is in consequence of the information given by the hypocritical friend, who came to him with the lying tongue, and whose heart gathereth iniquity to itself, which, when he went abroad, he told to others as illminded as himself, and they also drew their wicked inferences.

GILL, "All that hate me whisper together against me,.... That is, they privately conspired against him; see Mat_22:15;

against me do they devise my hurt; not only to take away his name and credit, but his life.

HE�RY 7-9, "They promised themselves that he would never recover from this sickness, nor ever wipe off the odium with which they had loaded him. They whispered together against him (Psa_41:7), speaking that secretly in one another's ears which they could not for shame speak out, and which, if they did, they knew would be confuted. Whisperers and backbiters are put together among the worst of sinners, Rom_1:29, Rom_1:30. They whispered, that their plot against him might not be discovered and so defeated; there is seldom whispering (we say) but there is lying, or some mischief on foot. Those whisperers devised evil to David. Concluding he would die quickly, they contrived how to break all the measures he had concerted for the public good, to prevent the prosecution of them, and to undo all that he had hitherto been doing. This he calls devising hurt against him; and they doubted not but to gain their point: An evil disease (a thing of Belial), say they, cleaves fast to him. The reproach with which they had loaded his name, they hoped, would cleave so fast to it that it would perish with him, and then they should gain their point. They went by a modern maxim, Fortiter calumniari, aliquid adhaerebit - Fling an abundance of calumny, and some will be sure to stick.“The disease he is now under will certainly make an end of him; for it is the punishment of some great enormous crime, which he will not be brought to repent of, and proves him, however he has appeared, a son of Belial.” Or, “It is inflicted by Satan, who is called Belial,” the wicked one, 2Co_6:15. “It is” (according to a loose way of speaking some have) “a devilish disease, and therefore it will cleave fast to him; and now that he lieth,now that his distemper prevails so far as to oblige him to keep his bed, he shall rise up no more; we shall get rid of him, and divide the spoil of his preferments.” We are not to think it strange if, when good men are sick, there be those that fear it, which makes the world not worthy of them, Rev_11:10. 4. There was one particularly, in whom he had reposed a great deal of confidence, that took part with his enemies and was as abusive to him as any of them (Psa_41:9): My own familiar friend; probably he means Ahithophel, who had been his bosom-friend and prime-minister of state, in whom he trusted as one inviolably firm to him, whose advice he relied much upon in dealing with his enemies, and who did eat of his bread, that is, with whom he had been very intimate and whom he had taken to sit at the table with hi, nay, whom he had maintained and given a livelihood to, and so obliged, both in gratitude and interest, to adhere to him. Those that had their maintenance from the king's palace did not think it meet for them to see the king's dishonour (Ezr_4:14), much less to do him dishonour. Yet this base and treacherous confidant of David's forgot all the eaten bread, and lifted up his heel against him that had lifted up his head; not only deserted him, but insulted him, kicked at him, endeavoured to supplant him. Those are wicked indeed whom no courtesy done them, nor confidence reposed in them, will oblige; and let us not think it strange if we receive abuses from such: David did, and the Son of David; for of Judas the traitor David here, in the Spirit, spoke; our Saviour himself so expounds this, and therefore gave Judas the sop, that the scripture might be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me, Joh_13:18, Joh_13:16. Nay, have not we ourselves behaved thus perfidiously and disingenuously towards God? We eat of his bread daily, and yet lift up the heel against him, as Jeshurun, that waxed fat and kicked, Deu_32:15.

K&D 7-9, "(Heb.: 41:8-10) Continuation of the description of the conduct of the

enemies and of the false friend. התלחש, as in 2Sa_12:19, to whisper to one another, or to

whisper among themselves; the Hithpa. sometimes (cf. Gen_42:1) has a reciprocal

meaning like the Niphal. The intelligence brought out by hypocritical visitors of the invalid concerning his critical condition is spread from mouth to mouth by all who wish him ill as satisfactory news; and in fact in whispers, because at that time caution was still

necessary. עלי stands twice in a prominent position in the sense of contra me. יIרעה�belong together: they maliciously invent what will be the very worst for him (going beyond what is actually told them concerning him). In this connection there is a feeling

in favour of ל�על� being intended of an evil fate, according to Psa_18:5, and not

according to Psa_101:3 (cf. Deu_15:9) of pernicious or evil thought and conduct. And

this view is also supported by the predicate ו� a matter of destruction, an incurable“ :יצוק�

evil (Hitzig) is poured out upon him,” i.e., firmly cast upon him after the manner of casting metal (Job_41:15.), so that he cannot get free from it, and he that has once had

to lie down will not again rise up. Thus do we understand אשר in Psa_41:9; there is no

occasion to take it as an accusative by departing from the most natural sense, as Ewald does, or as a conjunction, as Hitzig does. Even the man of his peace, or literally of his

harmonious relationship (איש�שלום as in Oba_1:7, Jer_20:10; Jer_38:22), on whom he

has depended with fullest confidence, who did eat his bread, i.e., was his messmate (cf.

Psa_55:15), has made his heel great against him, lxx Nµεγάλυνεν�Nπ�ʆ �NµW�πτερνισµόν. The

combination הג�יל�עקב is explained by the fact that עקב is taken in the sense of a thrust

with the heel, a kick: to give a great kick, i.e., with a good swing of the foot.

CALVI�,"7.All they that hate me whisper together against me. Here he seems generally to include both classes of his enemies; those who sought to oppress him in an open manner, and in the character of avowed enemies; and those who, under the pretense of friendship, attempted to do the same thing by deceit and stratagem. Accordingly, he says that all of them took counsel together about his destruction, just as we know that wicked men hold much secret consultation respecting their intended deeds of treachery, and whisper to one another concerning them. Hence he adds the words to meditate, or plot, which he employs to denote their base conspiracies and sinful consultations.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 7. All that hate me whisper together against me. The spy meets his comrades in conclave and sets them all a whispering. Why could they not speak out? Were they afraid of the sick warrior? Or were their designs so treacherous that they must needs be hatched in secrecy? Mark the unanimity of the wicked—all. How heartily the dogs unite to hunt the stag! Would God we were half as united in holy labour as persecutors in their malicious projects, and were half as wise as they are crafty, for their whispering was craft as well as cowardice, the conspiracy must not be known till all is ready. Against me do they devise my hurt. They lay their heads together, and scheme and plot. So did Ahithophel and the rest of Absalom's counsellors, so also did the chief priests and Pharisees. Evil men are good at devising; they are given to meditation, they are deep thinkers, but the mark they aim at is evermore the hurt of the faithful. Snakes in the grass are never there for a good end.

COFFMA�, "Verse 7

"All that hate me whisper together against me;

Against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him;

And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,

Who did eat of my bread,

Hath lifted up his heel against me."

"All that hate me whisper together against me" (Psalms 41:7). From his sick-bed, David could see certain people gathered together in small groups whispering evil things against the king. A rebellion, led by Absalom, was under way; but David's illness evidently prevented his finding out much about it until it was almost too late.

"An evil disease, they say, cleaveth fast unto him" (Psalms 41:8). Of special interest is this expression "evil disease." It means, "Something dastardly has fastened upon him."[11] The very vagueness of the report was part of its effectiveness; and this is also a mark of many other slanders that can be very damaging to their victims.

"Mine own familiar friend ... lifted up his heel against me" (Psalms 41:9). This entire verse was quoted by Our Lord himself in John 13:18 in his comment upon the treachery of Judas Iscariot. This has led some scholars to label this as a Messianic Psalm; but there does not seem to be any justification for that. Leupold admitted that, "It is indirectly Messianic," and especially as it regards Psalms 41:9.

Our Lord, knowing that David was a type of himself, and remembering that David indeed had been betrayed by a very close friend, Ahithophel, Jesus at once applied these words to Judas. As far as we can see, there is no other reference to Jesus Christ in this psalm.

There are circumstances that seem to make Ahithophel a kind of type of Judas Iscariot. Both betrayed their Lord; both held positions of trust; but were accustomed to 'eat bread' with the one betrayed; both were friends of the one to whom they were disloyal; both were defeated in their purpose; and both committed suicide when the extent of their mistake became evident to them.

"Who did eat of my bread" (Psalms 41:9). "At Oriental courts, the king's counselors (of whom Ahithophel was numbered) habitually ate at the king's table";[12] and Judas was dipping his hand in the same dish with Jesus on the very night in which he betrayed him.

"Hath lifted up his heel against me" (Psalms 41:9). This appears to be a metaphor

drawn from an example of a trusted animal that, on one occasion, viciously kicked his owner.

8 “A vile disease has afflicted him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.”

BAR�ES, "8.An evil deed of Belial cleaved fast to him. From this verse it appears that they had thus conspired together for his destruction, on the ground that they regarded him as a wicked man, and a person worthy of a thousand deaths. The insolence and arrogance which they manifested towards him proceeded from the false and wicked judgment which they had formed concerning him, and of which he made mention in the beginning of the psalm. They say, therefore, that an evil deed of Belial holds him shut up, and, as it were, bound fast. This the verb יצוק, yatsuk, properly signifies; but in translating the verse I have followed the rendering which is most commonly received, reading cleaveth fast to him, etc. This expression is by others rendered spreadeth upon him, but this interpretation seems to me to be too constrained. As to the word Belial, we have already spoken of it in the eighteenth psalm. But as grammarians maintain that it is compounded of בלי, beli, and יעל, yaäl, which signify not to rise, the expression, thing of Belial, (for so it is literally in the Hebrew,) I understand in this place as meaning an extraordinary and hateful crime, which, as we commonly say, can never be expiated, and from which there is no possibility of escape; unless, perhaps, some would rather refer it to the affliction itself under which he labored, as if his enemies had said that he was seized by some incurable malady. (105) But whatever may be as to this, his enemies regarded it as absolutely certain that God was altogether hostile to him, and would never be reconciled towards him, since he was chastising him with so much severity. When they add in the following clause, he shall never be able to rise again, (106) this clearly shows that they utterly cut off from him all hope of recovery. And certainly it was a sore temptation to David, who had in himself the testimony of a good conscience, to think that he was regarded by men as one who was pursued by the vengeance of God, nay, that they even cast him headlong into hell. But it pleased God thus to try his servant, that, trusting to the testimony of his own conscience, he should pay no regard to what men might say, or be troubled by the reproaches they

might cast upon him. It was also his design to teach us, by his example, that we must seek the reward of our righteousness elsewhere than in this world, since we see with what unequal balances the world often sets itself to estimate the difference between virtue and vice.

CLARKE, "An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him - דבר�בליעל�יצוק�בו

debar�beliyaal�yatsuk�bo, a thing, word, or pestilence of Belial, is poured out upon him. His

disease is of no common sort; it is a diabolical malady.

He shall rise up no more - His disease is incurable without a miracle; and he is too much hated of God to have one wrought for him. Some apply this to the death and resurrection of Christ; he lieth - he is dead and buried; he shall never rise again from the dead.

GILL, "An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him,.... Not any bodily one, of which they might hope he would die; much less any foul disease, the disease of sin; but, as the phrase may be rendered, "a word of Belial" (y); that is, a wicked charge or accusation; a charge of sin brought against him by the sons of Belial, as of blasphemy and sedition, which they concluded would be fastened upon him, and stick by him, and in which they should succeed to their wishes; or else the shameful punishment the death of the cross, inflicted on him, which they fancied would fix an indelible mark of infamy and scandal on him, since cursed is he that hangeth on a tree;

and now that he lieth, let him rise up no more; has much as he was dead, of which they had full proof, and was laid in the grave, his tomb watched, and the stone rolled to it sealed; they thought all was safe, and it was all over with him, that he would never rise again, as he had given out, and his disciples incapable of committing a fraud they afterwards accused them with: this, according to the above learned writer, see Psa_41:6, was said by Absalom, as he thinks Ahithophel is the person designed in Psa_41:9.

JAMISO�, "An evil disease — literally, “a word of Belial,” some slander.

cleaveth — literally, “poured on him.”

that he lieth — who has now laid down, “he is utterly undone and our victory is sure.”

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him. They whisper that some curse has fallen upon him, and is riveted to him. They insinuate that a foul secret stains his character, the ghost whereof haunts his house, and never can be laid. An air of mystery is cast around this doubly dark saying, as if to show how indistinct are the mutterings of malice. Even thus was our Lord accounted "smitten of God and afflicted." His enemies conceived that God had forsaken him, and delivered him for ever into their hands. And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. His sickness they hoped was mortal, and this was fine news for them. �o more would the good man's holiness chide their sin, they would now be free from the check of his godliness. Like the friars around Wycliffe's bed, their prophesyings were more jubilant than accurate, but they were a sore scourge to the sick man.

When the Lord smites his people with his rod of affliction for a small moment, their enemies expect to see them capitally executed, and prepare their jubilates to celebrate their funerals, but they are in too great a hurry, and have to alter their ditties and sing to another tune. Our Redeemer eminently foretokened this, for out of his lying in the grave he has gloriously risen. Vain the watch, the stone, the seal! Rising he pours confusion on his enemies.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him. An evil deed of Belial cleaveth fast to him. Grammarians maintain that the word Belial is compounded of (ylb), beli, and (ley), yaal, which signify "not to rise" the expression, "thing of Belial" (for so it is literally in the Hebrew), I understand in this place as meaning an extraordinary and hateful crime which as we commonly say can never be expiated, and from which there is no possibility of escape; unless perhaps some would rather refer it to the affliction itself under which he laboured, as if his enemies had said that he was seized by some incurable malady. John Calvin.Ver. 8. An evil disease, etc. What is here meant by (leylb-rkd) is matter of some difficulty. The ancient interpreters generally render it a perverse or mischievous, or wicked word; the Chaldee, a perverse word; the Syriac, a word of iniquity; the LXX logon paranomon; the Latin, iniquum verbum, a wicked word; the Arabic, words contrary to the law. And so in all probability it is set to signify a great slander, or calumny —that as "men of Belial" are slanderous persons, so the speech of Belial shall signify a slanderous speech. And this is said to "cleave" to him on whom it is fastened, it being the nature of calumnies, when strongly affixed on any, to cleave fast, and leave some evil mark behind them. Henry Hammond.

BE�SO�, "Verse 8-9Psalms 41:8-9. An evil disease cleaveth fast unto him — Hebrew, דבר בליעל, debar Belijagnal, a word, or thing of Belial. Literally, says Houbigant, A thing of Belial is poured out upon him, that is, his wickedness is brought round upon, or overflows him. The reproach wherewith they had loaded him, they hoped, would cleave so fast to him, that his name would perish with him, and they should gain their point. Or, their meaning was, The disease, wherewith he is now afflicted, will certainly make an end of him; for it is the punishment of some great, enormous crime, which he will not repent of, and which proves him, however he has appeared, a son of Belial. And now he lieth, he will rise up no more — Seeing God has begun to punish him, he will continue so to do till he destroy him, and then we shall be rid of him, and divide the spoil of his preferments. Yea, mine own familiar friend — Probably he means Ahithophel, who had been his bosom friend, and prime minister of state; in whom he had trusted, as one inviolably firm to him, and on whose advice he had relied much, in dealing with his enemies: which did eat of my bread — With whom he had been very intimate, and whom he had taken to sit at the table with him; nay, whom he had maintained and given a livelihood to, and so obliged both in gratitude and interest to adhere to him; hath lifted up his heel against me — A phrase implying injury joined with insolence and contempt; taken from an unruly horse, which kicks at him that owns and feeds it. He not only deserted, but insulted; opposed and endeavoured to supplant him. Those are wicked indeed, whom no courtesy done them, no confidence reposed in them, will oblige. Although these words were

literally fulfilled in David, yet the Holy Ghost, who dictated them, looked further in them, even to Christ and Judas, in whom they received a further and fuller accomplishment; and to whom, therefore, they are applied, John 13:18 .

WHEDO�, "8. An evil disease… cleaveth fast unto him—Hebrew, An affair of Belial is firm in him. On Belial, see Psalms 18:4. דבר, (dabar,) (English version, disease,) may take the sense of matter, cause, forensically, that is, suit at law, as Exodus 18:16 ; Exodus 18:19-20; and יצוק, (yatzook,) (English version, cleaveth fast,) takes the sense of firmness, fixedness, as in Job 41:23, “they are firm in themselves;” and Job 41:24, “His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.” [Hebrews of vers. 15, 16.] The sense is, that David’s sickness was regarded as evidence of a hopeless controversy with God, in which the king, who is supposed to be fixed and stubborn, would surely fall.

9 Even my close friend, someone I trusted,one who shared my bread, has turned[b] against me.

BAR�ES, "Yea, mine own familiar friend - Margin, as in Hebrew: “the man of my peace.” The man with whom I was at peace; who had no cause of alienation from me; with whom I was associated in the most peaceful and friendly relations.

In whom I trusted - He whom I made my confidential friend, and on whom I supposed I could rely in the time of trouble.

Which did eat of my bread - This may either denote one who was supported by him as one of his family, or else one who partook of his hospitality. In the former case, if that is the meaning, he bad a right to expect that, as a matter of gratitude, such an one would stand by him, and not be found among his enemies. In the latter case, if that is the meaning, he had a right to expect that one who had shared his hospitality would not be found among his foes.

Hath lifted up his heel against me - Margin, as in Hebrew: “magnified.” So the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. Lather renders this, “hath trodden me under his feet.”

The figure here is taken from a horse that turns and kicks him that had fed him. This passage is applied Joh_13:18 to Judas, with the statement, in regard to him, that what he had done was done “that the Scripture might be fulfilled:” see the notes at that passage. It is not necessary to suppose that the Saviour meant to say that the passage in the psalm had original and exclusive reference to Judas; the phrase employed by the Saviour, “that the Scripture might be fulfilled,” may have been used by him in that large sense in which these words are often used as denoting, either:

(a) that the language found in the Scriptures, and applicable originally to another case, “would properly express the idea,” or describe the fact; or

(b) that the case referred to was one of a class; or that, as it was accomplished in the case of David, so in a similar sense it was accomplished in the case of the Saviour.

In other words, Judas was regarded as belonging to the same class as the individual to whom the psalm refers. He was one to whom the language of the psalm was applicable; and the Saviour endured the same kind of suffering which the person did who is referred to in the psalm. Thus the language of the Scriptures, applicable to all such cases, received a complete fulfillment in Him. It is remarkable that, in the reference to Judas, the Saviour quotes only a part of the verse: “He that eateth bread with me.” He omits, apparently from design, the former part of the verse in the psalm, “mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,” as if he would not even seem to convey the idea that he ever regarded Judas as his intimate friend, or as if he had ever really “trusted” him. He conveys the idea that Judas had partaken largely of his favors, but not that He himself was ever really a stranger to the baseness of his heart, Joh_6:64, Joh_6:70.

CLARKE, "Mine own familiar friend - This is either a direct prophecy of the treachery of Judas, or it is a fact in David’s distresses which our Lord found so similar to the falsity of his treacherous disciple, that he applies it to him, Joh_13:18. What we

translate mine own familiar friend, איש�שלומי ish�shelomi, is the man of my peace. The

man who, with the שלום�לך shalom�lecha, peace be to thee! kissed me; and thus gave the

agreed-on signal to my murderers that I was the person whom they should seize, hold fast, and carry away.

Did eat of my bread - Was an inmate in my house. Applied by our Lord to Judas, when eating with him out of the same dish. See Joh_13:18, Joh_13:26. Possibly it may refer to Ahithophel, his counsellor, the man of his peace, his prime minister; who, we know, was the strength of Absalom’s conspiracy.

