Psalm 41

Psalm 41

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; 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. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restored him to full health. As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?” And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, “ A Deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But you, O Lord, e gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them! By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. Blessed be the lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.”

It sounds like David is in a rough situation in this Psalm as even his closest of friends are persecuting him and “lifting their heels against him.” Have you ever had your friends turn their backs on you? Have you ever found yourself in a situation that looked rather bleak with those who are closest to you? These can be some of the most unforgettable times in your life and we quickly realize who are ‘true’ friends are through these experience. I don’t know about you guys, but when this kind of stuff happens to me, I am much quicker to pray for bad things to happen to those people before I think about my own heart and how God should use his Grace to soften those people’s hearts like David does. 

I need to remember through this Psalm that whenever someone turns his back on me and I harbor resentment for that person, I have to remember that I was the first one to turn my back on our heavenly Father. He made a way through his son Jesus Christ to re-kindle that relationship and make sure that we were always close to him and to show us how much he cares for his children.  

In your prayers this morning, remember what God did for YOU and how He cares for YOU, how He holds YOU in the palm of his hand, how He delights in YOU, how he would do anything to maintain a relationship with YOU. 

Have a great week this week. 

-Tim