To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
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. KJV
It is believed that this Psalm is composed against the backdrop of Absalom’s rebellion in which Ahithophel, David’s most trusted counselor, secretly abandoned him and began to counsel Absalom in the conspiracy to overthrow David. It is believed that he is the ‘familiar friend’ of v.9.
During this time David had a lingering illness (which may be the illness that is referenced in several other psalms) which prevented him from interacting with Israel as he once had done. As such, David speaks of those who were faithful to him as a model of all those who would even have compassion on one in suffering. David is the ‘poor man’ here, not because he has no money but because he is sick and in need of the help of faithful friends who will look out for him in his weakness.
By contrast, Absalom and Ahithophel conspired to take advantage of the weakness of the king during this time. David’s opinions, especially concerning Ahithophel is very clear in vs. 4-9.
David pronounces a blessing upon such as take the part of the weak, believing rightly that God indeed does bless those who help the ‘poor.’
There is a huge lesson in this because in the course of life we will have occasion to be involved with disputes, conflicts, and other situations in which one person or group is seeking to take advantage of another person or group. The challenge of the believer is always to make a determination
concerning who is right and to judge with spiritual eyes unafraid of the consequences of the decision.
1 Cor 2:15 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. KJV
Once the decision is made as to the right of a matter, the believer must take the position of defending the right, even if the one who is right is in the weaker position, in fact, especially if that is true. Refusal to involve one’s self almost always plays in favor of the wrong position, which is often also
the more powerful.
David’s true friends stayed with him even when he was in disfavor and in danger of being hunted down and killed.
2 Sam 15:19-22 19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile. 20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee. 21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. 22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. KJV
Upon such as these he wished the greatest of blessings from God.
Ps 41:2-3 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. KJV
It is believed that David was still languishing under his sorrow over his sins of adultery and murder, that he was apprehensive of the attitudes of the people toward him concerning those sins, and that this partially induced him to not deal with Absalom as he should have, to allow the conspiracy to go forward.
Ps 41:1-3 These four years were for David a time of increasing care and anxiety; for that which was planned cannot have remained altogether concealed from him, but he had neither the courage nor the strength to smother the evil undertaking in the germ. His love for Absalom held him back; the consciousness of his own deed of shame and bloodshed, which was now notorious, deprived him of the alacrity essential to energetic interference; and the consciousness of the divine judgments, which ought to follow his sin, must have determined him to leave the issue of the conspiracy that was maturing under his very eyes entirely to the compassion of his God, without taking any action in the matter himself. (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
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.
David thought that his condition was one brought on by his sins, maybe still the sins of adultery and murder, see V.8. He was occupied in his mind with repentance and grief for his sins, sick and weak from the illness. All the time some who were close to him as well as his enemies were wishing for
him to die. They pretended to be David’s friend in his presence but carried tales about him when he went out. Many were plotting ill against him, including his son who is conspicuously left out here.
We should remember that not everyone who is under the disciplining hand of God is in a wrong place. Sometimes they are laboring to find a way to repentance. We should not take God’s hand upon them as a reason to reject them. They might need a friend to counsel with concerning how to approach God in the matter or merely someone to pray with them.
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.
One proof that a person still has the favor of God is that his enemy does not finally prevail. Even in David’s weakness of body and mind, the strongest enemy he had could not defeat him because God worked to overthrow his plans. David maintained his integrity and God held him even during this great test. Let us remember that testing and discipline does not mean rejection. Even under chastisement, we are to learn from Job to maintain the integrity of our faith, our absolute trust in God. The end was to the glory of God.
— January 1, 2021