Psalm 41 — Help, not removal

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth;
And deliver not thou him unto the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD will support him upon the couch of languishing:
Thou makest all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, O LORD, have mercy upon me:
Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
5 Mine enemies speak evil against me, saying,
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, have mercy upon me, and raise me up,
That I may requite them.
11 By this I know that thou delightest in 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, the God of Israel,
From everlasting and to everlasting.
Amen, and Amen.

When David says that God hears & helps the one who considers the poor, he reveals an interesting tension in life: God will hear & help, yet we will be poor. The help we receive from God doesn't remove all possibilities of problems, but it does provide relief in what we face. We need to remember that while we may not have all languishing removed, he will surely make our bed in languishing.

Consider, even, that being poor & sick aren't the only problems David speaks about in this psalm. The great difficulty is the malevolence we face from others. Those who seek our hurt and whisper against us, often using our times of lowliness as evidence against us. They take advantage of our afflictions as we cry out to God for help.

The great tragedy in this psalm is when the "familiar friend" refuses to help and turns against us for harm. There may be no greater tragedy one can suffer. It is part of the great passion of the Christ: betrayal by a friend as well as his own nation.

By the mercy of the Lord, both Christ and we ourselves are raised up past these tragedies and evil times. By psalms like these, we cry to God for help through evil times.