Psalms 41:1

For the music director; a psalm of David. How blessed ²  is the one who treats the poor properly! ³  When trouble comes, ⁴  the Lord delivers him. ⁵ 

For the director of music. A psalm of David. Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

<<For the choir director. A Psalm of David.>> How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.

<<For the choir director: A psalm of David.>> Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor. The LORD rescues them in times of trouble.

Dignify those who are down on their luck; you'll feel good--[that's] what GOD does.

<To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.> Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble.

Happy are those who consider the poor; the LORD delivers them in the day of trouble.

<<To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.>> Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

For the music director; a psalm of David. How blessed ²  is the one who treats the poor properly! ³  When trouble comes, ⁴  the Lord delivers him. ⁵ 

¹ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

² tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

³ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

⁴ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

⁵ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.