The Psalmist Acknowledges That His Problems Partly Arise Because Of His Own Sinfulness, And Then Explains To YHWH About The Behaviour Of His Enemies (Psalms 41:4-9).
‘I said, O YHWH, have mercy on me,
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Lying on his sick bed the Psalmist has been made to face up to his own sins. And he confesses his sin to God and prays that He will have mercy on him and heal him wholly within. There is nothing like an illness for making us face up to the truth about ourselves.
My enemies speak evil against me, saying,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
And if he come to see me,
He speaks falsehood,
His heart gathers iniquity to itself,
When he goes abroad, he tells it.'
‘All who hate me whisper together against me,
Against me do they devise my hurt.
“An evil disease,” say they, “cleaves fast to him,
And now that he lies he will rise up no more.”
He explains to God the behaviour of his enemies towards him;
· They are looking forward to his death, constantly asking how soon it will come.
· They come to see him, pretending to be loyal, when all the time he knows very well that once they leave his sick room they spread abroad anything that is derogatory to him and continually add to the rumours of his soon demise.
Behind his words there clearly lies a plea that God will observe their behaviour and counteract it.
‘An evil disease.' Literally ‘a thing of Belial'. They might have intended by this that in their view David was stricken because of his wickedness. Thus his death must be seen as certain.
‘Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
Who did eat of my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.'
What grieves him most is that one of his closest friends, to whom he has demonstrated such love and generosity, even inviting him to the king's g's table, has taken the part of his enemies and has acted against him.
In John 13:18 these words are applied by Jesus to the behaviour of Judas. He was saying that what had happened to David himself, had also now happened to great David's greater son. It was the fate of all who truly served God.