Psalm 41
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(A)
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.(B)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b](C)
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(D)
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.(E)
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.(F)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.(G)
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.(H)
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.(I)
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.(J)
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me:
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.(K)
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.(L)
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(M)
Psalm 41
The Message
41 1-3 Dignify those who are down on their luck;
you’ll feel good—that’s what God does.
God looks after us all,
makes us robust with life—
Lucky to be in the land,
we’re free from enemy worries.
Whenever we’re sick and in bed,
God becomes our nurse,
nurses us back to health.
4-7 I said, “God, be gracious!
Put me together again—
my sins have torn me to pieces.”
My enemies are wishing the worst for me;
they make bets on what day I will die.
If someone comes to see me,
he mouths empty platitudes,
All the while gathering gossip about me
to entertain the street-corner crowd.
These “friends” who hate me
whisper slanders all over town.
They form committees
to plan misery for me.
8-9 The rumor goes out, “He’s got some dirty,
deadly disease. The doctors
have given up on him.”
Even my best friend, the one I always told everything
—he ate meals at my house all the time!—
has bitten my hand.
10 God, give grace, get me up on my feet.
I’ll show them a thing or two.
11-12 Meanwhile, I’m sure you’re on my side—
no victory shouts yet from the enemy camp!
You know me inside and out, you hold me together,
you never fail to stand me tall in your presence
so I can look you in the eye.
13 Blessed is God, Israel’s God,
always, always, always.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson