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Psalms 41

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

2 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.

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

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

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

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

7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

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

11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

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

   

Commentary

 

Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 41

By Julian Duckworth

Psalm 41 has the two common themes of the Lord’s preservation of a spiritual person and of such a person’s inevitable suffering at the hands of his enemies. The sequence in this psalm is, first, an acknowledgement of the Lord and his protection, then an account of the enemies who seek to destroy, including ‘my own familiar friend’, finishing with a second acknowledgement of the Lord’s mercy so that ‘I may repay them’ and ‘My enemy does not triumph over me’.

The psalm opens with the words, “Blessed is he who considers the poor” which expresses the very heart of being a spiritual person who follows the Lord. All poverty is to touch our heart and bring us to want to end it, whether this is literal poverty in society, or the poverty of unhappiness in people’s lives or the spiritual poverty of not knowing the Lord and feeling fearful of life. We should recognise our own poverty that without the Lord we are nothing. (Arcana Caelestia 9209.2)

This quickly moves on into how the Lord preserves this person and prevents his enemies from triumphing over him. Spiritually, the cornerstone of feeling compassion for the poor brings us our defence against evil and our own enemies within. It is the Lord, but we experience it as a tender emotion. (Arcana Caelestia 1102.3)

From verse 4 to verse 9 there is a very striking description of the attempts of evil to surround and bring what is good to destruction. It begins with a prayer for the Lord to “heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” Spiritually, this is the confession and admission that we are sinful by nature, and that we fall into states of losing trust in the Lord and seeking our own advantage. A spiritual person acknowledges this, and works to return to the Lord knowing that this is what he must do and all that he can do in temptation. (Apocalypse Revealed 949.2)

The words of our inner enemies are given, wanting our eradication, speaking lies, defaming us, whispering together against us to devise harm, saying that if we cower we are done for. Then comes the anguish that such attacks come from our own familiar friend in whom we trusted and who ate with us, and now is against us. All of this description sets down the whole nature of evil and its destructiveness through violence, deceit, cunning and pretence. Really, here, we are being asked to fathom our lower nature and see its tactics, through which hell works, and when seen we are to be on guard and manage it.

Much of this would be true of the Lord in his human life and his glorification during which he experienced deep temptations from his own hereditary humanity, which he had to overcome by seeing them and rejecting their pressure on him.

From verse 10 to the end, it returns to the power of the Lord to raise us up from this infestation and set us before the Lord’s face for ever. Spiritually, this decision to turn again to the Lord is the end of temptation and it brings us to a new level of trust and faith which is our consolation. (Arcana Caelestia 5044)

Interestingly, it mentions the idea of retaliation as verse 10 says, ‘that I may repay them.’ Spiritually retaliation can only be heavenly when it is held against evil itself, not against those who are in evil.

The final blessing in verse 13 reminds us that the Lord and all that is the Lord is eternal and constant, from ‘everlasting to everlasting’.

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