PSALMS 41

READING CYCLE THREE(see “Guide
to Good Bible Reading“)

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S INTENT AT
PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary which means
that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of
us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are
priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3).
Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above.
Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original
author’s intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has
one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph

2. Second paragraph

3. Third paragraph

4. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 41:1-3
 ¹How
blessed is he who considers the helpless;
 The Lord
will deliver him in a day of trouble.
 ²The
Lord will protect him and keep him alive,
 And he shall be called blessed upon
the earth;
 And do not give
him over to the desire of his enemies.
 ³The
Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
 In his illness, You restore him to
health.

41:1-3 This first strophe is describing the
blessings (BDB 80, see note at Ps. 1:1, see Special  Topic: Blessing
[OT]) of the person who obeys the Law of
Moses, which requires Israel to be kind, supportive, and attentive to
those in need (BDB 195, cf. Exod. 23:5; Lev. 14:21; Ps. 72:13; 82:3;
113:7; Pro. 19:17; 21:13; 28:3,8; 29:7,14). Those who help them are, in
reality, helping their God (see Jesus’ discussion about the last judgment
in Matt. 25:31-46).

The type of persons described by this term.

1. widow (cf. Exod. 22:22; Deut. 10:18; 24:17-18; 27:19; Ps. 68:5)

2. orphan

3. alien (cf. Lev. 19:33-34; Exod. 22:21; Deut. 24:17-18; 27:19)

4. blind/lame

5. socially powerless (landless)

6. bereft of worldly provisions (no necessary things for life — food,
shelter, work, etc.)

Notice what YHWH will do for an obedient covenant follower (helping the
poor is just one item but it stands here for the whole law).

1. YHWH will deliver him in a day of trouble

2. YHWH will protect him

3. YHWH will keep him alive

4. he will be called “blessed” (MT has imperfect
but the Masoretic scholars thought the perfect
with a waw was better; the meaning does not change)

5. YHWH will not give him over to his enemies

6. YHWH will sustain him upon his sickbed

7. YHWH will restore him to health

Notice all the imperfect verbs, denoting
ongoing actions by God throughout life.

Just a note about the general statements like this in Wisdom Literature.
This should not be understood as a promise that affects every person,
every time, who helps the poor. This is a general statement. This is true
the majority of the time but not each and every time. We live in a fallen
world!

This is a good illustration of Matthew 7. How one lives, how one speaks,
how one allocates his resources and time reveal the priority commitment of
the heart!

41:2 “upon the earth” The Hebrew
word “land” (BDB 75, see

SPECIAL TOPIC: LAND, COUNTRY, EARTH) can mean

1. field

2. district

3. country

4. area

5. world

Only context can tell. I have been convinced
by Bernard Ramm, The Christian View of Science and Scripture that
the flood of Genesis 6-9 was local because of the use of this word in that
context. See my commentary on Genesis 1-11 online free at www.freebiblecommentary.org.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 41:4-9
 ⁴As
for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to
me;
 Heal my soul, for I
have sinned against You.”
 ⁵My
enemies speak evil against me,
 “When
will he die, and his name perish?”
 ⁶And
when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood;
 His heart gathers wickedness to
itself;
 When he goes
outside, he tells it.
 ⁷All
who hate me whisper together against me;
 Against
me they devise my hurt, saying,
 ⁸“A
wicked thing is poured out upon him,
 That
when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
 ⁹Even my close friend in
whom I trusted,
 Who ate my
bread,
 Has lifted up his
heel against me.

41:4-9 The logical connection between these
strophes is not stated. Possibly the author was a man like the one
described in Ps. 41:1-3, but his life was in distress and under attack
from others. Apparently he recognized that he had sinned (Ps. 41:4). Many
of the last psalms of Book I (Psalm 1-41) mention a confession or
acknowledgment of sin.

There are several problems mentioned.

1. he is sick of body and spirit

2. he has enemies who slander him (Ps. 41:5-7)

3. they are planning evil against him (Ps. 41:7-8)

4. his enemies were at one time close friends (Ps. 41:9; cf. Ps.
35:11-16; 55:12-13,20). This is quoted in John 13:18 about Judas’ betrayal
of Jesus.

41:7 “whisper together” This verb (BDB 538, KB 527, Hithpael imperfect) can be used of curses/charms (cf. Ps.
58:5; Eccl. 10:11; Isa. 3:2-3) or it could just be people speaking in a
low voice so as not to be heard (cf. 2 Sam. 12:19) or a low voice in
prayer (cf. Isa. 26:16).