GILL, "Yea, mine own familiar friend,.... Or, "the man of my peace" (z); who did live peaceably with him, and ought always to have done so; whom he treated as his friend, as the rest of the apostles; calling him to that high office, and ordaining him to it, and qualifying him for it; and whom he called by the name of friend, when he came to betray him; Judas is meant;

in whom I trusted; with the bag and the money in it, both for the sustenance of his own family, the apostles, and for the relief of the poor, Joh_12:6;

which did eat of my bread; of his bread in common with the rest of the apostles; and who was eating with him when he gave the sign who should betray him; and who seems to have eaten of the bread in the Lord's supper: even this same person

hath lifted up his heel against me; by supplanting him, dealing hypocritically with him, and betraying him into the hands of his enemies: the metaphor is either taken from an unruly horse throwing his rider, and then ungenerously spurning at him, and trampling on him; or from wrestlers, who seek to supplant and trip up each other's heels; which shows the ingratitude, baseness, and treachery of Judas; see Joh_13:18.

JAMISO�, "mine ... friend — literally, “the man of my peace.”

eat ... bread — who depended on me or was well treated by me.

hath lifted up heel — in scornful violence. As David and his fortunes typified Christ and His (compare Introduction), so these words expressed the treatment he received, and also that of his Son and Lord; hence, though not distinctly prophetical, our Savior (Joh_13:18) applies them to Judas, “that the Scripture may be fulfilled.” This last phrase has a wide use in the New Testament, and is not restricted to denote special prophecies.

ELLICOTT, "(9) Hath lifted up his heel.—See margin. The meaning is, possibly, kicked violently at me. But Böttcher’s conjecture is valuable, “has magnified his fraud against me,” which is supported by the LXX. and Vulg., “has magnified his supplanting of me.” (For the quotation of this verse in John 13:18, see New Testament Commentary.) The rights of Oriental hospitality must be remembered, to bring out all the blackness of the treachery here described. The expressive Hebrew idiom, “man of my peace,” is retained in the margin. Possibly (see Note, Obadiah 1:7) the second clause recalls another idiom, “man of my bread.”

CALVI�,"9.Even the man of my peace. As the very height of all his miseries, David here declares that he had found the same treachery in some one, or, indeed, in many of his greatest friends. For the change of number is very frequent in the Hebrew language, so that he may speak of several individuals as if they were only one person. Thus the meaning would be: �ot only the common people, or strangers of whom I had no knowledge or acquaintance, but my greatest friends, nay, even those with whom I was most intimate, and those of my own household, whom I admitted to eat and drink with me at my table, vaunt themselves reproachfully against me. Among the Hebrews, the expression, men of peace, denotes their kinsfolk and connections; but it was a much closer alliance, and one which ought to have secured a stricter observance of the laws of friendship, to eat the bread of David in company with himself: for it is as if he had employed the appellation, My companion. (107) If, however, any would rather understand it of some particular traitor than of several persons, I have no objection to it. To lift up the heel is, in my opinion, to be understood metaphorically, and signifies to rise up disdainfully against a man who is afflicted and cast down. (108) Others explain the expression by to lay wait secretly; but the former interpretation is more appropriate, That the wicked, seeing that David was placed in embarrassed circumstances, or already prostrated in the dust, took occasion from this to assail him indirectly indeed, but, nevertheless, always with insolence; a thing which usually happens among people of a wicked and servile disposition. Christ, in quoting this passage, (John 13:18,) applies it to the person of Judas. And certainly we ought to understand that, although David speaks

of himself in this psalm, yet he speaks not as a common and private person, but as one who represented the person of Christ, inasmuch as he was, as it were, the example after which the whole Church should be conformed — a point well entitled to our attention, in order that each of us may prepare himself for the same condition. It was necessary that what was begun in David should be fully accomplished in Christ; and, therefore, it must of necessity come to pass, that the same thing should be fulfilled in each of his members, namely, that they should not only suffer from external violence and force, but also from internal foes, ever ready to betray them, even as Paul declares that the Church shall be assailed, not only by “fightings without,” but also by “fears within,” (2 Corinthians 7:5.)

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 9. Yea. Here is the climax of the sufferer's woe, and he places before it the emphatic affirmation, as if he thought that such villainy would scarcely be believed. Mine own familiar friend. "The man of my peace, "so runs the original, with whom I had no differences, with whom I was in league, who had aforetime ministered to my peace and comfort. This was Ahithophel to David, and Iscariot with our Lord. Judas was an apostle, admitted to the privacy of the Great Teacher, hearing his secret thoughts, and, as it were, allowed to read his very heart. "Et tu Brute?" said the expiring Caesar. The kiss of the traitor wounded our Lord's heart as much as the nail wounded his hand. In whom I trusted. Judas was the treasurer of the apostolic college. Where we place great confidence an unkind act is the more severely felt. Which did eat of my bread. �ot only as a guest but as a dependant, a pensioner at my board. Judas dipped in the same dish with his Lord, and hence the more accursed was his treachery in his selling his Master for a slave's price. Hath lifted up his heel against me. �ot merely turned his back on me, but left me with a heavy kick such as a vicious horse might give. Hard is it to be spurned in our need by those who formerly fed at our table. It is noteworthy that the Redeemer applied only the last words of this verse to Judas, perhaps because, knowing his duplicity, he had never made a familiar friend of him in the fullest sense, and had not placed implicit trust in him. Infernal malice so planned it that every circumstance in Jesus' death should add wormwood to it; and the betrayal was one of the bitterest drops of gall. We are indeed, wretched when our quondam friend becomes our relentless foe, when confidence is betrayed, when all the rites of hospitality are perverted, and ingratitude is the only return for kindness; yet in so deplorable a case we may cast ourselves upon the faithfulness of God, who, having, delivered our Covenant Head, is in verity engaged to be the very present help of all for whom that covenant was made.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, etc. The sufferings of the church, like those of her Redeemer, generally begin at home: her open enemies can do her no harm, until her pretended friends have delivered her into their hands; and, unnatural as it may seem, they who have waxed fat upon her bounty, are sometimes the first to lift the heel against her. George Horne.Ver. 9. Mine own familiar friend. He who, on visiting me, continually saluted me with the kiss of love and veneration, and the usual address: peace be to thee. Hermann Venema.Ver. 9. Which did eat of my beard. If the same sentiment prevailed among the

Hebrews, which prevails at the present day among the Bedouin Arabs, of sacred regard to the person and property of one with whom they have eaten bread and salt, the language is very forcible. Hath lifted up his heel: a metaphor drawn from the horse, which attacks with its heel. This language may well have been used by our Saviour, in John 13:18, in the way of rhetorical illustration or emphasis. George R. �oyes, D.D.Ver. 9. Hath lifted up his heel against me. In this phrase he seems to allude to a beast's kicking at his master by whom he is fed, or the custom of men's spurning at or trampling upon those that are cast down on the ground, in a way of despite and contempt. Arthur Jackson.Ver. 9. Hath lifted up his heel against me; i.e., hath spurned me, hath kicked at me, as a vicious beast of burden does; hath insulted me in my misery. Daniel Cresswell.

WHEDO�, "9. Yea— here takes the sense of also, moreover, even, as (,gam) ,גםgiving an accession to what had already been said. �ot only had enemies conspired against him, but even his own familiar friend— Hebrew, A man of my peace, my trusted counsellor.

Which did eat of my bread—My table companion. A designation of familiar confidence. See a further description, Psalms 55:13-14.

Hath lifted up his heel—Hebrew, hath magnified his heel, a proverbial phrase for a formidable and treacherous conspiracy. On “heel,” see note on Psalms 49:5, where the same word occurs. The reference is to Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 16:23. Our Lord quotes this passage as prophetic of Judas Iscariot, John 13:18, where in Psalms 41:9 he interprets, “lifted up his heel,” by “one of you shall betray me.” See the introductory note of this psalm.

10 But may you have mercy on me, Lord; raise me up, that I may repay them.

BAR�ES, "But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me - That is, give me strength; restore me from my sickness and weakness.

And raise me up - From my bed of languishing.

That I may requite them - That I may repay them; or may recompense them. The

word used here - shālam שלם - means properly, to be whole, sound, safe; then, in Piel, to

make secure, or preserve in safety; and then, to complete, to make whole, to make good, to restore; and then, to make whole or to complete in the sense of recompensing or requiting: to make the matter equal. It would be well expressed here by the familiar language, “giving them what they deserve.” But it is not necessary to understand this as indicating an unforgiving spirit. The writer may have meant to say that the persons who demeaned themselves in this manner ought to be punished; that the public good required it; and being a magistrate, he spoke as one appointed to administer the laws, and prayed for a restoration to strength, that he might administer justice in this and in all similar cases. It is possible also that he meant to say he would repay them by “heaping coals of fire on their heads” - by acts of kindness in place of the wrongs that they had done him (see Pro_25:21-22; compare Rom_12:20-21); though I admit, that this is not the obvious interpretation. But in order to show that this was uttered with a bad spirit, and under the promptings of revenge, it would be necessary to show that neither of these supposable interpretations could be the true one. It may be added here that we may not be required to vindicate all the expressions of personal feeling found in the Psalms in order to any just view of inspiration. See General Introduction, 6 (6).

CLARKE, "Raise me up - Restore me from this sickness, that I may requite them. This has also been applied to our Lord; who, knowing that he must die, prays that he may rise again, and thus disappoint the malice of his enemies.

