The Blessed Man

Introduction

Throughout history, God’s people have been on the front lines of showing care and compassion for those most in need.

In the early centuries of Christianity the Roman culture practiced infanticide. There was such a poor and horrific view of children as image bearers of God deserving of life that if a father decided he did not want a child he had the right to literally throw the child away.

Christians during these centuries would literally rescue newborn babies from garbage piles where they were just left to die.

I read of a story just within this last week of Christians during the early 1900’s who would walk the shorelines in Portland, Oregon in the early mornings looking for babies who were born during the night in brothels and then left to die along the shore. It was actually the responsibility of the deacons in those churches in that time to walk those shorelines looking to rescue children who were thrown out and in need.

One of the first things missionaries seek to do when traveling to undeveloped parts of the world is to care for the poor and the needy. They’ll start hospitals and orphanages. They seek to feed the starving, clothe the naked, house the homeless.

Within our own church history here we’ve seen and supported missionaries who have begun hospitals, who have cared for the poor and oppressed. We’re having a fundraiser lunch at the end of the service today to help fund a ministry that seeks to care for children and families in need in Juarez, Mexico.

Just this year we’ve sent funds from our church to missionaries in Slovakia who are housing refugees from Ukraine.

Even here locally we’ve served refugees from Ukraine, we’re seeking as a church to help those from other nations learn English so they can better acclimate to the culture. We’ve, by God’s grace sought to serve our neighbors, our community by helping people who are in need. We want to show compassion.

A generous and compassionate heart for those in need is a quality that identifies God’s people and as we see even from the opening line of this 41st Psalm, brings God’s blessing.

David opens this psalm by saying,

Psalm 41:1 (ESV)

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

This heart of compassion identifies us as God’s people and brings God’s blessing because it unites us to the heart of God himself. God himself is a God of compassion. We ourselves are weak and needy. We need compassion shown toward us. We saw that at the end of Psalm 40 last week.

Psalm 40:17 (ESV)

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

In this 41st Psalm, David is resting in the hope of God’s blessing even as his enemies once again, are plotting against him. All around David, people would rise up against him and look and plot and hope for his downfall. Yet, David knows that he belongs to God. He knows his hope is in Him. He knows his heart is united to God’s because David himself as king has sought to care for the poor and needy under his reign. And he recognizes that this is evidence of his belonging to the great compassionate King of kings.

And so, he rests in God’s blessing and deliverance. Right? “Blessed is the one who considers the poor.” David, here, is centering his hope upon God’s promise of deliverance and blessing.

It’s also important for us to remember especially as we come to this 41st psalm that this is the end of Book One of the Psalms. You’ll notice that at the beginning of Psalm 42 which we’ll get to next week, it says Book Two. The Psalms are organized into five smaller books. Each carrying a different theme, yet each ultimately pointing us to Christ the Messiah.

This final psalm in Book One is significant because it begins with the same word that Psalm 1 began with and Psalm 2 ends with. “Blessed.” Remember that Psalms 1 and 2 are the lenses by which we read the entire Psalter.

Psalm 1 begins with,

Psalm 1:1 (ESV)

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Psalm 2 ends with,

Psalm 2:12 (ESV)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 1 calls us to a life of holiness and devotion to God’s Word where we find meaning, purpose and joy for our lives. Psalm 2 points us to the Messiah who will make us right with God.

So, when we read Psalm 41 as it opens with the word “blessed” it should remind us of Psalms 1 and 2 and what the past forty psalms which comprise Book One are about.

Book One of the Psalms is about “The Blessed Man,” Jesus Christ.

How so? Well, in Psalm 1 Jesus is the ideal man who never sins and who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But His delight is in the Law of the Lord.

In Psalm 2 He is the eternal Son of God, the King who reigns over all nations who provides refuge to all who hope and trust in Him.

And what we’ve seen from David throughout Book One as David writes prophetically is that the Messiah is one who is vulnerable, one who is hated by His enemies. One whose enemies seek to destroy him. He is a Messiah who will suffer but his suffering is not from God’s displeasure with him but that through His suffering, He is blessed and will draw all people to himself.

Book One of the Psalms really reveals to us a suffering servant, a Messiah King who will be hated by the world and by His enemies but One who will go before us, One who will stand in the gap between us and eternal condemnation and will give to us, eternal life and hope with God forever.