If it does refer to a curse in this context, Ps. 41:8 is the result.

41:8

NASB“a wicked thing is poured out upon me”
NKJV“an evil disease, they say, clings to
him”
NRSV“they think a deadly
thing has fastened on to him”
TEV“They
say, ‘He is fatally ill'”
NJB“a
fatal sickness has a grip on him”
REB“an
evil spell is cast on him, they say”

The term “wicked” (BDB 116) later became the title Belial
(i.e., Deut. 13:13; 2 Cor. 6:15). It was used in several senses, a good
sample is in 1 Sam.1:16; 2:12; 25:17.

The usage here seems to be a personification of a disease which they would
have seen as being sent by YHWH because of the sin of the psalmist (cf.
Job’s three friends). But YHWH’s actions toward him in Ps. 41:10-12 show
that their statements are lies/slander.

41:9 “Has lifted his heel against me”
This act of cultural rejection (notice there is no parallel passage) came
after a fellowship/covenant meal (cf. Gen. 26:28-30; 31:51-54; Exod.
12:18; 24:5; Ps. 69:22).

It is possible to see this as

1. an act of aggression/violence against the psalmist (i.e., stomped
with the feet)

2. an act of insult expressed by a gesture. In the Middle East it is
still a strong insult to show someone the bottom of one’s shoe.

The rejection is all the more poignant because of the apparent friendship
between the two of them.

▣ “my close friend” This is
literally “man of peace who turned out to be a child of Beliel“
(Ps. 41:8a).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 41:10-12
 ¹⁰But
You, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me
up,
 That I may repay them.
 ¹¹By this I know that You
are pleased with me,
 Because
my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
 ¹²As for me, You uphold
me in my integrity,
 And
You set me in Your presence forever.

41:10-12 In Ps. 41:4 there were two requests
(imperatives).

1. be gracious to me — BDB 335, KB 334, Qal imperative

2. heal my soul (nephesh, see note at Ps. 3:2 and Gen. 35:18
online) — BDB
950, KB 1272, Qal imperative

Now in the next strophe there are two imperatives
and a cohortative.

1. same as #1 above, Ps. 41:4

2. raise me — BDB 877, KB 1086, Hiphil imperative (same request, different but parallel
verb from #2 above), Ps. 41:4

3. that I may repay them — BDB 1022, KB 1532 Piel cohortative; the psalmist wants to be YHWH’s
instrument of justice

Healing will be a visible evidence that YHWH has heard and answered his
prayers. It is not just the visible manifestation of YHWH that rejoices
the psalmist but

1. it is a sign YHWH is pleased (BDB 342, KB 339, Qal perfect) with him

2. YHWH has upheld (BDB 1069, KB 1751, Qal perfect,
cf. Ps. 63:8) his integrity (BDB 1070), which means innocence (cf. Ps.
25:21; 101:2; Pro. 10:9; 19:1; 20:7; 28:6)

3. YHWH set him (BDB 662, KB 714, Hiphil imperfect
with waw) in His presence (i.e., tabernacle/temple, cf. Ps. 16:11;
23:6; 27:4-6) forever, see

SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER (‘OLAM).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 41:13
 ¹³Blessed
be the Lord, the God of Israel,
 From everlasting to everlasting.
 Amen and Amen.

41:13 This is a doxological, liturgical
close (cf. Ps. 72:18-19; 89:52; 103:19-22; 106:48; 150:6). It probably was
not originally part of Psalm 41, but a general close to the first book
(Psalm 1-41) of the Psalter.

1. Psalm 72:18-19 ends Book II

2. Psalm 89:52 ends Book III

3. Psalm 106:47-48 ends Book IV

4. Psalm 150:6 ends Book V

▣ “Amen, and Amen” See
Special Topic: Amen below.

SPECIAL
TOPIC: AMEN

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary, which means
that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of
us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are
priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the
major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be
thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Who is Ps. 41:1a referring to?

2. How are sin and sickness related?

3. Does Ps. 41:7 address gossip and slander or curses and charms?

4. What are “the wicked things” of Ps. 41:8?

5. How is Ps. 41:9 used in the NT?

What does it imply?

6. Exactly what is the psalmist asserting in Ps. 41:12? What does he
want?

7. Why is Ps. 41:13 not part of the Psalm?

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