GILL, "But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up,.... Not from a bed of illness, nor from a state of poverty and want; but from the dead: it was by the will of his divine Father that he suffered death, and it was to him he made satisfaction and reconciliation for the sins of his people, by his sufferings and death; and therefore it was but a reasonable request, that, having done this, he should be raised from the dead: besides, his Father had promised it, and he had believed it; so that this prayer was a prayer of faith, founded upon a divine promise; and the resurrection of Christ is for the most part ascribed to God the Father as his act; though not to the exclusion of the Son, who had power, as to lay down his life, so to take it up again; and though the resurrection of Christ from the dead is not only an act of power, but also of justice, he having paid his people's debts, atoned for their sins, and satisfied law and justice, it was but right and equitable that he should be discharged from the prison of the grave, and set free; yet here it is requested as an act of mercy, grace, and kindness; for, by doing it, it would appear that his Father's wrath was taken away from him, and that he had turned himself from the fierceness of his anger to him, and that he was well pleased with his righteousness and sacrifice; besides, it was giving him glory, as well as rolling away the reproach he lay under; and, however, it was in mercy to his body the church, whom he represented, since it was for their justification; nay, their regeneration is influenced by it; and so is the resurrection of their bodies, of which Christ's resurrection is the pledge and pattern. The end Christ had in view in making the request follows;

that I may requite them: not "him", Judas, last mentioned; for justice pursued and overtook him; he destroyed himself, and was gone to his own place, before Christ's

resurrection from the dead; but them, the Jews, as a body; his enemies that spoke ill of him, wished ill to him, conspired against him, to take away his life, and did bring him to the dust of death: and this his requital of them, after his resurrection, was either of good for evil, by ordering his disciples to preach his Gospel, first at Jerusalem, to those very persons who were concerned in his death, many of whom were converted, baptized, and added to the church; or of evil, for their evil to him, which had its accomplishment in part, at the destruction of Jerusalem, and will more fully at the day of judgment, when they that have pierced him shall see him come in the clouds of heaven.

HE�RY, " He prayed to God that they might be disappointed. He said nothing to them, but turned himself to God: O Lord! be thou merciful to me, for they are unmerciful, Psa_41:10. He had prayed in reference to the insults of his enemies, Lord, be merciful to me, for this is a prayer which will suit every case. God's mercy has in it a redress for every grievance, “They endeavour to run me down, but, Lord, do thou raise me up from this bed of languishing, from which they think I shall never arise. Raise me up that I may requite them, that I may render them good for evil” (so some), for that was David's practice, Psa_7:4; Psa_35:13. A good man will even wish for an opportunity of making it to appear that he bears no malice to those that have been injurious to him, but, on the contrary, that he is ready to do them any good office. Or, “That, as a king, I may put them under the marks of my just displeasure, banish them the court, and forbid them my table for the future,” which would be a necessary piece of justice, for warning to others. Perhaps in this prayer is couched a prophecy of the exaltation of Christ, whom God raised up, that he might be a just avenger of all the wrongs done to him and to his people, particularly by the Jews, whose utter destruction followed not long after.

JAMISO�, "A lawful punishment of criminals is not revenge, nor inconsistent with their final good (compare Psa_40:14, Psa_40:15).

K&D 10-12, "(Heb.: 41:11-13) Having now described their behaviour towards him, sick in soul and body as he is, so devoid of affection, yea, so malignantly hostile and so totally contrary to the will and promise of God, David prays that God would raise him up, for he is now lying low, sick in soul and in body. The prayer is followed, as in Ps 39:14 and many other passages, by the future with ah: that I may be able to requite them, or: then will I requite them. What is meant is the requiting which it was David's duty as a duly constituted king to exercise, and which he did really execute by the power of God, when he subdued the rebellion of Absalom and maintained his ground in

opposition to faithlessness and meanness. Instead of זאת�אדע� (Gen_42:33, cf. Gen_15:8,

Exo_7:17; Num_16:28; Jos_3:10) the expression is זאת�ידע,י� in the sense of (ex hoc)

cognoverim. On י��זאת the ,�י cf. Psa_18:20; Psa_22:9; Psa_35:27. By the second חפצ,�,

which points forwards, is explained. The adversatively accented subject ואני stands first

in Psa_41:13 as a nom. absol., just as in Psa_35:13. Psa_41:13 states, retrospectively from the standpoint of fulfilment, what will then be made manifest and assure him of the

divine good pleasure, viz., Jahve upholds him (מך�, as in Psa_63:9), and firmly sets him

as His chosen one before Him (cf. Psa_39:6) in accordance with the Messianic promise in 2Sa_7:16, which speaks of an unlimited future.

CALVI�,"10Do thou, O Jehovah I have mercy upon me. From a consideration of the wrongful cruelty of his enemies, he again takes encouragement to pray. And there is included in what he says a tacit contrast between God and men; as if he had said, Since there is to be found no aid or help in the world, but as, on the contrary, a strange degree of cruelty, or secret malice, every where prevails, be thou, at least, O Lord! pleased to succor me by thy mercy. This is the course which ought to be pursued by all the afflicted, whom the world unjustly persecutes; that is to say, they ought not only to occupy themselves in bewailing the wrongs which are done them, but they ought also to commend their cause to God: and the more Satan endeavors to overthrow their faith, and to distract their thoughts, the more should they fix their minds attentively on God alone. In using such language, the Psalmist again ascribes his restoration to the mercy of God as its cause. What he says in the concluding clause of the verse of taking vengeance seems harsh and unaccountable. If he confessed truly and from the heart, in the preceding part of the psalm, that God was just in thus afflicting him, why does he not extend forgiveness to others, as he desires that forgiveness should be granted to himself? Surely it were a shameful abuse of the grace of God, if, after having been restored and pardoned by him, we should refuse to follow his example in showing mercy. Besides, it would have been a feeling far removed from that of humility or kindness, for David, even while he was yet in the midst of death, to have desired revenge. But here two things are to be taken into account: First, David was not as one of the common people, but a king appointed by God, and invested with authority; and, secondly, It is not from an impulse of the flesh, but in virtue of the nature of his office, that he is led to denounce against his enemies the punishment which they had merited. If, then, each individual indiscriminately, in taking vengeance upon his enemies, should allege the example of David in his own defense, it is necessary, first, to take into account the difference which subsists between us and David, by reason of the circumstances and position in which he was placed by God; (110) and, secondly, it is necessary to ascertain whether the same zeal which was in him reigns also in us, or rather, whether we are directed and governed by the same divine Spirit. David, being king, was entitled, in virtue of his royal authority, to execute the vengeance of God against the wicked; but as to us our hands are tied. In the second place, As he represented the person of Christ, so he cherished in his heart pure and holy affections: and hence it is, that, in speaking as he does in this verse, he indulged not his own angry spirit, but fulfilled faithfully the duties of the station to which he had been called of God. In short, in acting thus, he executed the righteous judgment of God, just in the same way as it is lawful for us to pray that the Lord himself would take vengeance upon the ungodly; for, as we are not armed with the power of the sword, it is our duty to have recourse to the heavenly Judge. At the same time, in beseeching him to show himself our guardian and defender, by taking vengeance on our enemies, we must do so in a calm and composed state of mind, and exercise a watchful care lest we should give too loose reins to our desires, by casting off the rule prescribed by the Spirit. As to David, the duties of his station required that he should employ means for subduing the rebellious, and that he should be truly the minister of God in inflicting punishment upon all the wicked.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 10. But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me. How the hunted and affrighted soul turns to her God! How she seems to take breath with a "but, thou!" How she clings to the hope of mercy from God when every chance of pity from man is gone! And raise me up. Recover me from my sickness, give me to regain my position. Jesus was raised up from the grave; his descent was ended by an ascent. That I may requite them. This as it reads is a truly Old Testament sentence, and quite aside from the spirit of Christianity, yet we must remember that David was a person in magisterial office, and might without any personal revenge, desire to punish those who had insulted his authority and libelled his public character. Our great Apostle and High Priest had no personal animosities, but even he by his resurrection has requited the powers of evil, and avenged on death and hell all their base attacks upon his cause and person. Still the strained application of every sentence of this Psalm to Christ is not to our liking, and we prefer to call attention to the better spirit of the gospel beyond that of the old dispensation.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 10. That I may requite them. Either (1), kindness for injuries (as in Psalms 35:13): it is the mark of a good and brave man to do good to all in his power, to hurt no one, even though provoked by wrong: or, (2), punishment for wrong doing—that I may punish them; for am I not their magistrate, and the executioner of God's justice! Martin Geier.Ver. 10. That I may requite them. David was not as one of the common people, but a king appointed by God and invested with authority, and it is not from an impulse of the flesh, but in virtue of the nature of his office, that he is led to denounce against his enemies the punishment which they had merited. John Calvin.

COFFMA�, "Verse 10"But thou, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me, and raise me up,

That I may requite them.

By this I know that thou delightest in me,

Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,

And settest me before thy face forever."

"O Jehovah, have mercy upon me" (Psalms 41:10). This verse concludes the prayer that began in Psalms 41:4, both the beginning and the ending of it being a plea for mercy.

"That I may requite them" (Psalms 41:10). Some of the alleged `scholars' have a fit about this. What a hard-hearted old scoundrel David was that he would think of executing justice upon the traitors who had just engaged themselves in an effort to destroy the government and replace the king! Such seems to be the thoughts of some who bitterly criticize these words. "Kittel, for example, cites this as an example of

`hot glorying vengeance' and labels it `carnal passion,' claiming that we can never sanction it."[13]

It is precisely this attitude on the part of men who should be teaching Christianity that has perverted the common understanding of it to be that nobody, but nobody, should be punished.

Our society today is in serious trouble because of this anti-Christian, foolish, and rebellious attitude on the part of alleged "teachers of the truth." The proof of this is simple enough. Our city of Houston, along with many other great American cities actually killed more people through violent crimes on their streets in each one of those cities during the brief period of the Persian Gulf War than were killed by waging the war.

It is a shame and a reproach that our society has forgotten that God said, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man" (Genesis 9:6). This is not "an option" that governments have in dealing with murderers; it is an order, a Divine and binding order; and the neglect of it by any society is absolutely suicidal.

