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Psalm 41

Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]
    the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(A)
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)
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
    in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b](C)

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
    heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(D)
My enemies wonder in malice
    when I will die and my name perish.(E)
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)
All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.(G)

They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
    that I will not rise again from where I lie.(H)
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)

Footnotes

  1. 41.1 Or weak
  2. 41.3 Heb you change all his bed

Thanksgiving for God’s Provision in Time of Sickness

For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]

41 Blessed is the one who has regard for the poor;
in the day of disaster, Yahweh delivers him.
Yahweh protects him and keeps him alive;
he is blessed in the land,
and you do not give him
into the will[b] of his enemies.
Yahweh sustains him on his sick bed.
In his illness, you restore to health.[c]
As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, be gracious to me.
Heal me,[d] for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies speak evil about me,
“When will he die and his name perish?”
And when one comes to see me, he speaks falsely;
his heart gathers disaster for itself.
He goes out to the street; he speaks.
All who hate me speak together against me.
Against me they assume the worst[e] for me:
“A ruinous thing is poured out on him,
and now that he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
Even my close friend,[f] whom I trusted,
who ate my bread,
has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and raise me up
that I may repay them.
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
because my enemy has not shouted in triumph over me.
12 As for me, you have upheld me in my integrity,
and you have set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 41:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
  2. Psalm 41:2 Hebrew “soul”
  3. Psalm 41:3 Literally “his every bed you change”
  4. Psalm 41:4 Or “my soul”
  5. Psalm 41:7 Literally “evil”
  6. Psalm 41:9 Literally “the man of my peace”