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Study this verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Psalms 41:1–4. His four-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
In these verses we have,
I.God's promises of succour and comfort to those that consider the poor; and,
1.We may suppose that David makes mention of these with application either,
(1.)To his friends, who were kind to him, and very considerate of his case, now that he was in affliction: Blessed is he that considers poor David. Here and there he met with one that sympathized with him, and was concerned for him, and kept up his good opinion of him and respect for him, notwithstanding his afflictions, while his enemies were so insolent and abusive to him; on these he pronounced this blessing, not doubting but that God would recompense to them all the kindness they had done him, particularly when they also came to be in affliction. The provocations which his enemies gave him did but endear his friends so much the more to him. Or,
(2.)To himself. He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had considered the poor, that when he was in honour and power at court he had taken cognizance of the wants and miseries of the poor and had provided for their relief, and therefore was sure God would, according to his promise, strengthen and comfort him in his sickness.
2.We must regard them more generally with application to ourselves. Here is a comment upon that promise, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Observe,
(1.)What the mercy is which is required of us. It is to consider the poor or afflicted, whether in mind, body, or estate. These we are to consider with prudence and tenderness; we must take notice of their affliction and enquire into their state, must sympathize with them and judge charitably concerning them. We must wisely consider the poor; that is, we must ourselves be instructed by the poverty and affliction of others; it must be Maschil to us, that is the word here used.
(2.)What the mercy is that is promised to us if we thus show mercy. He that considers the poor (if he cannot relieve them, yet he considers them, and has a compassionate concern for them, and in relieving them acts considerately and with discretion) shall be considered by his God: he shall not only be recompensed in the resurrection of the just, but he shall be blessed upon the earth This branch of godliness, as much as any, has the promise of the life that now is and is usually recompensed with temporal blessings. Liberality to the poor is the surest and safest way of thriving; such as practise it may be sure of seasonable and effectual relief from God,
[1.]In all troubles: He will deliver them in the day of evil, so that when the times are at the worst it shall go well with them, and they shall not fall into the calamities in which others are involved; if any be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger, they shall. Those who thus distinguish themselves from those that have hard hearts God will distinguish from those that have hard usage. Are they in danger? he will preserve and keep them alive; and those who have a thousand times forfeited their lives, as the best have, must acknowledge it as a great favour if they have their lives given them for a prey. He does not say, "They shall be preferred," but, "They shall be preserved and kept alive, when the arrows of death fly thickly round about them." Do their enemies threaten them? God will not deliver them into the will of their enemies; and the most potent enemy we have can have no power against us but what is given him from above. The good-will of a God that loves us is sufficient to secure us from the ill-will of all that hate us, men and devils; and that good-will we may promise ourselves an interest in if we have considered the poor and helped to relieve and rescue them.
[2.]Particularly in sickness (Psa 41:3): The Lord will strengthen him, both in body and mind, upon the bed of languishing, on which he had long lain sick, and he will make all his bed - a very condescending expression, alluding to the care of those that nurse and tend sick people, especially of mothers for their children when they are sick, which is to make their beds easy for them; and that bed must needs be well made which God himself has the making of. He will make all his bed from head to foot, so that no part shall be uneasy; he will turn his bed (so the word is), to shake it up and make it very easy; or he will turn it into a bed of health. Note, God has promised his people that he will strengthen them, and make them easy, under their bodily pains and sicknesses. He has not promised that they shall never be sick, nor that they shall not lie long languishing, nor that their sickness shall not be unto death; but he has promised to enable them to bear their affliction with patience, and cheerfully to wait the issue. The soul shall by his grace be made to dwell at ease when the body lies in pain.
II.David's prayer, directed and encouraged by these promises (Psa 41:4):
I said, Heal my soul. It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay, in our practices, any thing that we said in our prayers. Here is,
1.His humble petition: Lord be merciful to me. He appeals to mercy, as one that knew he could not stand the test of strict justice. The best saints, even those that have been merciful to the poor, have not made God their debtor, but must throw themselves on his mercy. When we are under the rod we must thus recommend ourselves to the tender mercy of our God: Lord, heal my soul. Sin is the sickness of the soul; pardoning mercy heals it; renewing grace heals it; and this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health.
2.His penitent confession: "I have sinned against thee, and therefore my soul needs healing. I am a sinner, a miserable sinner; therefore, God be merciful to me," Luk 18:13. It does not appear that this has reference to any particular gross act of sin, but, in general, to his many sins of infirmity, which his sickness set in order before him, and the dread of the consequences of which made him pray, Heal my soul.
Historical interpretation
Two Centuries of Reception
9 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
[One] will not be able to merit the mercy of God who himself has not been merciful, nor will [one] gain any request from the divine love by his prayers who has not been humane toward the prayer of the poor.