Certainly, as the king, the head of the government, and the judge and ruler of Israel, it was David's duty to put to death the vicious criminals who almost toppled his kingship. We are disgusted with the opinions of people who really do not think any criminal should suffer the appropriate punishment for his deeds. Did not our Lord say:

"But these mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me."- Luke 19:27"SIZE>

"David not only prayed for health here so that he might carry out his duty of just requital as the royal Judge of Israel; but he included a three-fold testimony of the Lord, who (1) shows his good pleasure in vindicating his own (Psalms 41:11); (2) does not allow integrity to go unrewarded (Psalms 41:12a); and (3) and brings sinners into an intimate relationship with himself (Psalms 41:4,12b)."[14]

BE�SO�, "Psalms 41:10. But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me — They censure me grievously, and conclude my case to be desperate; but, Lord, do thou vindicate me, and confute them. Raise me up, that I may requite them — Hebrew, ואשלמה, veashallemah, and I will requite them, that is, punish them for their malicious, perfidious, and wicked practices, which, being now a magistrate, it was his duty to do, for the public good. For he was not to bear the sword in vain, but, being a minister of God, invested with his authority, was to be a revenger, to execute wrath upon those that did evil, Romans 13:4 ; although, when a private person, he was so far from revenging himself that he rendered good for evil, Psalms 35:12-13. In this prayer of David, that God would raise him up, is included a prophecy of the

exaltation of Christ, whom God raised from the dead, that he might be a just avenger of all the wrongs done to him and to his people, particularly by the Jews, whose utter destruction followed not long after. Thus, “the hour is coming when the church shall arise to glory, and all her enemies shall be confounded.” — Horne.

PETT, "Verses 10-12He Prays For Healing And Expresses His Certainty That God Will Help Him Against His Enemies, Confident Also That God Upholds His Integrity And Has Indeed Set Him Before His Face For Ever (Psalms 41:10-12).

Psalms 41:10-12

‘But you, O YHWH, have mercy on me, and raise me up,That I may requite them.By this I know that you delight in me,Because my enemy does not triumph over me.’‘And as for me, you uphold me in my integrity,And set me before your face for ever.’The Psalmist prays that God will heal him and raise him up so that he might deal with his enemies as they deserve and maintain the throne for YHWH (we must remember that they were seeking to introduce the dreadful evil of civil war into his kingdom), and expresses his joy in recognising that his deliverance reveals that God delights in him. It demonstrates that God is upholding him in his integrity, and has set him before His face for ever.

We should note that the reason that he does expect God to uphold him is because of his integrity. It is not simply because he is God’s ‘favourite’ as such, but because he is also loyal and true to YHWH and walks in His ways. That indeed is why He sets him before His face for ever. To be ‘set before His face for ever’ is to be living in His presence and under His protection, knowing that His eye is ever upon him, both now and for ever. We note here again David’s assurance of God’s eternal interest in him (compare Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15; Psalms 23:6). This is especially emphatic in the light of the following reference to ‘from everlasting to everlasting’. He has at this moment eternity in his heart.

WHEDO�, "10. That I may requite them—Their sin was high treason, which by the laws of all nations is punishable with death. But as they had conspired against the throne of David no less than against his person, the issue lay primarily between them and God, who had anointed David as king, and promised perpetuity to his dynasty. The stability of government, involving the public welfare, demanded that proper notice should be taken of their proceedings.

11 I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

BAR�ES, "By this I know - Compare the notes at Psa_20:6. This indicates a confident assurance that his prayer would be answered, and that he would be restored to health. How he had this assurance we are not informed, but it seems most probable that it was by an intimation conveyed to his mind by God himself. Compare, for a similar case, Phi_1:25. See the notes at that passage.

That thou favorest me - That thou dost delight in me; that thou art my friend.

Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me - The word here rendered triumph properly means to shout, or to make a noise. As a sign of exultation, more especially in war: 1Sa_17:20. Here it means that his enemy would not secure a victory over him; or would not shout as if such a victory were obtained. That is, he felt assured now that all the machinations of his goes would be defeated; that all the hopes which they cherished that he was soon to die would be disappointed; that he himself would be recovered from Iris sickness, contrary to their malicious anticipations and desires. This he regarded as an evidence that God was his friend.

CLARKE, "By this I know that thou favorest me - If thou hadst not been on my side, I had perished by this disease; and then my enemies would have had cause to triumph.

This also has been applied to our Lord; and Calmet says it is the greatest proof we have of the divinity of Christ, that he did not permit the malice of the Jews, nor the rage of the devil, to prevail against him. They might persecute, blaspheme, mock, insult, crucify, and slay him; but his resurrection confounded them; and by it he gained the victory over sin, death, and hell.

GILL, "By this I know that thou favourest me,.... Or "delightest in me" (z); as he did, both as his Son and his servant; in his obedience, sufferings, and death, whereby his counsels were accomplished, his covenant ratified, and the salvation of his people procured; and which delight and well pleasedness in him was the ground of his deliverance from the power of death and the grave; see Psa_18:19; the token by which Christ knew this was,

because mine enemy doth not triumph over me; Judas could not; he was too short lived, he was quickly taken away, and all the woes fall upon him imprecated on him, Psa_109:6; nor the Jews; for though they were highly delighted when they had fastened him to the cross, and when he was dead, and laid in the grave; yet they could not sing their jubilee song over him until the third day was past; for they knew he had given out that he should rise again the third day; on which day he did rise, and his

apostles preached that he was alive, and through him the resurrection of the dead, to their great grief, vexation, and mortification: nor did Satan, the enemy of Christ, personal and mystical, triumph over him; not in the wilderness, where, after he had tempted him, he was obliged to leave him; nor in the garden, and his agony there, where he was strengthened by an angel; nor even on the cross; for on that Christ himself triumphed over Satan and his principalities, whom he spoiled, and destroyed the devil and all his works; and, at his ascension to heaven, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men, in token of triumph, and went forth, in the ministration of the Gospel, conquering, and to conquer; turning men from the power of Satan, and causing his servants to triumph in him, while they were in every place diffusing the savour of his knowledge.

HE�RY, "He assured himself that they would be disappointed (Psa_41:11): “By this I know that thou favourest me and my interest, because my enemy doth not triumph over me.” They hoped for his death, but he found himself, through mercy, recovering, and this would add to the comfort of his recovery, (1.) That it would be a disappointment to his adversaries; they would be crest-fallen and wretchedly ashamed, and there would be no occasion to upbraid them with their disappointment; they would fret at it themselves. Note. Though we may not take a pleasure in the fall of our enemies, we may take a pleasure in the frustrating of their designs against us. (2.) That is would be a token of God's favour to him, and a certain evidence that he did favour him, and would continue to do so. Note, When we can discern the favour of God to us in any mercy, personal or public, that doubles it and sweetens it.

JAMISO�, "favourest — or tenderly lovest me (Gen_34:19), evinced by relief from his enemies, and, farther, God recognizes his innocence by upholding him.

CALVI�,"11By this I know that I have been acceptable to thee David now proceeds to the exercise of thanksgiving; unless, indeed, by altering the tense of the verb, we would rather with some read this verse in connection with the preceding, in this way: In this I shall know that thou favorest me, if thou suffer not my enemies to triumph over me; but it suits much better to understand it as an expression of joy on account of some deliverance which God had vouchsafed to him. After having offered up his prayers, he now ascribes his deliverance to God, and speaks of it as a manifest and singular benefit he had received from him. It might, however, be asked, whether it is a sufficiently sure method of our coming to the knowledge of God’s love towards us, that he does not suffer our enemies to triumph over us? for it will often happen, that a man is delivered from danger, whom, nevertheless, God does not regard with pleasure; and, besides, the good-will of God towards us is known chiefly from his word, and not simply by experience. The answer to this is easy: David was not destitute of faith, but for the confirmation of it he took advantage of the helps which God had afterwards added to his word. In speaking thus, he seems to refer not only to the favor and good-will which God bears to all the faithful in common, but to the special favor which God had conferred upon him in choosing him to be king; as if he had said, �ow, Lord, I am more and more confirmed in the belief that thou hast vouchsafed to adopt me to be the first-born among the kings of the earth. Thus he extends to the whole state of the realm the help of God, by means of which he had been delivered from some particular calamity.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 11. We are all cheered by tokens for good, and the psalmist felt it to be an auspicious omen, that after all his deep depression he was not utterly given over to his foe. By this I know that thou favourest me. Thou hast a special regard to me, I have the secret assurance of this in my heart, and, therefore, thine outward dealings do not dismay me, for I know that thou lovest me in them all. Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. What if the believer has no triumph over his foes, he must be glad that they do not triumph over him. If we have not all we would we should praise God for all we have. Much there is in us over which the ungodly might exult, and if God's mercy keeps the dog's mouths closed when they might be opened, we must give him our heartiest gratitude. What a wonder it is that when the devil enters the lists with a poor, erring, bedridden, deserted, slandered saint, and has a thousand evil tongues to aid him, yet he cannot win the day, but in the end slinks off without renown."The feeblest saint shall win the dayThough death and hell obstruct the way, "EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 11. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me: not because I have no enemies, or because I have no trouble which would overcome me. Therefore when he wrote down many troubles, he blotted it (as it were) with his pen again, as a merchant razes his book when the debt is discharged; and instead of many troubles, he putteth in, the Lord delivereth. Because he forgiveth all sins, he is said to deliver from all troubles, to show that we have need of no Saviour, no helper, no comforter, but him. Henry Smith.Ver. 11. By this I know that thou favourest me. In this text we see two things. 1. How David assures himself of God's love towards him. 2. How thankful he is to God for assuring him of his love. The first he doth by two arguments; one is taken from his enemies, they were prevented of their expectation—"Therefore thou lovest me." The other is taken from his own estate, which was not one whit hurt, or impaired, but bettered by them...Here the prophet speaketh of his knowledge, and telleth us that though he knew not all things, yet he knew that God loved him, and so long as he knoweth that, he careth not greatly for other matters, how the world goeth with him, etc. And, to say the truth, he need not, for he that is sure of that, is sure of all. God loveth all his creatures as a good God, and hateth nothing that he made, but he loveth his elect children with a more especial love than the rest, as a Father in Christ Jesus, and he that is sure that God doth so favour him, is sure, I say, of all. For to him whom God loveth, he will deny no good thing, no, not his own Son; and if he gave us his Son, because he loved us, how shall he not with him give us all things else?When the child is persuaded that his father loveth him, he is bold to ask this and that of his father: so may we be bold to ask anything of God our heavenly Father that is good for us, when we be sure that he loveth us. As Mary and Martha put Christ in mind but of two things; the first was, that Christ loved their brother Lazarus; the second was, that Lazarus was sick; "He whom thou lovest is sick:" it was no need to tell him what he should do, for they knew he would do what might be done for him, because he loved him. So we may say to the Lord, when we are sure that he loveth us: Lord, he whom thou lovest wanteth this or that for his body or his

