Reflections on Psalms 41

 Psalms 41(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by David for the music leader.) You, LORD God, bless everyone who cares for the poor, and you rescue those people in times of trouble.
   
2. You protect them and keep them alive. You make them happy here in this land, and you don't hand them over to their enemies.
   
3. You always heal them and restore their strength when they are sick.
   
4. I prayed, "Have pity, LORD! Heal me, though I have sinned against you."
   
5. My vicious enemies ask me, "When will you die and be forgotten?"
   
6. When visitors come, all they ever bring are worthless words, and when they leave, they spread gossip.
   
7. My enemies whisper about me. They think the worst,
   
8. and they say, "You have some fatal disease! You'll never get well."
   
9. My most trusted friend has turned against me, though he ate at my table.
   
10. Have pity, LORD! Heal me, so I can pay them back.
    
11. Then my enemies won't defeat me, and I will know that you really care.
    
12. You have helped me because I am innocent, and you will always be close to my side.
    
13. You, the LORD God of Israel, will be praised forever! Amen and amen.

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David, on his sickbed, called out to the Lord for healing. His appeal for healing relied on three factors: two of his own and one that was God's. The first was that David had cared for those in a similar situation to his own and he knew that God saves those who care for others who are down. "Happy is one who cares for the poor;" he says, "the LORD will save him in a day of adversity." (41:1) Here, "poor" is not so much a reference to those financially poor as to those who are weak or poor in health. Because of his own concern for those who were weak or poor in health, David knew the Lord would "sustain him on his sickbed." (41:3)

The second factor was his confession of sin. He said, "LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You." (41:4) David's appeal here may have been based on the concept that through confession the Lord would then hear his prayer. Or, it may have been based on the idea that his sins had brought on his illness and he was asking God to forgive him and bring about his healing. Or, it may have been both.

And the third factor was the Lord's graciousness. Twice David asked the Lord to "be gracious to me." In the end, it all came down to God's willingness to heal him, for it was in God's hands alone. Besides the fact that God alone could give him healing, God was the only one to whom he could turn for help. It seemed everyone else was against him. Friend and foe alike wished him ill, even hoping his illness was fatal.

Having made his appeal for healing, David concluded in praise, "May the LORD, the God of Israel, be praised from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen." (41:13)