Psalm 41 - Be Gracious To Me, O Lord!

Most people have never noticed, but the book of the Bible we know of as "Psalms" is divided into five parts, or books. The division goes like this:

Book 1:  psalms 1-41
Book 2:  psalms 42-72
Book 3:  psalms 73-89
Book 4:  psalms 90-106
Book 5:  psalms 107-150

Psalm 41 completes the first book of the Psalms. It begins, like Psalm 1, with a 'blessed.'

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;

Looking at the First Book of the Psalms as a whole we realize that it can be looked at, at least in part, as a tutorial on how to live the 'blessed' life.

Blessed are those whose lives are saturated by the word of God. --Psalm 1:1-2

Blessed are all those who take refuge in God.--Psalm 2:12

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.--Psalm 32:1

Blessed are the chosen people of God--Psalm 33:12

Blessed are those who trust in God--Psalm 34:8

Blessed is the one who makes the LORD his trust--Psalm 40:4

And now blessed is the one who considers the poor.

But what does it mean to 'consider' the poor? It means to help them in their time of need and not to take advantage of them. Those who use their abundance to help others in time of need will find that they, too, will be helped by the Lord in their time of need.

In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;

Notice that the promise is not that days of trouble will never come. Rather the promise is that when the day of trouble comes the Lord will deliver him. Christians ought not be misers. Christians ought to be generous.

The old proverb says:

"There was a man, and some did count him mad,

The more he gave away the more he had."

But Psalm 41 is more than just a sermon on generosity. It is a prayer for God's grace. David is going through a time of trial and he is calling upon God to forgive his sin and heal his condition. Then, after pleading with God for grace he begins to expound upon the un-grace of those who around him. This un-grace builds and builds with each verse until it culminates in verse 9:

(9) Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Although we cannot say for sure, it is likely that in these lines there is an allusion to Ahithophel, the close confidant of David who betrayed him in the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 15-17). Ahithophel joined sides with Absalom and when the tide turned against Absalom, Ahithophel went out and hanged himself. What a picture that is of Judas and his betrayal of Jesus and how afterward he went out and hanged himself. Jesus himself pointed back to verse 9 in John 13 and called it a prophecy of that betrayal.

This was the last of my sermons from the book of Psalms for a good while. I will perhaps take up with Psalm 42 at a later date, but until then this is it. I hope you will take the time to click the link below and listen to the sermon found there. It was preached yesterday at the Winnsboro Reformed Church. I hope you will find it a blessing.


Click here:  Psalm 41 - Be Gracious To Me, O Lord!



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