The Blessed Man

Hello and welcome to Psalms of the Saviour: Devotions for His Sheep. I’m Joshua VanZandbeek, and today we are going to be looking at Psalm 41.

We’re going to start by reading the psalm together. I’ll be reading from the English standard version. You are welcome to follow along with me, or just listen if you like. Psalm 41

Psalm 41 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?” And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But you, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them! By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

Psalm 41 is the last psalm found in the first book of psalms, and it starts with the very same word we find in Psalm 1: Blessed. The writer, David, bookends this first book of the psalms by employing this first word. Moreover, the psalm is also the close of this section that started in psalm 34, celebrating God’s salvation of David.

It’s important to note that David most likely wrote this psalm when he was older, and sick. Most likely, he was having trouble with enemies and people turning against him. So David often writes in this psalm from his perspective. Yet his focus is not on himself, but instead on the one to come.

Thinking back to Psalm 1, we see that the blessed one is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Here again, David circles back to this idea. This giving wisdom refers to the idea that the one who helps the poor does so out of his love for Yahweh, and causes wisdom as he does so. Those he helps cannot necessarily pay him back, yet the blessed one does so because of His love for God. David expects this of the one to come, foreshadowing how Christ will have many enemies, and people who turn against Him. those he came to save, even friends, turn against him. James Hamilton in his commentary notes that the term used to show these enemies as united against David is the same term employed in Psalm 2, where the kings of the earth combine together again the Lord and His anointed. We know that David was God’s anointed, chosen instead of Saul to lead God’s people. David foreshadows here the Anointed One, Christ Jesus, and how he will have enemies on every side.

Yet David remains faithful in the promise God made to Him to have a descendant on the throne forever (2 Sam 7:1). He asks God to show him that God delights in him by raising David up. If we think about Jesus, we remember God the Father saying at Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:17 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” We know that God did raise Christ up, even from the dead, and that Christ sits at the right hand of the Father forever (Mark 16:19).

For David and for those who love Christ, there is assurance through Jesus Christ. God raised Christ, and He will raise us and ultimately triumph over sickness and death. Our devotional notes that to be truly blessed, we must practice unwavering trust and faith in Christ. So we see not only that David points to Christ, and how Christ is raised up despite His enemies, but also that we are called to equally trust in the Lord as David does, no matter the circumstances. This is how we, like Christ, become blessed.

Have you ever experienced enemies seeking your demise?

How are you able to place your trust in Yahweh? In what ways has God brought you protection and deliverance?