You see, David writes these Psalms as a prophet-king. He writes these songs regarding his own experiences in life, and we learn from them, yes, but the Psalms reveal to us a greater David, an eternal King. They ultimately point to Jesus and so if you read the psalms and fail to see Jesus, you haven’t read and understood the psalm correctly.

Psalm 41 closes out Book One by once again showing us the heart of God, the need for grace, and the hope of deliverance and triumph.

Body

Let’s look first at,

The heart of God.

Verse 1 again says,

Psalm 41:1 (ESV)

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

Now, we’ve already seen from Psalm 40 that God’s heart is one of compassion. God himself considers the poor and needy. God is a Father to the fatherless. He cares about the oppressed and the afflicted. There’s not one hurt in your life that goes unnoticed by him. His heart is one of compassion and kindness.

And so, one correct way of reading this first verse would be to praise God, to bless God for his compassionate heart toward us who are needy.

But, another correct way to read this first verse is to see that God himself will bless those who care for the poor and needy as well. David, as king over Israel is calling on God’s blessing for his life because he has sought to care for the needy people underneath his reign and rule.

These two ways of reading this blessing are connected to one another. God is a compassionate God who cares for the poor, who considers the needy and then blesses those who share his compassionate heart.

The word “poor” here means low, powerless, or insignificant. Those, who are poor in our society, in our culture, in our world today are those who are helpless, oppressed, marginalized, and often abused and forgotten.

The poor are often overlooked and ignored. It’s easy for us to look the other way at the person asking for money on the side of the street. It may be easy for us to criticize and tell them to just go get a job but many lack the resources and means to do so.

David here says, Blessed is the one who “CONSIDERS” the poor. Meaning, we don’t just notice them and feel sorry for them but that we seek to understand and help. It means to know them in such a way that we know what the right thing is to do to help them.

As one author has said,

“Those who consider the poor do not just have warm feelings—they give the poor their time and attention to discover what should be done genuinely to help them.” - Kent Hughes

It was Spurgeon who said regarding our care for the poor,

“They do not toss them a penny and go on their way, but inquire into their sorrows, sift out their causes, study the best ways for their relief, and practically come to their rescue.”

Christians throughout history have not just acknowledged the brokenness of the world but have moved into neighborhoods, moved halfway around the world to bring healing and hope to those without it.

Do you see the heart of Christ here? Do you see God’s heart here in what should be our care for the poor?

God did not take notice of our poor state and then look the other way when we were were dead and lost in sin but considered us, cared for us, and did what was necessary to free us from our weak and poor state and give to us through the life and death of His Son eternal riches, an eternal inheritance. Life forever with Him.

God put on a body and moved into the neighborhood. He considered us. Became one of us.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

The more we set our minds on the heart of God the more compassionate we become as we reflect the gospel and imitate our compassionate God.

And if this alone weren’t enough to adore our God, the Psalm continues.

The last half of verse 1 says,

Psalm 41:1b (ESV)

In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

Verse 2.

Psalm 41:2–3 (ESV)

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.

What do we see? The Lord delivers, protects, keeps, sustains, and restores. Now, this isn’t a Psalm of health, wealth, and prosperity but it is a Psalm that promises God’s ultimate deliverance for those who belong to Him. Don’t view this as a Psalm that teaches that if you care for the poor then God will give you everything you want and make your life easier. But rather, as we model the compassionate heart of God we rest in the belief that ultimately nothing will triumph over him and that through him we find peace, rest, and hope through life’s hardships. He’s enough. He’s sufficient. He wins.

This is what we see in the life of Jesus. Jesus was compassionate and kind. Jesus cared for the poor yet his enemies conspired against him and hung him on a cross thinking they had won yet God raised Him from the dead in power and glory over his enemies. This is the hope we have in Christ. Through Him, no enemy can prevail against us.

Once we’ve seen the heart of God, the next thing we need to see from this Psalm is,

Our need for grace.

Notice what David says in verse 4,

Psalm 41:4 (ESV)

“O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”

When you look at the Hebrew language here there’s more depth than what the English translation is saying. David’s asking God to “heal his soul.” To mend it, repair it, rebuild it.

