Salmi 41:4 Commento

God's kindness and truth have often been the support and comfort of the saints when they have had most experience of man's unkindness and treachery. David here found them so, upon a sick-bed; he found his enemies very barbarous, but his God very gracious. I. He here comforts himself in his communion with God under his sickness, by faith receiving and laying hold of God's promises to him (Psa 41:1-3) and lifting up his heart in prayer to God (Psa 41:4). II. He here represents the malice of his enemies against him, their malicious censures of him, their spiteful reflections upon him, and their insolent conduct towards him (Psa 41:5-9). III. He leaves his case with God, not doubting but that he would own and favour him (Psa 41:10-12), and so the psalm concludes with a doxology (Psa 41:13). Is any afflicted with sickness? let him sing the beginning of this psalm. Is any persecuted by enemies? let him sing the latter end of it; and we may any of us, in singing it, meditate upon both the calamities and comforts of good people in this world. To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 41 To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. In this psalm is a prophecy concerning Christ, and concerning Judas Iscariot, as runs part of the title in the Syriac version; and in the Arabic version it is called a prophecy concerning the incarnation, and the salutation of Judas; and certain it is that Psa 41:9 is to be understood of him, and of his betraying Christ into the hands of his enemies, since it is cited and applied to him by our Lord himself, Joh 13:18; so that having such a sure rule of interpretation, we may safely venture to explain the whole psalm of Christ, which treats both of his humiliation and exaltation; for it neither agrees with David wholly, nor with Hezekiah, to whom some ascribe it, as Theodoret remarks.

I said, Lord, be merciful unto me,.... See Gill on Psa 40:11; heal my soul; not that it was diseased with sin in such sense as the souls of other men are; but it is to be understood as a petition for comfort while bearing the sins of others, and which Christ as man stood in need of when in the garden and on the cross; so healing signifies comfort in trouble, as in Isa 57:18; for I have sinned against thee; or "unto thee", or "before thee", as the Targum; not that any sin was committed by him in his own person, but he having all the sins of his people on him, which he calls his own, Psa 40:12; he was treated as a sinner, and as guilty before God, Isa 53:12; and so the words may be read, "for I am a sinner unto thee" (u); I am counted as one by thee, having the sins of my people imputed to me; and am bound unto thee, or under obligation to bear the punishment of sin; or thus, "for I have made an offering for sin unto thee" (w), so the word is used, Lev 6:26; and so it might be rendered in Lev 5:7; and perhaps may be better rendered so in Lev 4:3; and be understood, not of the sin of the anointed priest, but of his offering a sacrifice for the soul that sinned through ignorance, Psa 41:2, which offering is directed to: and then the sense here is, heal me, acquit me, discharge me, and deliver me out of this poor and low estate in which I am; for I have made my soul an offering for sin, and thereby have made atonement for all the sins of my people laid upon me; and accordingly he was acquitted and justified, Ti1 3:16. (u) "tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius. (w) "Obtuli sacrificium pro peccato", Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 249, 923.

But why this? Because He "scourges every son whom He receives." [Hebrews 12:6] Why this? Because to men sinning was it said, "In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread." [Genesis 3:19] Therefore because all these chastisements, in which all our bed is turned in our infirmity, man ought to acknowledge that he suffers for sin; let him turn himself, and say what follows: "I said, Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You" [Psalm 41:4]. O Lord, by tribulations do Thou exercise me; to be scourged You judge every son whom You will receive, who spared not even the Only-Begotten. He indeed without sin was scourged; but I say, "I have sinned against You."...

Your accuser goes on scoring points off you, as long as you insist on making your own excuses. So do you want to ensure that your accuser—the devil, that is—suffers and groans? Do what you have heard, do what you have learned, and say to your God, “I myself have said it, Lord. Have mercy on me, heal my soul, since I have sinned against you.” “I myself,” he says, “I myself have said it; not the devil, not luck, not fate. I myself have said it. I’m not making excuses, on the contrary, I accuse myself. I have said it. Have mercy on me, heal my soul.”

The reason he says, “I myself have said it, Lord,” is to thrust before our eyes the fact that the will and decision to sin arises from the soul and that we are fully capable of destroying ourselves, while it takes God to seek that which was lost and to save that which had wounded itself.

I am the one who is poor, he is saying, who embraced voluntary poverty, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who makes my own the sufferings of human beings, who though having committed no sin offers the prayer for human nature as nature’s firstfruits. It should be noted, however, that Symmachus said not “because I sinned against you” but “even if I sinned against you.”

Every sin is a sickness of the soul. As it grows stronger, the health of the inner person decreases. He who cried out to the Physician was aware of his illness, but in that understanding he was already healthy in so far as he recognized that he was weak. So he wishes for his soul to be healed, namely, by the forgiveness of sins.

God will heal you if only you admit your wound. You lie under the physician’s hands; patiently implore his aid. If he bathes or burns or cuts it, bear it calmly; do not even pay any attention to it, provided you are cured. Moreover, you will be cured if you present yourself to the doctor. Not that he does not see you hide, but confession is the very beginning of restoration to health.

