This psalm, ascribed to David, has, in its general design and spirit, a strong resemblance to Psalms 38. The occasion on which it was composed is not certainly known; but, like that, it seems to have been when the author was suffering under bodily sickness, not improbably brought on him by mental sorrows caused by the ingratitude of his friends, or by those nearly related to him in life. it is certain that his bodily sufferings were either caused or aggravated by the neglect of his friends; by their cold treatment of him; by their ingratitude toward him; by the reports which they circulated in regard to him. See Psalms 38:11-12; compare Psalms 41:5-9. It was this unkindness certainly which greatly increased his suffering, and which probably gave occasion to the psalm. Who the persons were that thus treated him with neglect and coldness cannot now be ascertained; nor is it necessary to know who they were in order to appreciate the meaning and the beauty of the psalm. Their conduct is so accurately and so feelingly described, that it would be no particular advantage to be made acquainted with their names.
The case, therefore, in the psalm is that of one who is sick; who is forsaken by his friends; who is subjected to unkind remarks alike when they are with him and when absent from him; of one, therefore, whose only refuge is God, and who looks to him for sympathy.
According to this view, the psalm may be conveniently divided into four parts:
I. The psalmist dwells on the blessed character of one who does show compassion or kindness to the poor and the suffering; the blessedness of the man who is merciful, Psalms 41:1-3. This is evidently a reflection forced upon him by the opposite conduct of those whom he supposed he might have regarded as his friends, and to whom he had a right to look for sympathy and kindness. In his own mind, therefore, he contrasts their actual conduct with the character of the truly kind and merciful man, and is led, in few words, to describe the happiness which would follow if proper kindness were shown to the poor and the afflicted. He says that the effect of such conduct would be:
(a) that the Lord would deliver such an one in the time of trouble, Psalms 41:1;
(b) that the Lord would preserve him alive, Psalms 41:2;
(c) that he would be blessed upon the earth, Psalms 41:2;
(d) that the Lord would not deliver him to the will of his enemies, Psalms 41:2;
(e) that he would strengthen him on the bed of languishing, and would make his bed in his sickness, Psalms 41:3.
II. An appeal to God for mercy, and for restoration to health, with an humble confession that it was for his own sin that he was suffering; and with a purpose not to attempt to justify himself, or to say that he had not deserved this at the hand of God, Psalms 41:4. He makes no complaint of God, much as he had occasion to complain of his friends.
III. A statement in regard to the manner in which he had been treated in his sickness, Psalms 41:5-9.
(a) His enemies took occasion to speak evil of him, and to utter the wish, in a manner which would be most painful to a sufferer, that he might die, and that his name might perish, Psalms 41:5.
(b) If they came to see him in his sickness, instead of speaking words of kindness and comfort, they spoke only “vain” and unmeaning words; they sought occasion to gratify their own malignity by finding something in his manner, or in his language, which they could repeat to his disadvantage, Psalms 41:6.
(c) All that hated him took occasion now to conspire against him, to lay together all that they individually knew or could say that would be injurious to him, and to urge their individual causes of complaint against him in a general statement in regard to his character, Psalms 41:7.
(d) They especially sought to injure him by reporting that a disease clave to him which was the result of sin, perhaps of an irregular life, and that there was no prospect that he would be again restored to health; that the hand of God was upon him, and that he must sink to the grave, Psalms 41:8.
(e) All this was aggravated by the fact that his own familiar friend, some one who had enjoyed his confidence, and had partaken of the hospitality of his table, had abused his friendship, and was found among his detractors and calumniators, Psalms 41:9.
IV. An earnest invocation of the mercy of God, and an expression of the confident assurance of his favor, closes the psalm, Psalms 41:10-13.
This psalm, like Psalms 38, which it so much resembles, is one that will be always eminently useful to those who are visited with sickness, and who, at the same time, are deprived of the sympathy in their sufferings which the afflicted so much need and desire, and who, instead of sympathy, are subjected to detraction and calumny - their enemies taking advantage of their condition to circulate unfavorable reports in regard to them, and their heretofore professed friends withdrawing from them, and uniting with their calumniators and detractors. Such cases may not be very common in the world, but they occur with sufficient frequency to make it proper that, in a book claiming to be inspired, and designed to be adapted to all times and all classes of people, they should be referred to, and that we should be told what is the true source of consolation in such troubles. Indeed, a book professing to come from God would be defective in the highest degree if such a case were not provided for, and if suitable instructions for such an occasion had not been furnished by precept, or example, or both. On the phrase in the title, “To the chief Musician,” see the notes on the title to Psalms 4:1-8.