Christianity

Psalms 41Blessed Who Considers the Poor

Summary

Psalm 41 opens by blessing the person who cares for the poor and promising that God will sustain him on his sickbed. The psalmist, himself ill, describes enemies who wish for his death and a trusted friend who has turned against him. He asks God for healing and vindication. The psalm closes Book One of the Psalter with the doxology Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

Key verse

“Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.”

Psalms 41:1

Themes

Care for the Poor
Healing
Betrayal by a Friend
Doxology

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.

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, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

By this I know that thou favourest 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 for ever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
John 13: He That Eateth Bread with Me
In John 13:18 Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9 about the friend who lifted up his heel against him, applying it to Judas.
Judaism
Tehillim 41 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
In the Hebrew numbering the closing doxology is verse 14. Jewish teachers often cite the opening blessing on those who consider the poor as a reason to care for the sick and needy.

Questions about Psalms 41

Where does Book One of the Psalms end?

Book One ends with Psalm 41, closing with a doxology and a double Amen in verse 13. Each of the five books ends with a similar blessing.

Who is the familiar friend in Psalm 41:9?

The psalm does not name him. Some interpreters have linked him with Ahithophel, David's counselor who joined Absalom, and the Gospel of John applies the verse to Judas.