By “evil day” he refers not to it as naturally evil—a day not being evil by nature, since if it were, the day would transfer the responsibility to its creator. Instead, by “evil day” he refers to the one on which a person is enveloped in distress, affliction and pain or falls victim to illness or some other hazard. So he means, when such a day comes, God, who lends help, is not asleep.
The Word defines blessedness for us in another way than at the beginning. For in the first psalms, to depart from evil was blessed, but here to know the good more fully is pronounced blessed. Now the nature of the good … is the “only-begotten God,” “who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor.” The Word here predicts his “poverty” in the flesh, which is pointed out to us through the Gospel account, pronouncing the one who has recognized that “poverty” with understanding blessed. He was “poor” in relation to the “form of a servant” but blessed in relation to the nature of deity. For in the opening words of the psalm the Word calls him “needy and poor”; at the end of the section he says, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from eternity to eternity. So be it. So be it.”
The day of judgment is bitter, and we dread it. There is no one to whom it does not appear evil, because it is fraught with terror. It is the day on which the Lord will judge not only what we did in public but even our most secret actions. On that day each of us will have to show clearly what we have done and what we have thought. Therefore many will be condemned, and few will win the crown.
Faith comes first, and mercy comes second.… Happy, therefore, is the one who understands the poverty of Christ, his utter destitution. Christ, though he was very rich, became poor for us. In his kingdom, he was rich; in his flesh, he was poor, for he took on himself the flesh of the poor. We had indeed become very poor, because, by fraud practiced on us by the serpent, we lost the rich robes of virtue and were put out of paradise. We were thrown out of our native land and banished into exile. We were even stripped of clothing. Our lovely vesture of virtue that once covered our body was snatched from us by sin.… Have understanding as regards the poverty of Christ, so that you may be rich; understand his weakness and suffering, so that you may become strong and whole; understand his cross, so that you will never blush for it; understand his wound, so that your wounds may be cured; understand his death, so that you may gain eternal life; understand his tomb, so that you may discover the resurrection.
"Blessed is he that understands upon the needy and poor One: in the evil day shall the Lord deliver him" [Psalm 41:1]. For the evil day will come: will thou, nill thou, come it will: the Day of Judgment will come upon you, an evil day if you "understand not the needy and poor." For what now you will not believe, shall be made manifest in the end. But neither shall you escape, when it shall be made manifest, because you believe not, when it is kept secret. Invited are you, what you see not to believe, lest when thou see, thou be put to the blush. "Understand then upon the needy and poor One," that is, Christ: understand in Him the hidden riches, whom poor you see, "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." [Colossians 2:3] For thereby in the evil day shall He deliver you, in that He is God: but in that He is man, and that which in Him is human has raised to life, and changed for the better, He has lifted (you ) to heaven. But He who is God, who would have one person in man and with man, could neither decrease nor increase, neither die nor rise again. He died out of man's infirmity, but God dies not....But as we rightly say, Such a man died, though his soul dies not; so we rightly say, Christ died, though His Divinity dies not. Wherefore died? Because needy and poor. Let not His death offend you, and avert you from beholding His Divinity. "Blessed is he that understands upon the needy and poor One." Consider also the poor, the needy, the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick, the prisoners; understand also upon such poor, for if upon such thou understand, you understand upon Him who said, "I was an hungred, I was thirsty, I was a stranger, naked, sick, in prison;" [Matthew 25:35-36] so in the evil day shall the Lord deliver you....
Though having lordship of visible and invisible things, he had nowhere to lay his head, was born of a virgin and through lack of bed was laid in a manger. Consequently, the inspired Word declares blessed the one able to understand this poverty and filled with zeal to sing the praises as far as possible of the one who accepted it.
Clearly, as often as we succor the wretched, we give to ourselves. The dispensing of our resources is our gain. For if you consider again the hope of future reward, whatever is given to the poor is reckoned as a profit. That is what the prophet states: “Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.”
You should “recognize” Christ “in the needy” to the extent that your resources “allow.” Christ our Lord gives testimony to the fact that he is the one whom we clothe, support and feed in them. That is how strongly he has recommended the poor to us.
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Summary
Psalm 41:1, the opening verse of the final psalm in Book One of the Psalter, functions as a profound beatitude, declaring a state of divine favor and flourishing upon those who demonstrate active, empathetic, and wise compassion for the vulnerable and needy. This verse establishes a foundational principle of divine reciprocity, asserting that the LORD Himself will faithfully intervene to protect and deliver such individuals during their own seasons of distress and adversity, thereby setting a tone of wisdom and trust in God's justice and unwavering faithfulness, which frames the psalmist's subsequent lament.