soul. We need not then appoint him what to do, or when, or how; for look what he seeth most convenient for us, and for his own glory, he will surely do it. Therefore whatsoever David knoweth, he will be sure to know this; and whatsoever he is ignorant of, yet of this he will not be ignorant; to teach is that whatsoever we seek to make sure, this must first be made sure, or else nothing is sure. Peter bids us make our election sure; Job, when he saith, "I am sure that my Redeemer liveth, "teacheth us to make our redemption sure. And here David teacheth us to make God's favour sure: now if we make that sure, then our election is sure, our redemption is sure, our vocation is sure, and our salvation is sure. William Barton, 1602.Ver. 11. Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. When God doth deliver us from the hands of our enemies, or any trouble else, we may persuade ourselves thereby, he hath a favour unto us, as David did. But then it may be demanded, If God doth love his church, why doth he suffer his church to be troubled and molested with enemies? The reason is this, because by this means his love may be made more manifest in saving and delivering them. For as a sure friend is not known but in time of need, so God's goodness and love is never so well perceived as it is in helping of us when we cannot help ourselves. As Adam's fall did serve to manifest God's justice and mercy, the one in punishing, the other is pardoning of sin, which otherwise we had never known: so the troubles of the church serve to manifest, first, our deserts by reason of our sins; secondly, our weakness and inability to help ourselves; and, thirdly, the lovingkindness of the Lord our God, in saving and defending, that so we might be truly thankful, and return all the praise and glory to God, and none to ourselves. So that the church of God may have enemies, and yet be still the beloved of God, as Lazarus was beloved of Christ, although he was sick; for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, and therefore he correcteth them because he loveth them. William Burton.Ver. 11. God preserves his own, and bringeth their foes to nought: after Passion week comes Easter. J. P. Lange's Commentary.

BE�SO�, "Verse 11-12Psalms 41:11-12. By this I know that thou favourest me — Bearest a good will to me, and art resolved to make good thy promises to me, and wilt plead my righteous cause; because mine enemy doth not triumph over me — Because hitherto thou hast supported me, and prolonged my days to the disappointment of his hopes, and designed triumphs. This mercy I thankfully receive as a token of further mercy. Thou upholdest me in mine integrity — As, through thy grace, I have kept my integrity, so thou hast kept me in and with it. Or, thou upholdest me for my integrity; that is, because thou hast seen my innocence, notwithstanding all the calumnies of mine enemies; and settest me before thy face for ever — Hebrew, vetatzibeeni, wilt set, confirm, or establish me in thy presence, under thine ,ותציבניeye and special care; to minister unto thee, as a king over thy people. And in regard of his posterity, the kingdom was established for ever. Let us learn from hence, if at any time we suffer in our reputation, to make it our chief care to preserve our integrity, and then cheerfully to leave it to God to secure our reputation. We must remember, however, that we cannot hold our integrity any longer than God upholds

us in it; for, by his grace we are what we are: if we be left to ourselves we shall not only fall but fall, away. But it may be a comfort to us to know, that, however weak we are, God is able to uphold us in our integrity, and will do it, if we commit the keeping of our souls to him in well doing; and that those whom he now upholds in their integrity, he will set before his face for ever, and make them happy in the vision and fruition of himself. He that endures to the end shall be saved.

12 Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.

BAR�ES, "And as for me - literally, “and I;” as if there were some verb understood. The reference is turned on himself; on all that was suggested by this train of remark as bearing on himself. The result of the whole was a firm assurance that God would sustain him, and that he would be established before God forever. The train of thought is this: “And I... thou upholdest me.” Perhaps the course of expression, if it had not been suddenly changed, would have been, “And I am sustained or held up.” The thought, however, turns rather on God than on himself, and instead of carrying out the reference to himself so prominently, he turns to God as the source from where all this was derived.

Thou upholdest me - Not merely in strengthening me in my sickness, but, what is more important, in vindicating my character against the aspersions which are cast upon it. Thou dost show that I am upright.

In mine integrity - literally, “in my perfection.” See the notes at Job_1:1. The word here means uprightness, sincerity, probity. He had been calumniated by his foes. His sickness had been regarded by them as a proof that he was a hypocrite or a stranger to God. If he had died, they would have urged that fact as evidence that he was the object of the divine displeasure. His restored health was clear proof that their suggestions were false, and that he was not suffering for the cause which they alleged. God thus showed that he regarded him as upright and sincere. The claim is not that of “absolute perfections,” but only of a character of piety or integrity in opposition to the slanderous charges of his enemies. Compare Psa_7:8; Psa_25:21; Psa_26:1, Psa_26:11.

And settest me before thy face for ever - That is, Thou wilt do it. God would always have him in his presence, permit him always to dwell with him - the highest proof of his friendship.

CLARKE, "Thou upholdest me - I am still enabled to show that my heart was upright before God.

Settest me before thy face for ever - Thou showest that thou dost approve of me: that I stand in thy presence, under the smiles of thy approbation.

This also has been applied to our Lord, and considered as pointing out his mediatorial office at the right hand of God.

GILL, "And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,.... In the innocence of his nature, being free from sin, original and actual; in the uprightness of his life and conversation before God and men; and in the perfection of his obedience and sacrifice, whereby he brought in a perfect righteousness, made complete atonement, and obtained full salvation and redemption for his people; and, because of all this, Jehovah the Father upheld him in his sufferings, as man and Mediator, that he failed not, and was not discouraged: or rather the sense is, that by several things which turned up in Providence, as the disagreement of the witnesses, declaration of his judge, and the confession of Judas his betrayer, he was cleared of the charges brought against him, and his innocence was maintained, and he upheld in it; but especially this was done by raising him from the dead, when he was openly acquitted, discharged, and justified, and declared to be the Holy One of God, 1Ti_3:16;

and settest me before thy face for ever; after his resurrection, he was introduced into the presence of his Father, and was made glad with his countenance; where he sits before him as the Angel of his presence, and appears in the presence of God in the behalf of his people; is the Lamb in the midst of the throne, as though he had been slain; where his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, are ever in view for their acceptance, and where he ever lives to make intercession for them; for here he will continue until the time of the restitution of all things.

HE�RY, "He depended upon God, who had thus delivered him from many an evil work, to preserve him to his heavenly kingdom, as blessed Paul, 2Ti_4:18. “As for me, forasmuch as thou favourest me, as a fruit of that favour, and to qualify me for the continuance of it, thou upholdest me in my integrity, and, in order to that, settest me before thy face, hast thy eye always upon me for good;” or, “Because thou dost, by thy grace, uphold me in my integrity, I know that thou wilt, in thy glory, set me for ever before thy face.” Note, (1.) When at any time we suffer in our reputation our chief concern should be about our integrity, and then we may cheerfully leave it to God to secure our reputation. David knows that, if he can but persevere in his integrity, he needs not fear his enemies' triumphs over him. (2.) The best man in the world holds his integrity no longer then God upholds him in it; for by his grace we are what we are; if we be left to ourselves, we shall not only fall, but fall away. (3.) It is a great comfort to us that, however weak we are, God is able to uphold us in our integrity, and will do it if we commit the keeping of it to him. (4.) If the grace of God did not take a constant care of us, we should not be upheld in our integrity; his eye is always upon us, else we should soon start aside from him. (5.) Those whom God now upholds in their integrity he will set before his face for ever, and make happy in the vision and fruition of himself. He that endures to the end shall be saved.

JAMISO�, "settest ... before thy face — under thy watch and care, as God before

man’s face (Psa_16:8) is an object of trust and love.

