CHAPTER 41

A PSALM OF DAVID: A PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE

¹Blessed is he who considers the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. (This Psalm concludes the first Book of Psalms, or what is called the Genesis Book. As Genesis opens with the first Adam in blessing and closes with his children in affliction, so this first Book of the Psalms opens with the Second Man in blessing and closes with His people in affliction. The Pharaoh of Israels first affliction [the Book of Exodus] prefigures the Antichrist of Israels future and last affliction.)

²The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the Earth: and You will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies (this Verse has a triple meaning: 1. It speaks of the Lord preserving David when Absalom sought to overthrow him and even kill him; 2. It speaks of Christ in His Earthly Ministry Whom the religious leaders desired to kill, even before the Crucifixion; and, 3. It speaks of Israel being weak and faint in the Great Tribulation Period, and then delivered by the Second Coming).

³The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: You will make all his bed in his sickness (Gods future loving sympathy to the fainting elect of Israel is contrasted here with mans duplicity and heartlessness [Vss. 58]).

⁴I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against You (as David prays this prayer, he knows that the terrible difficulties that are now coming against him, due to the rebellion of his son Absalom, are permitted by God because of his [Davids] sins; likewise, God will permit judgment against Israel by the Antichrist due to Israels terrible denial of her own Son and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; as well, it speaks of Christ interceding for Israel, making her rebellion His Own).

⁵My enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? (The Messiah defines the conduct of Israels enemies as hatred against Himself. And yet Israel desired the death of Christ and for His Name to perish. In fact, they have fought that Name for nearly two thousand years, despite the fact that He Alone is their Saviour; however, they will not know this until the Second Coming.)

⁶And if he come to see me, he speaks vanity: his heart gathers iniquity to itself; when he goes abroad, he tells it. (This Passage has a triple meaning: 1. It speaks of David and those who would attempt to destroy him; 2. It speaks of Israel and their terrible opposition to their Messiah, Jesus Christ; and, 3. It speaks of the world and also the apostate Church that hates both Christ and His People. They desire the destruction of both. They treat them with falsehood, malice, and slander. While the apostate Church speaks favorably of Christ, it is, in reality, another Christ [II Cor. 11:4].)

⁷All who hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt (there is no doubt of a double fulfillment in these Verses of both David and Christ; every statement could be understood of both men; Ahithophel, Davids trusted advisor, led the rebellion against David; Judas, likewise, led such against Christ).

⁸An evil disease, say they, cleaves fast unto him: and now that he lies he shall rise up no more (multiple tens of thousands in Israel, led by Ahithophel and Absalom, claimed that David had an evil heart [evil disease]; they attributed all types of malignity to him; they claimed that it would be impossible for him to overcome it, and so they concluded him to be finished and, therefore, fair game; they said the same of Christ, but both David and Christ rose again).

⁹Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me (this speaks of Ahithophel and his betrayal of David; in an even greater sense, it speaks of Judas, and shows to what extent he was a familiar friend of Christ [Acts 1:25]).

¹⁰But You, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them (this is the prayer of David that he will be raised up from the deep humiliation and seeming defeat experienced as he fled from Absalom and was betrayed by Ahithophel [II Sam. 15:31]; but in an even greater sense, this speaks of the great Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, when, on the third day, He came out of the tomb).

¹¹By this (the Resurrection) I know that You favor me, because my enemy does not triumph over me (Ahithophel, along with treacherous Absalom, did not triumph over David; likewise, Judas and the evil elders of Israel did not triumph over Christ; even more so, the enemy, Death, did not triumph over the Lord; at Calvary, Jesus broke the back of sin and death, which was verified by the Resurrection).

¹²And as for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your Face for ever. (How could David speak of his integrity, especially after his terrible sin with Bath-sheba? He could do so because the integrity of which he spoke was not mans integrity, but Gods. The Lord set David before His face forever, because Davids sin had been forgiven forever.

As well, in this Passage, Christ is asserting that, because of His sinlessness [integrity], He would be seated upon the Throne of Glory forever. Now that His sinlessness has become our sinlessness, which is Gods true integrity, we are seated together with Christ in the heavenlies [Eph. 2:6] before Your face.)

¹³Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. (This Psalm closes the Genesis Book of the five Books of the Psalms. It closes with a fitting Amen, and Amen.)