December 13
Reading: Psalm 41
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
2 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.
3 The LORD sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.
4 As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread,
has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
David has enemies. There are a handful of consistent themes that have run through book 1 of the Psalms. David trusts in the Lord when he is rejoicing and when he is miserable. David constantly finds refuge in the Lord and who He is. And, David is constantly beset by people who want to do him harm.
You might wonder why this is. After all, David is a good man. He loves the Lord. He has many fast friends. He is the king.
But this all matters little. If you walk with God in this world, you will have enemies, and the more prominent and outspoken you are in your walking with God the more enemies you will have. I think of Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 15:17-20.
These things I command you, so that you will love one another. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
So, David prays this prayer of blessing for those who care for the poor, who trust the Lord when attacked by people in this world, who are sick and needy, who see that they have sinned. (vss. 1-4) These people look to the Lord in contrast to those who do not.
Notice the description of his enemies. (vss. 5-9) They are spiteful, malicious, gossipy, they wish him the worst, they were once his friends. I wish that the world was not this way, but it is. Sometimes the people who hurt us most deeply are those who were once closest to us.
In verses 10-12 David turns his attention back to the Lord and asks God for His grace, rejoicing that the Lord knows him and delights in him and will uphold him forever. Our enemies do not get the final say in our lives. The Lord does. Our enemies do not define us. They do not know us. The Lord does. Our enemies do not win. The Lord does.
And, so, with a final benediction (vs. 13) we close out the first book of Psalms, the first hymnal for royal Israel, songs of King David and songs of the King of Kings.