CALVI�,"12And as for me, thou wilt uphold me in my integrity Some expound the clause thus: That, as David followed after uprightness, God had stretched out the hand to him. But this interpretation does not agree very well with a preceding sentence, in which he acknowledged that he had been justly punished by God. The calamity which had befallen him exposed him to the insult and derision of his enemies; but it is not likely that they were the authors of it: and hence, it would have been out of place to have adduced his integrity for this purpose, because the Lord is said to have respect to our integrity, when he defends us against our enemies, and delivers us from the outrage of men. We must therefore seek another meaning. The Hebrew word which we have rendered integrity might be referred to the body as well as the mind, thus: I shall continue sound, because thou wilt preserve and establish me. He seems, however, to extend the favor of God still farther; as if he had said, that he had been assisted not only once by his hand, but that, during the whole course of the period he had enjoyed prosperity, he had always been upheld in safety by the power of God. If any would rather understand by this term the piety and sincere disposition for which David was distinguished, — and this meaning would be very suitable, — it will not follow from this that David boasts of his past life, but only that he declares that, when brought to the test, or in the midst of the conflict, even although Satan and wicked men endeavored to shake his faith, he had not turned aside from the fear of God. By these words, then, he bears testimony to his patience, because, when sorely vexed and tormented, he had not forsaken the path of uprightness. If this meaning should be adopted, it must be observed, that this benefit, namely, that David continued invincible, and boldly sustained these assaults of temptation, is immediately after ascribed to God, and that for the future, David looked for preservation by no other means than by the sustaining power of God. If the language should be understood as referring to his external condition, this will be found to suit equally well the scope of the passage, and the meaning will be this, That God will never cease to manifest his favor, until he has preserved his servants in safety, even to the end. As to the form of expression, that God establishes them before his face, this is said of those whom he defends and preserves in such a manner, that he shows by evident tokens the paternal care which he exercises over them; as, on the other hand, when he seems to have forgotten his own people, he is said to hide his face from them.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 12. And as for me, despite them all and in the sight of them all, thou upholdest me in mine integrity; thy power enables me to rise above the reach of slander by living in purity and righteousness. Our innocence and consistency are the result of the divine upholding. We are like those glasses without feet, which can only be upright while they are held in the hand; we fall, and spill, and spoil all, if left to ourselves. The Lord should be praised every day if we are preserved from gross sin. When others sin they show us what we should do but for grace. "He today and I tomorrow, "was the exclamation of a holy man, whenever he saw another falling into sin. Our integrity is comparative as well as dependent, we must therefore be humbled while we are grateful. If we are clear of the faults alleged against us by our

calumniators, we have nevertheless quite enough of actual blameworthiness to render it shameful for us to boast. And settest me before thy face for ever. He rejoiced that he lived under the divine surveillance; tended, cared for, and smiled upon by his Lord; and yet more, that it would be so world without end. To stand before an earthly monarch is considered to be a singular honour, but what must it be to be a perpetual courtier in the palace of the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible?EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 12. Integrity. This same integrity is like �oah's ark, wherein he was preserved, when others perished, being without it. It is like the red thread, which the spies of Joshua gave to Rahab, it was a charter whereby she claimed her life when the rest were destroyed, which had not the like. So is this integrity of small reckoning, I confess, with the men of this world, which think that there is no other heaven but earth; but as Rahab's thread was better to her than all her goods and substance when the sword came, so this is better to God's children than all the world when death comes. If they have this within they care not, nay, they need not care what can come without. If Satan's buffeting come, this is a helmet of proof; if Satan's darts fly out, this is a shield to quench them; if floods of crosses come to carry us away, this is a boat to bear us up; if all the world cast mire and filth in our faces, we are never a whit the more deformed, but still beautiful for all that, for "the king's daughter, "(saith Solomon, Psalms 45:13), that is, the church of Christ, "is all glorious within." William Burton.Ver. 12. Settest me before thy face for ever; or hast confirmed or established me in thy presence; i.e, either under thine eye and special care, or to minister to thee, not only in thy temple, but as a king over thy people, or in that land where thou art peculiarly present. Matthew Poole.HI�TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHERVer. 7-12. On a sick bed a man discovers not only his enemies and his friends, but himself and his God, more intimately.Ver. 12. This text reveals the insignia of those whom grace has distinguished.1. Their integrity is manifest.2. Their character is divinely sustained.3. They dwell in the favour of God.4. Their position is stable and continues.5. Their eternal future is secure.

COKE, "Psalms 41:12. And as for me, thou upholdest, &c.— Accordingly, for my own part, because of my integrity, thou hast upheld me, and set me before thy face for ever. Mudge; who observes, that as the division of the Psalms into five books or portions is quite arbitrary, they seem to have ended them where they happened to find such a doxology as in the last verse; yet, as not only this but the three following verses end with the same doxology, I am rather inclined to the opinion of Bishop Hare and other learned commentators, who think that these doxologies were added to the end of each book by the person who collected and digested the Psalms.

REFLECTIO�S.—1st, The labour of love is never labour lost; so the Psalmist assures us.

1. He pronounces the man blessed who considereth the poor; either in general the poor in this world, compassionating their wants, sympathizing with them in their sorrows, and seeking by counsels, influence, and liberal distribution, to relieve the distresses of the necessitous; or it may refer to that poor man whom so few remember, Ecclesiastes 9:15 the lowly Jesus, exposed for our sakes to want, and having nowhere to lay his head: to consider his humiliation for us, is the way to true blessedness.

2. He shews wherein this blessedness consists. In trouble, God would deliver him, preserve him from his enemies, support him on the bed of languishing, and tenderly watch over him in his sickness. �ote; (1.) Kindness to God's poor and afflicted ones, is highly our interest as well as duty; none ever lost by lending thus to the Lord. (2.) God's blessing is the comfort of every estate; it can make the bed of languishing cheerful, give rest in trouble, and make even grief to smile.

3. Having some good hope, through grace, that he could claim the character, he is emboldened in prayer to seek the promises. Yet, as a miserable sinner, in himself utterly undeserving, he pleads for mercy with God, and begs that his sickness may be healed, that worst and most dangerous disease, corruption, in his soul.

2nd, They who live in a wicked world, may expect to meet with much deceit, as David did, to the great discomfort of his soul.

1. They spoke against him with inveterate rancour, and wished that every evil might attend him; death seize his body, and blot out his name for ever. And thus did Christ's enemies revile him with every opprobrious character, wish and contrive his death, and hope that then the memory of his miracles, and the doctrines of his gospel, would perish with him. But lo! their malice makes his memorial more glorious and abiding. Let not Christ's servants count it strange, then, if the worst wishes and words attend them: their Lord hath suffered it before them.

2. If they came on pretence of paying him a friendly visit, their professions were hypocrisy, their designs malignant, to observe his words and behaviour, that they might report them to his disadvantage. The Scribes and Pharisees for this purpose attended the Saviour, to entangle him in his talk; and, while they pretended to admire him in his preaching and piety, sought to impeach him as a teacher of sedition. If we meet with the same deceitful men, and hear the most invidious remarks or misrepresentations made of us, let us remember that so was our Lord treated.

3. They flattered themselves that they should sooner or later prevail. In secret they whispered, plotted their wicked devices; and when an evil disease, some dangerous sickness, seized him, or some vile aspersion, which they had forged and propagated, cleaved to him, then they hoped he would never again recover his health or his character. Such whisperers contrived the Saviour's death; with perjured evidence the sons of Belial swore against him; and having procured his condemnation and

death, and sealed his sephulchre, they promised themselves he should never rise up again. How vain the hopes, as well as vile the efforts, of wicked men!

4. His bosom friend betrayed him, and sought to spurn him from his throne, in return for the most obliging kindness. Ingratitude is a sin almost as common as odious. We are assured, John 13:18 that David looked farther than his own case. Judas the traitor was his familiar friend, and, from the very table where Jesus fed him, went to the priests to betray him. Put not your trust in any child of man; friends may be faithless; the friend of sinners alone will never deceive or disappoint those who trust him.

5. He directs his prayer to God for mercy and help, that he may requite them, either do them good for their evil, or rather, as their king, punish them for their wickedness.—In answer to the Redeemer's prayer, he was raised from the dust of death, and with swift destruction recompensed his enemies into their own bosom. �either Satan nor all the powers of darkness, nor the high-priest and all his wicked train, were permitted to triumph, when on the resurrection-day all their devices were confounded; and he, of whom they said, Persecute him, for there is none to deliver him, arose then most eminently, declared to be the Son of God with power. �ote; The very trials that we are exposed to, serve to make the love of God to souls more evident and precious.

6. He expresses his confidence in God, and acknowledges that the work must be entirely God's grace, both to uphold and reward him. The Son of David, in unspotted integrity, stood fast; and, after an obedience unto death, received the reward in glory, where now he sits at God's right hand, enthroned for evermore. May we come in his good time to sit down by him! In order thereto, we must be sensible, [1.] That the work is entirely of grace. [2.] That, left to ourselves, we must inevitably fall.

7. He concludes with a thanksgiving for such a glorious hope; and well he deserves the everlasting praise who brings the faithful soul to everlasting blessedness. The whole Israel of God, the faithful of every age, in the view of this glorious work, cannot but echo back the sound, with hearts warm with gratitude, and bursting with gladness: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen!

WHEDO�, "12. And as for me—Literally, And I. The “I” is emphatic, as in Psalms 41:4. He contrasts God’s treatment towards him with that of his enemies, whom God had doomed to destruction.

Mine integrity—As between him and his enemies David could plead his blamelessness, but as between his soul and God he confessed, as in Psalms 41:4, his sin.

Settest me before thy face—A mark of noble rank and royal favour. See Psalms

34:16.

For ever—To eternity, which only is the duration of this rule and dignity of David, realized in his illustrious seed, Messiah, who is blessed for evermore.

13 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.

BAR�ES, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel - That is, Let the Lord God of Israel be praised, honored, adored. The language is an expression of desire that all honor, all happiness, might be His. It is a recognition of God as the source of the mercies referred to, and an expression of the feeling that he is entitled to universal praise. The word Israel here refers to the people of God as descended from Jacob or Israel.

From everlasting, and to everlasting - Through eternity, or eternal ages, - from all past duration to all future duration. The expression “from everlasting to everlasting,” would embrace eternity; and the idea is that God is deserving of eternal praise.

Amen, and amen - The word “amen” means properly surely, certainly, truly, and is a word expressive of solemn affirmation, or of the desire of the mind that this should be so. Its repetition is emphatic, expressing strong assent to what is said as certainly true, or as eminently the wish of the mind. This benediction marks the close of one of the five books into which the Psalms are commonly divided. See the General Introduction, Section 3.

CLARKE, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel - By all these circumstances and events glory shall redound to the name of God for ever; for the record of these things shall never perish, but be published from one generation to another; and it has been so.

From everlasting, and to everlasting - ;mehaolam�vead�haolam מהעולם�ועד�העולם

From the hidden time to the hidden time; from that which had no beginning to that which has no end.

