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Psalms 41
1Blessed is he who considers the poor. The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
2The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
3The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness.
4I said, “LORD, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5My enemies speak evil against me: “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
7All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me.
8“An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him. Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”
9Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
10But you, LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.
11By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
12As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
13Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from and to everlasting! Amen and amen.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.