Context
Literary Context
Psalm 41 serves as the concluding psalm of the first book of the Psalter, often understood as a prayer of David during a period of intense personal suffering, likely involving severe illness and the painful betrayal by a trusted companion, perhaps even Ahithophel, as alluded to in Psalm 41:9. While the majority of the psalm delves into David's lament, his fervent pleas for healing, and his cries for justice against his adversaries, verse 1 stands apart as a wisdom-oriented prologue. It functions as a universal truth or a beatitude, articulating a principle of divine justice and compassion that precedes and frames the specific, difficult circumstances the psalmist is about to recount. This opening verse suggests that the psalmist's own hope for deliverance and restoration is deeply rooted in this very principle of divine care for the compassionate, thus inviting the reader to interpret the subsequent narrative of suffering and ultimate trust in God's intervention through this theological lens.
Historical & Cultural Context
In ancient Israel, the active care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the sojourner was not merely an optional act of charity but a fundamental requirement of the Mosaic Law and a defining characteristic of true righteousness within the covenant community. The covenant established at Sinai repeatedly emphasized the community's collective responsibility to protect and provide for the vulnerable, reflecting God's own character as a steadfast defender of the defenseless, as seen in passages like Deuteronomy 10:18. The prophets consistently and vehemently condemned the oppression of the poor and the neglect of justice as severe transgressions against God's righteous will, as powerfully articulated in Isaiah 1:17. Therefore, "considering the poor" in this historical and cultural setting implied active, practical, and deeply empathetic engagement, aligning with the societal and religious expectations for a righteous individual. It was a tangible demonstration of one's reverence for the LORD and obedience to His commands, understood as a pathway to divine blessing and the flourishing of the entire community.
Key Themes
This opening verse introduces and underscores several overarching themes that resonate throughout the Psalter and the broader biblical narrative. Firstly, it highlights Divine Blessing, portraying a state of profound well-being, favor, and flourishing that is graciously bestowed by God upon those who embody His character. Secondly, it emphasizes Compassion and Active Care for the vulnerable, defining true piety not merely by ritual adherence or inward devotion but by practical, empathetic, and wise engagement with human suffering. This active "consideration" (Hebrew, maskîl) goes far beyond passive awareness to thoughtful, discerning, and effective intervention. Thirdly, the verse firmly establishes the theme of Divine Deliverance, assuring the reader that God is faithful to rescue, protect, and preserve those who reflect His mercy, particularly when they themselves face personal "trouble" or distress. This reciprocal relationship between human compassion and divine intervention powerfully reinforces the biblical concept of Justice and Righteousness, where caring for the marginalized is presented as a fundamental expression of walking in God's ways and a prerequisite for experiencing His protective and restorative hand, as further elaborated in wisdom literature such as Proverbs 19:17.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This term (H835), often translated as "happy" or "fortunate," carries a much deeper theological weight than mere temporal good luck or circumstantial ease. It denotes a state of profound spiritual well-being, divine favor, and flourishing that results from being in right relationship with God and aligning one's life with His divine will. It is a declaration of divine approval and the resulting deep contentment and prosperity (spiritual, emotional, and sometimes material) that transcends outward circumstances, often serving as an opening declaration in wisdom literature, as seen in Psalm 1:1.
Derived from the primitive root sâkal (H7919), meaning "to be circumspect and hence, intelligent," this word implies far more than just passive observation or fleeting sympathy. It suggests a thoughtful, discerning, and intelligent engagement with the plight of the poor. It speaks of a deep empathy that leads to wise, effective, and practical action, indicating a person who not only perceives the need but thoughtfully devises and implements a way to address it. This is an active, rather than a passive, form of compassion, demonstrating prudence and skill in one's care for others.
This term (H1800), from the root meaning "to dangle," refers to those who are properly "dangling," i.e., weak, lean, needy, or in a state of helplessness. While it certainly encompasses financial poverty, it extends broadly to include social vulnerability, the oppressed, the sick, and those who lack power or resources to help themselves. The dal are those who are dependent on the compassion and justice of others and, ultimately, on God Himself for their well-being.
Verse Breakdown
"Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor:"
This opening clause functions as a beatitude, a declaration of profound happiness or divine favor. The "blessedness" is not a random occurrence but a direct consequence of a specific, intentional action: "considering the poor." As explored in "Key Word Analysis," "considereth" (from sâkal) implies a deep, empathetic, and wise engagement that leads to practical action, not mere intellectual awareness or fleeting sympathy. This active, discerning compassion for the vulnerable is presented as a fundamental characteristic of a person who is favored by God and experiences true flourishing.
"the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble."