To which he subscribes, Amen and Amen. Fiat, fiat - Vulgate. Γενοιτο,�γενοιτο -

Septuagint. The Chaldee says, “And let the righteous say, Amen, and Amen.” “Be blessed, Lord God of Israel, from world, and in world. Be it! So be it!” - Anglo-Saxon. To which the Old Psalter approaches very nearly: Blyssed Lord God of Isrel, fra werld, and in

werld: Be it done! be it done. Thus illustrated by the same, Fra werld in werld; that es, fra the bygynnyng of this wereld, in til wereld that lastes ay. Be it done, be it done. This dubblying schews that it es at do of al men. In Latyn, it es, fiat, fiat! in Ebru, Amen Amen es writyn: tharfore that Aquila translated vere, vel fideliter, that es, sothfastly or trew.

Thus ends what the Hebrews call the first book of Psalms; for the reader will recollect that this book is divided by the Jews into five books, the first of which ends with this Psalm.

This doxology, Dr. Kennicott supposes, may have been added by the collector of this book; and he thinks that the division into books is not arbitrary, and that the Psalms were collected at different times by different persons. See the Introduction. There is certainly a considerable variety in the style of the several books; in the examination of which the Hebrew critic will not lose his labor.

GILL, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,.... Which is said, either by the Messiah, on account of the delight his Father had in him; the favour he had shown him in raising him from the dead, maintaining his innocence, and exalting him at his own right hand; and for all the blessings of grace the whole Israel of God enjoyed through him: or else by the church, who is meant by Israel, the Lord is the God of in a covenant way; who, hearing such things done to her Lord and head, breaks out into an exclamation of praise, and ascribes blessing and glory to God for them, which is due to him;

from everlasting, and to everlasting; that is, throughout all ages, world without end, Eph_3:21.

Amen and Amen; which word, as Kimchi observes, signifies confirmation; and the doubling of it is for the greater confirmation of what is expressed. Here ends the first part of the book of Psalms, which is divided into five parts by the Jews (a).

HE�RY, " The psalm concludes with a solemn doxology, or adoration of God as the Lord God of Israel, Psa_41:13. It is not certain whether this verse pertains to this particular psalm (if so, it teaches us this, That a believing hope of our preservation through grace to glory is enough to fill our hearts with joy and our mouths with everlasting praise, even in our greatest straits) or whether it was added as the conclusion of the first book of Psalms, which is reckoned to end here (the like being subjoined to Ps. 72, 89, 106), and then it teaches us to make God the Omega who is the Alpha, to make him the end who is the beginning of every good work. We are taught, (1.) To give glory to God as the Lord God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people, who has done great and kind things for them and has more and better in reserve. (2.) To give him glory as an eternal God, that has both his being and his blessedness from everlasting and to everlasting. (3.) To do this with great affection and fervour of spirit, intimated in the double seal set to it - Amen, and Amen. Be it so now, be it so to all eternity. We say Amento it, and let all others say Amen too.

JAMISO�, "Blessed — praised, usually applied to God. The word usually applied to men denotes happiness (Psa_1:1; Psa_32:1). With this doxology the first book closes.

K&D, "(Heb.: 41:14) The closing doxology of the First Book, vid., Introduction.

Concerning רוך�� vid., Psa_18:47. The expression “from aeon to aeon” is, according to

Berachoth ix. 5, directed against those who deny the truth of the future world. מן��מן�ו (a

double aleethe's or aleethoo's) seals it in a climactic form.

CALVI�,"13Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, for ever and ever (111) Here the Psalmist confirms and repeats the expression of thanksgiving contained in a preceding verse. By calling God expressly the God of Israel, he testifies that he cherished in his heart a deep and thorough impression of the covenant which God had made with the Fathers; because it was the source from which his deliverance proceeded. The term amen is repeated twice, to express the greater vehemence, and that all the godly might be the more effectually stirred up to praise God.

SPURGEO�, "Ver. 13. The Psalm ends with a doxology. Blessed be the Lord, i.e., let him be glorified. The blessing at the beginning from the mouth of God is returned from the mouth of his servant. We cannot add to the Lord's blessedness, but we can pour out our grateful wishes, and these he accepts, as we receive little presents of flowers from children who love us. Jehovah is the personal name of our God. God of Israel is his covenant title, and shows his special relation to his elect people. From everlasting and to everlasting. The strongest way of expressing endless duration. We die, but the glory of God goes on and on without pause. Amen and amen. So let it surely, firmly, and eternally be. Thus the people joined in the Psalm by a double shout of holy affirmation; let us unite in it with all out hearts. This last verse may serve for the prayer of the universal church in all ages, but none can sing it so sweetly as those who have experienced as David did the faithfulness of God in times of extremity.EXPLA�ATORY �OTES A�D QUAI�T SAYI�GSVer. 13. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. We are here taught, 1. To give glory to God, as the Lord God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people; that has done great and kind things for them, and has more and better in reserve. 2. To give him glory as an eternal God, that has both his being and his blessedness from everlasting and to everlasting. 3. To do this with great affection and fervour of spirit, intimated in a double seal set to it, Amen, and Amen. We say Amen to it, and let all others say Amen too. Matthew Henry.Ver. 13. Amen and Amen. As the Psalms were not written by one man, so neither do they form one book. The Psalter is, in fact, a Pentateuch, and the lines of demarcation, which divide the five books one from another, are clear and distinct enough. At the end of the 41st Psalm, of the 72nd, of the 89th, and of the 106th, we meet with the solemn, Amen, single or redoubled, following on a doxology, which indicates that one book ends and that another is about to begin. A closer study of the Psalms shows that each book possesses characteristics of its own. Jehovah ("the Lord") for example, is prominent as the divine name in the first book, Elohim ("God") in the second. E. H. Plumptre, M.A., in "Biblical Studies, "1870.Ver. 13. There is also another observable difference between the two books. In the first, all those Psalms which have any inscription at all are expressly assigned to

David as their author, whereas in the second we find a whole series attributed to some of the Levitical singers. J. J. Stewart Perowne.Ver. 13. How ancient the division is cannot now be clearly ascertained. Jerome, in his epistle to Marcella, and Epiphanius speak of the Psalms as having been divided by the Hebrews into five books, but when this division was made they do not inform us. The forms of ascription of praise, added at the end of each of the five books, are in the Septuagint version, from which we may conclude that this distribution had been made before that version was executed. It was probably made by Ezra, after the return of the Jews from Babylon to their own country, and the establishment of the worship of God in the new temple, and it was perhaps made in imitation of a similar distribution of the books of Moses. In making this division of the Hebrew Psalter, regard appears to have been paid to the subject matter of the Psalms. John Calvin.Ver. 13. These forty-one Psalms, it has been observed, forming the first book, relate chiefly to the ministry of Christ upon earth, preparing those who were looking for the consolation of Israel, for his appearing amongst them. Accordingly, the second book, commencing with Psalms 42:1-11, may refer chiefly to the infant church of Christ. W. Wilson, D.D.Ver. 13. May not the growth of the Book of Psalms be illustrated by the case of our Modern Hymn Books which in the course of years require first one appendix and then another, so as to incorporate the growing psalmody of the church? In this case the purely Davidic Psalms of the first division formed the nucleus to which other sacred songs were speedily added. C. H. S.HI�TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHERVer. 13.1. The object of praise—Jehovah, the covenant God.2. The nature of the praise—without beginning or end.3. Our participation in the praise—"Amen and Amen."The ancient rabbins saw in the Five Books of the Psalter the image of the Five Books of the Law. This way of looking on the Psalms as a second Pentateuch, the echo of the first, passed over into the Christian church, and found favour with some early fathers. It has commended itself to the acceptance of good recent expositors, like Dr. Delitzsch, who calls the Psalter "the congregation's five fold word to the Lord, even as the Thora (the Law) is the Lord's five fold word to the Congregation." This mat be mere fancy, but its existence from ancient times shows that the five fold division attracted early notice. William Binnie, D.D.God presented Israel with the Law, a Pentateuch, and grateful Israel responded with a Psalter, a Pentateuch of praise. F.L.K.HERE E�DETH THE FIRST BOOK OF THE PSALMS

COFFMA�, "Verse 13"Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,

From everlasting and to everlasting.

Amen, and Amen."

This verse is supposed to have been added by a compiler as a doxology concluding the first of the Five Books of Psalms. One will find similar doxologies at the end of the other four, in Psalms 72:18,19; 89:52; 106:48; and the entire Psalms 150.

BE�SO�, "Psalms 41:13. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel — A God in covenant with his people; who has done great and kind things for them, and has more and better in reserve; from everlasting to everlasting — Or, from age to age, as long as the world lasts, and to all eternity. Amen and amen — Amen, especially a double amen, signifies a hearty assent and approbation, and withal an earnest desire of the thing to which it is annexed. And as the Psalms are divided into five books, so each of them is closed with this word: the first here; the second, Psalms 72 : the third, Psalms 89 : the fourth, Psalms 106 : the last in the end of Psalm cl: the doubling of the word shows the fervency of his spirit in this work of praising God.

PETT, "Verse 13Blessed be YHWH, the God of Israel,From everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.The Psalm then ends with words which not only conclude the Psalm but also the whole section. They declare a blessing on YHWH the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. May He be blessed and praised for ever! Amen and amen.

Final Thoughts On The Psalm.

It is interesting how much of this Psalm might be seen as applying to the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

· He also became ‘weak and sickly’ on our behalf, for ‘He bore our infirmities and carried our diseases’ (Matthew 8:17).· He also was brought low by the burden that he was carrying (Matthew 26:36-45).· He was constantly visited by enemies who outwardly professed genuine interest but were in fact continually spreading lies about Him and plotting against Him.· In His case too a close friend betrayed Him (John 13:18).· He also cried for God to raise Him up and rejoiced in the favour shown to Him by His triumphant resurrection as a result of which all His enemies were defeated (John 12:31-32; Matthew 28:18; Colossians 2:15).· He also was raised because of His integrity and set before His Father’s face for ever more (Ephesians 1:19-23; 1 Peter 3:22). And to Him also be glory for ever and ever (Romans 9:5).