Psalms 41:1-3

Psalm 41 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ²  is the one who treats the poor properly! ³ 

When trouble comes, ⁴  the Lord delivers him. ⁵ 

41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! ⁶ 

May he be blessed ⁷  in the land!

Do not turn him over ⁸  to his enemies! ⁹ 

41:3 The Lord supports ¹⁰  him on his sickbed;

you completely heal him from his illness. ¹¹ 

Psalms 51:18

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! ¹² 

Fortify ¹³  the walls of Jerusalem! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 73:1

Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)

Psalm 73 ¹⁵ 

A psalm by Asaph.

73:1 Certainly God is good to Israel, ¹⁶ 

and to those whose motives are pure! ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 58:10-11

58:10 You must ¹⁸  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ¹⁹ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ²⁰ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ²¹ 

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ²² 

He will give you renewed strength, ²³ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

Hebrews 6:10

6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

Hebrews 6:1

6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond ²⁴  the elementary ²⁵  instructions about Christ ²⁶  and move on ²⁷  to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

Hebrews 3:17

3:17 And against whom was God ²⁸  provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ²⁹ 

[41:1]  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).

[41:1]  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).

[41:1]  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.

[41:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  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.

[41:2]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.

[41:2]  ⁷ tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).

[41:2]  ⁸ tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.

[41:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).

[41:3]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive, continuing the prayer of v. 2, but the parallel line in v. 3b employs the perfect, suggesting that the psalmist is again speaking in the indicative mood (see v. 1b). The imperfect can be understood as future or as generalizing (see v. 1).

[41:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all his bed you turn in his illness.” The perfect is used here in a generalizing sense (see v. 1) or in a rhetorical manner to emphasize that the healing is as good as done.

[51:18]  ¹² tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”

[51:18]  ¹³ tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:18]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[73:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 73. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist offers a personal testimony of his struggle with the age-old problem of the prosperity of the wicked. As he observed evil men prosper, he wondered if a godly lifestyle really pays off. In the midst of his discouragement, he reflected upon spiritual truths and realities. He was reminded that the prosperity of the wicked is only temporary. God will eventually vindicate his people.

[73:1]  ¹⁶ tn Since the psalm appears to focus on an individual’s concerns, not the situation of Israel, this introduction may be a later addition designed to apply the psalm’s message to the entire community. To provide a better parallel with the next line, some emend the Hebrew phrase לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֱלֹהִים (lÿyisra’el ’elohim, “to Israel, God”) to אֱלֹהִים [or אֵל] לָיָּשָׁר (’elohim [or ’el] lÿyyashar, “God [is good] to the upright one”).

[73:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to the pure of heart.”

[58:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[58:11]  ²² tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ²³ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”

[6:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “basic.”

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”

[3:17]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:17]  ²⁹ sn An allusion to God’s judgment pronounced in Num 14:29, 32.