This second clause presents the divine promise and reciprocal action. The "LORD" (Hebrew, Yᵉhôvâh, H3068, the covenant name of God) is the active agent of deliverance. "Deliver" (Hebrew, mâlaṭ, H4422, meaning "to escape," "release," or "rescue") implies protection, rescue, or preservation from danger. The phrase "in time of trouble" (Hebrew, bĕyôm raʻâ, H3117 and H7451, referring to a "day of evil" or calamity) denotes a period of personal adversity, sickness, attack, or distress—much like the very circumstances David faces later in this psalm. This promise underscores God's faithfulness and His commitment to uphold and protect those who mirror His own heart of compassion for the needy, suggesting a divine justice that rewards mercy with mercy.
Literary Devices
Psalm 41:1 skillfully employs several significant literary devices to convey its profound message. It opens with a Beatitude, a common literary form found in wisdom literature and throughout the Psalms, which declares a state of blessedness or happiness upon a particular type of person or action. This immediately sets a tone of divine approval and moral instruction. The verse also exhibits clear Synthetic Parallelism, a structure where the second line expands upon, completes, or provides the consequence of the thought presented in the first line. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor" is directly followed by its promised outcome and divine recompense: "the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble." This creates a powerful cause-and-effect relationship, highlighting the principle of divine reciprocity. Furthermore, the verse functions as Proverbial Wisdom, encapsulating a timeless truth about righteous living and its divine reward in a concise, memorable form. It presents a moral principle with a guaranteed outcome, characteristic of the wisdom sayings that guide human conduct and promote a life aligned with God's character.
Theological and Thematic Connections
This verse profoundly connects the human act of compassion with the divine act of deliverance, revealing a core theological truth about God's character and His active engagement with humanity. It posits that God's blessing and protective intervention are not arbitrary but are deeply intertwined with how His people reflect His own heart for justice and mercy. The "blessedness" described is not a reward for earning favor, but a natural outflow of participating in God's redemptive work in the world. This principle resonates throughout Scripture, emphasizing that true piety is not merely inward devotion or ritual adherence but outward, tangible love for one's neighbor, especially the most vulnerable. It underscores a covenantal dynamic where obedience to God's command to care for the poor is met with His covenant faithfulness in times of personal need, demonstrating His commitment to uphold those who uphold His values and embody His compassion.
Reflection and Application
Psalm 41:1 serves as a timeless summons to active, empathetic compassion, challenging believers to move beyond passive sympathy to a thoughtful, engaged understanding of the needs of the marginalized, sick, lonely, and oppressed within our communities and globally. The "consideration" called for is not superficial but deep, leading to practical, wise, and effective action that alleviates suffering and promotes justice. In a world often marked by indifference, self-interest, and systemic inequities, this verse powerfully reminds us that true blessedness—a profound sense of divine favor and well-being—is found in aligning our hearts with God's heart for the vulnerable. Moreover, the promise of the LORD's deliverance in times of trouble provides immense encouragement: our acts of mercy are not forgotten by God, and He, in His unwavering faithfulness, will extend His protective and delivering hand to us when we ourselves face adversity. This reciprocal grace fosters a cycle of compassion, motivating us to serve others even when our own circumstances are difficult, trusting in God's ultimate care and provision.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does "considering the poor" only refer to financial poverty?
While financial poverty is certainly included, the Hebrew word dal (H1800), translated as "poor," encompasses a broader range of vulnerability. It refers to those who are weak, helpless, oppressed, or marginalized in society, whether due to economic status, chronic illness, social standing, or a lack of power and resources to help themselves. Therefore, "considering the poor" means actively and empathetically engaging with anyone in a state of helplessness or disadvantage. This could include the sick, the elderly, the lonely, the immigrant, the orphan, the widow, or those suffering from injustice. The biblical emphasis on caring for the widow, orphan, and sojourner (e.g., Deuteronomy 24:19-21) clearly illustrates this broader scope of compassion and social responsibility, extending beyond mere financial need.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Psalm 41:1 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. He is the preeminent example of one who perfectly "considered the poor" in every conceivable sense. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus consistently and compassionately ministered to the marginalized, healing the sick and infirm (Matthew 4:23), feeding the hungry multitudes (Matthew 14:13-21), and intentionally associating with the outcasts and sinners of society (Luke 15:1-2). His entire life was an embodiment of the active, wise, and empathetic "consideration" that Psalm 41:1 commends. Furthermore, Jesus Himself experienced the most profound "time of trouble," facing unimaginable betrayal, suffering, and death on the cross, taking upon Himself the sin of the world. Yet, precisely because of His perfect obedience and His compassionate, atoning sacrifice, the Father "delivered Him" from the power of death through His glorious resurrection (Acts 2:24), subsequently exalting Him to the highest place of honor and authority (Philippians 2:9-11). Thus, Christ not only perfectly models the compassion described in the verse but also perfectly fulfills the promise of divine deliverance, becoming the ultimate source of true blessedness and eternal deliverance for all who place their faith in Him (John 3:16).