For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 41

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
    the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
2 The Lord protects and preserves them –
    they are counted among the blessed in the land –
    he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
3 The Lord sustains them on their sick-bed
    and restores them from their bed of illness.

4 I said, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord;
    heal me, for I have sinned against you.’
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
    ‘When will he die and his name perish?’
6 When one of them comes to see me,
    he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;
    then he goes out and spreads it around.

7 All my enemies whisper together against me;
    they imagine the worst for me, saying,
8 ‘A vile disease has afflicted him;
    he will never get up from the place where he lies.’
9 Even my close friend,
    someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
    has turned against me.

10 But may you have mercy on me, Lord;
    raise me up, that I may repay them.
11 I know that you are pleased with me,
    for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 Because of my integrity you uphold me
    and set me in your presence for ever.

13 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

A. Find Out:

1. Who will the Lord help? v.1-3
2. How will He help? v.1-3
3. What was wrong with David? v.4,8
4. What were others doing? v.5-7,9
5. What did David ask of the Lord? v.10
6. What was he able to say about himself? v.11,12

B. Think:

1. What principle does David declare in v.1-3?
2. What situation does he reveal in v.4-9?
3. What prayer does he make and on what basis in v.10-13?

C. Comment:

   Having himself in mind, David first of all declares a spiritual principle in v.1-3 to stir his faith and reassure himself. God has regard for those who care for the weak! Again and again as we read the Old Testament we find the Lord having regard for the weak, the downtrodden, the sick. Note this is not the righteous but the weak. God cares for all people but he blesses the righteous and preserves the weak. David also reassures himself that the Lord heals the sick. Perhaps we need to read the Gospels again to reassure ourselves that this was the thing that Jesus seemed to do more of than anything else!

   In v.4-9 David reveals that in his illness all he is getting is discouragement. He attributes his illness to sin and asks for forgiveness. While he was lying there his enemies and his friends came and both seemed to write him off, just as Job’s comforters (see the book of Job) constantly wrote off Job.

   However David is confident in his relationship with the Lord. Even when he has sinned (v.4) he knows the Lord is still pleased with him (v.11). He knows his place is with the Lord (v.12) and the occasional misdemeanour will not change that. Yes failure has consequences but not to remove him from The relationship!

D. Application:

1. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes thing go wrong, but God still loves.
2. The occasional failure does not remove God’s love for you!