Psalms 41:1

The Bible says in Psalms 41:1-3, “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.” Verse one speaks of a “time of trouble,” verse two speaks of “the will of his enemies,” and verse three speaks of “his bed in his sickness.” There are times when things will not go our way. We are not in heaven yet. Life in this world has its ups and downs. Each of us will have our share of trouble, enemies, and sickness. These verses tell us that there is something we can do to get past these difficult and painful times: consider “the poor.” Some people disrespect the poor or take advantage of the poor. But if you only have the right attitude towards the poor and the right thoughts towards the poor, then these verses tell us that God will “deliver” you, “preserve” you, “bless” you, and “strengthen” you. Some things happen to us as a consequence of our own actions. God sees, and God determines what happens to us. God cares about anyone who is suffering, and so God cares about the poor. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor…” I think you can see in our society how this compassion for the poor that comes from decent people has been taken advantage of. We have many welfare systems that were put in place because of this compassion. We wish that we could do something to solve the homelessness, joblessness, and other disabilities of the poor. God does not want us to become cold to the plight of the poor.

Whenever we read God’s Word and hear His requirements for us such as in the above three verses, we will become aware of how much we are sinners and come short of the high standards that God sets for the human heart. The Bible says in Psalms 41:4, “I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.” Seeking God’s mercy and confessing one’s sins to the Lord Jesus is an important part of normal life. We all need to do that because we are all sinners. Those who do not repent and confess have many problems as a result. Confession is good for the soul. After confession to Jesus, we get another chance to try again.

The Bible says in Psalms 41:5-9, “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.” David writes about his enemies. Their words and their attitude towards him is what hurts. The enemies “speak evil” and they speak “vanity.” They hate him and they whisper against him, meaning that the gossip and plan to hurt him more. That is what we expect from enemies, but notice verse nine. Even his friend became his enemy. That is exactly what happened to Jesus when Judas betrayed Jesus. Usually the wounds of a friend hurt more than the wounds of an enemy.

In verse five David asks a question of God that we all ask sometimes: “when.” David was relying upon the Lord to fight his battles for him, and David knew that God would keep His Word and do it, but the only question was “when.” We know a lot of things about the Lord. We know that He will keep His promises. We know that God will judge and punish the wicked. We know that Jesus will return. We know many details about the future such as the things that are revealed in the books of Daniel, and Revelation, and other books of the Bible, but we do not know “when.” Jesus said in Acts 1:7, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

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