When you come face to face with the character and nature of God as what was seen in the first three verses you can’t help but recognize then your need for grace.

David recognizes the depravity of his heart, the sinfulness of his soul, his need for grace and forgiveness.

And so, as you notice the words of David here, notice who he turns to when confronted with the wickedness of his heart? He doesn’t look internally to his moral goodness. He doesn’t look to his title as king to justify him. He doesn’t surround himself with “yes men” who will tell him whatever he wants to hear to make him feel better. No, he turns to his God and says, “I’ve sinned against you. Forgive me. Be gracious to me.”

Church, I pray that we would hold fast to these simple, yet profoundly life-changing, transformational truths; that we are justified, forgiven, accepted by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

As David prayed these words, “ O LORD, be gracious to me,” he was looking forward to the promised Messiah. He was looking to Jesus. This Jesus, the ideal man from Psalm 1 who was perfect in every way, spotless, sinless, yet who identified with us in our humanity and took our sins upon himself.

Never forget, you are forgiven through no work of your own, no title you carry, no moral internal goodness you perform but through faith in Jesus who carried your sin, took the blame, bore the wrath of God, endured suffering and betrayal and has offered you forgiveness through His name.

I said a little while ago that if you miss Jesus in the Psalms then you’ve missed the point of the Psalms. Jesus is the greater David. All that David experienced in his life pointed ultimately to the great King of kings. Even David’s conflict with his enemies and the betrayal he experienced from his close friends was seen ultimately in the life of Jesus.

David said in verse 5,

Psalm 41:5 (ESV)

My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?”

Throughout Jesus’ life he was opposed by his enemies. Religious leaders were continually plotting and hoping for his downfall.

David experienced betrayal from those close to him.

Verse 9,

Psalm 41:9 (ESV)

Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

This should remind us of the betrayal Jesus experienced when Judas betrayed him.

In fact, Jesus himself quotes Psalm 41:9 at the last supper on the night of his betrayal.

John 13:18 (ESV)

I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’

In quoting the psalms Jesus is saying that just like David experienced betrayal, so do I. I’m the greater David. But, where David failed to be the true King that God’s people needed, I will not fail but accomplish all that is needed to redeem mankind. I will reign over all the earth. My enemies will not prevail against me.

And it’s in this hope that ultimately Book One of the Psalms concludes with great assurance, celebration, and triumph over God’s enemies.

And that’s the final point of this psalm and really the overall theme of Book One of the Psalms.

The Lord Reigns.

What do we see in the remaining verses? We see triumph. We see celebration. We see hope. We see life as it was intended to be.

Psalm 41:10–12 (ESV)

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.

Even throughout David’s trials as was seen all throughout the last forty psalms, God was pleased with David and prevailed over his enemies. David’s ultimate hope was in the goodness, kindness, and sovereignty of His God. He knew if he was accepted by God then nothing else mattered.

On the cross, Jesus’ enemies thought they had won. At the cross, the great enemy of humanity, Satan, thought he was finally victorious. At the cross Jesus was surrounded by his enemies yet God’s delight in His Son never wavered.

Just as David knew that his God delighted in Him, so Jesus knew that through suffering, God’s glory would be seen and in His resurrection God delighted in and exalted the Son above every name on earth.

Philippians 2:8–11 (ESV)

[Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

That’s triumph. That’s the reign and rule of Christ. The Lord reigns.

And it’s through him that we find peace, we find hope, we find salvation, we find life.

Conclusion

This first book of the psalms is truly the story of Jesus as written and seen in the life and experiences of king David.

As was said at the beginning this morning. Jesus is the “ideal man,” the “blessed man” from Psalm 1. He is the reigning Son of God in Psalm 2.

Like David, Jesus was hated by his enemies. He was despised and rejected by men but He walked in integrity. He was the blameless servant King who identified with sinful humanity in order to save and redeem a people back to God through his suffering and sacrificial death. Yet, it was God the Father’s delight to raise Jesus from the dead and to seat Him on the throne where we will reign forever.

This is why Book One of the Psalms ends with this doxology. This praise of God for who He is and what he has done.

Psalm 41:13 (ESV)

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

Praise God that he is compassionate. He consider the poor and needy like you and me. Praise God that through Jesus, he saves, that through Jesus we can be blessed.