When sinners are rebuked for their crimes … they do not all accept it with humility and obedience. Many do not blush to reply with most insolent boldness, saying, Am I the only one who did this? Have not those people, and those, done similar things or worse? Do not even the clergy with major orders commit such sins? Unhappy soul! A crowd of miserable people is a comfort to you. Can the individual sinner be tormented any less if immense crowds of sinners begin to be tortured in eternal punishment with him? How much better it would be for each one to flee the evil of his sins and exclaim in humble confession, “I said, O Lord, be merciful to me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you,” and, “I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.” For the good of his soul he should follow the examples of those who were honestly converted after many sins, rather than propose for imitation those who will suffer endless punishment after brief joy.

And because to the merciful mercy is owed, being conscious of his mercy, I ask for mercy. First, therefore, he asks for mercy absolutely; second he shows in what respect he especially asks for it; third he assigns the cause of the petition. He says therefore, "O Lord, I said, have mercy on me"; as if to say: I do not have recourse to justice, but to mercy, because our salvation is not in our own acts of justice. Is. 64: "All our acts of justice are like a polluted garment." But in what does he ask for mercy? Where misery especially is. And this, namely mercy, is given where there is the highest beatitude, because beatitude does not consist in bodily things, since bodily things are ordered to ultimate beatitude. Therefore the chief misery is not in bodily things but in those things that have in themselves a disposition contrary to beatitude, such as in adulteries, thefts, murders, and other sins; and whoever does such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God, as the Apostle says in Gal. 5, but is damned. Prov. 14: "Sin makes peoples wretched." For sin has disordered the body, and the body has disordered the soul. Wis. 9: "The body which is corrupted weighs down the soul." And this health is had from God alone. Wis. 16: "Neither herb nor poultice healed them, but your word, O Lord." And the reason for this petition is: "because I have sinned against you." But do sins merit mercy? No. This, therefore, is connected in such a way that the word "because" designates the matter of mercy, not its merit. There is no misery where there is not a place for mercy. And therefore, because I am wretched, I ask for mercy. Or the word "because" denotes the meritorious cause, and thus, because the confession of sin is the merit of mercy, therefore he says: I ask for mercy because I confess that I have sinned against you. Prov. 28: "He who hides his sins," etc. "But he who confesses shall obtain mercy." Or otherwise, "because I have sinned against you"; as if to say: why do I ask for mercy? Because you alone are the one who can heal, because the injury and sin were committed against you; therefore remission pertains to you. And in every sin God is offended. And this verse is sung at the third hour, because by the faith and operation of the Trinity sin is remitted.

The Psalmist celebrates the blessedness of those who compassionate the poor, conduct strongly contrasted with the spite of his enemies and neglect of his friends in his calamity. He prays for God's mercy in view of his ill desert, and, in confidence of relief, and that God will vindicate his cause, he closes with a doxology. (Psa 41:1-13) God rewards kindness to the poor (Pro 19:17). From Psa 41:2, Psa 41:11 it may be inferred that the Psalmist describes his own conduct. poor--in person, position, and possessions.

I said--I asked the mercy I show. heal my soul--(Compare Psa 30:2). "Sin and suffering are united," is one of the great teachings of the Psalms.

(Heb.: 41:5-7) He, the poet, is treated in his distress of soul in a manner totally different from the way just described which is so rich in promises of blessing. He is himself just such a דּל, towards whom one ought to manifest sympathising consideration and interest. But, whilst he is addressing God in the language of penitential prayer for mercy and help, his enemies speak evil to him, i.e., with respect to him, wishing that he might die and that his name might perish. רפאה .hs is as an exception Milra, inasmuch as א draws the tone to its own syllable; cf. on the other hand רגזה, Isa 32:11 (Hitzig). מתי (prop. extension, length of time) has only become a Semitic interrogative in the signification quando by the omission of the interrogative אי (common Arabic in its full form Arab. 'ymtâ, êmata). ואבד is a continuation of the future. In Psa 41:7 one is singled out and made prominent, and his hypocritically malicious conduct described. ראות of a visit to a sick person as in Sa2 13:5., Kg2 8:29. אם is used both with the perf. (Psa 50:18; Psa 63:7; Psa 78:34; Psa 94:18; Gen 38:9; Amo 7:2; Isa 24:13; Isa 28:25) and with the fut. (Psa 68:14; Job 14:14), like quum, as a blending together of si and quando, Germ. wenn (if) and wann (when). In ידבר לבו two Rebias come together, the first of which has the greater value as a distinctive, according to the rule laid down in Baer's Psalterium, p. xiv. Consequently, following the accents, it must not be rendered: "falsehood doth his heart speak." The lxx, Vulgate, and Targum have discerned the correct combination of the words. Besides, the accentuation, as is seen from the Targum and expositors, proceeds on the assumption that לבּו is equivalent to בּלבּו. But why may it not be the subject-notion: "His heart gathereth" is an expression of the activity of his mind and feelings, concealed beneath a feigned and friendly outward bearing. The asyndeton portrays the despatch with which he seeks to make the material for slander, which has been gathered together, public both in the city and in the country.