our Bibles to the book of Psalms. Our text this evening is Psalm 41. Psalm 41. And this is another Psalm that gives us instruction about crying to God, calling out to God for mercy, for salvation, for help. Psalm 41, please give careful attention to the reading of God's very word. To the choir master, a psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him and keeps him alive. He is called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed. In his illness, you restore him to full health. As for me, I said, O Lord, be gracious to me. Heal me, or heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. My enemy saved me in malice. When will he die and his name perish? And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words while his heart gathers iniquity. When he goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies. Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But you, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up that I may repay them. By this I know that you delight in me. My enemy will not shout in triumph over me. but you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen. I'm going to ask Elder Eric Schrader please to lead us in prayer. Thank you for this precious passage of scripture. We pray that you'll put our minds and hearts Amen. Amen. In God's Word, the Lord has recorded for us the betrayal of the Lord Jesus. It was a shocking betrayal. It was a betrayal by one of Jesus' own chosen twelve disciples. And we see particularly in the Gospel of John two passages that are very telling about this one who betrayed Jesus. In John chapter 12, after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, an incredible miracle had been performed. And we read in chapter 12, verse 1, six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment. made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, but Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money back, he used to help himself to what was put into it. And Jesus said, leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. And then in the next chapter, chapter 13, we have another insight into the hardness and the wickedness of this disciple, Judas Iscariot, who saw those incredible miracles and yet pressed on in his unbelief. He was not only an embezzler of the funds, he was the treasurer of the group. of the disciples that Jesus, when people would give money for his support, it would go into this money bag. And Judas was in charge of keeping it. He cared nothing for the poor because he cared nothing for Jesus. In chapter 13, in verse 1 and following, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and, taking a towel, tied it around his waist. And then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet. and wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? And Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. And Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, the one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That is why he said, not all of you are clean. And when he had washed their feet, and put on his outer garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example. that you should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I'm telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, it is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, what are you, what you are going to do, do quickly. Now no one at the table knew why he had said this to him. Some thought that because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel of bread, he went out immediately, and it was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while, I am with you. You will seek me. And just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you. that you love one another, just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." And Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? And Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Well, back to our text now in Psalm 41. The Lord Jesus quotes this verse, this poignant scene records for us Jesus saying that even my close friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. The Psalms are full of Jesus. And those who would read the Old Testament and not see the glory of Christ all over the place, indeed, do not have the eyes to see. But this Psalm of David, David was in distress, and as we have seen in Psalm 40, some of these things are uniquely about David, and some of these things are uniquely about Messiah, and some of these things have application to both. But God has recorded these Psalms to teach us to trust and obey Jesus. We do not know the circumstances of David's life in the backdrop of this song. We know that he was in a time of distress and trouble, and we know that he cried to the Lord, and we know that there were vicious enemies that were out to get him, and we know that he ends this psalm with his renewed trust in the Lord and confidence that God had heard his cry and would save him. that we know and there are many times in David's life that this could have been the occasion. We will not speculate, but simply look at what God records for us about David and what he teaches us of our glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus, that we might put into practice. What we sang about earlier, "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus." just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise, just to know, thus saith the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious, precious Jesus. Oh for grace to trust him more. And so David begins with this description of the character of one who has the privilege of crying to God. We are not saved by our works, we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And that faith is the sole tool that lays hold of Jesus Christ. But genuine faith in Jesus will always evidence itself. And so here we have now the testimony of David describing the fruit of a man who is trusting in Christ. We see in verse 4 his cry. As for me, I said, O Lord, be gracious to me, heal me. And literally the Hebrew says, heal my soul. And the soul was sometimes put forth as a description of that very person. And that's why the ESV has the pronoun me. Heal me. That's what my soul is referring to. And we see that this is unique to David. Our Lord Jesus was without sin. But our Lord Jesus did become one of us for the purpose of taking our sin upon himself. This is the cry that we see in this psalm, and everything else leads up to it and flows out of it. In verse four, as for me, I said, O Lord, be gracious to me, heal me, for I have sinned against you. Well, this one who is crying to God is described in verses 1 through 3 in terms of the fruit of this faith. And I want you to notice how he is described. David said, here is this description. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him and keeps him alive. He is called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed. In his illness, you restore him to full health. Here is this description of a man, of a woman of faith in Jesus in terms of the fruit. That we love God and we love the people around us. And one of the expressions of our love for God is that we care for those around us. Especially those that the world pays no attention to. Especially those that the world would view as unimportant. The book of Proverbs is rich, and one of the themes in the book of Proverbs describes how God cares for the poor. And it is recorded for us so that we, if we are in any position of being able to minister to those around us, that we have hearts of compassion. In Proverbs chapter 14, we'll just look at a few of these Proverbs. It is striking, the connection that God says, if you have means to help someone who's in need and you do so, the Lord says, I take special note of that. This is not earning your way to heaven, but it is the evidence of one who says, I'm a poor man, and God came and showered his mercy on me, and therefore it's my joy to show the mercy of Christ to this person. Look at Proverbs 14, verse 21. Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. Here's this description of a godly man, a godly woman, a godly boy, a godly girl. You want to show the mercy God has showered upon you to those around you. Down in verse 31, whoever oppresses a poor man insults his maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Wow, what a description, where God is showing us the heart of one who understands what we really are. We are those who have nothing to come and bargain with God about. And God has had mercy on us in the Christ. Some of these proverbs are put in the negative. For example, Proverbs 17, verse 5, whoever mocks the poor, insults his maker, he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. The Lord warns us, be careful how you treat those around. It is like a litmus paper showing and indicating what's really going on in a person's heart. Proverbs 19 verse 17, whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord. Think about that. Think about lending something to God Almighty. Do you think God likes to repay and say, thank you for your kindness? Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord and He will repay him for his deed. We could look at a number of other passages in the Proverbs, but that's sufficient. for us to see and understand the place that showing mercy to those who are in need has in the life of one who is trusting in Christ. Because we see ourselves as poor and needy, and God has come and showered his mercy of riches in grace upon us, we love to show mercy to those around us. And so that's how David starts this song. He says, Lord, I remember who you are, and I remember your promises and your instructions to your people. We could go over to the book of Exodus, and God instructed His people to be careful to take care of those who were in need. They were to protect the orphan and the widow. God made all kinds of supply and opportunities for that mercy. And it culminated in the year of Jubilee, where the priest would blow a trumpet on the Day of Atonement, on the day when a sacrifice would be made that pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And David begins his psalm as he is crying to God for help and mercy in trouble. Lord, I remember how kind you are. Oh Lord, you have taught us to show that kindness in your grace in Christ. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him and keeps him alive. He is called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him, the one who shows compassion. That's the one that the Lord is caring for, not because he's earned, all of these blessings, but because his expressions of kindness to those around him flow because he has received the kindness of God, and because of his relationship with the Savior, he has confidence now, even in the day of trouble. that God is going to consider and hear and deliver and keep and bless and cause him to even be raised up to full health. Well, this cry in verse 4, a couple of things that we want to see before we go on and finish this psalm. As for me, I said, O Lord, be gracious to me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you. David says, here is the depth of my poverty. I have nothing to bargain with the living God. Oh Lord, I am a poor man and I depend on you to save me. I depend on you to heal me in this condition that I find myself. I am abased. I am sick. I am in need of forgiveness of my sins. Lord, I am in great distress. Be gracious to me. He doesn't come saying, Lord, let's make a deal. I'll trade in the good that I've done for you to be good to me. No, he depends upon the mercy of God. He depends upon the Savior. He depends upon the Christ. Heal me, restore me, for I have sinned against you. He's like the one that is recorded in Luke chapter 18, who went up to the temple and was beating his best, oh God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The Pharisee came and he said, Lord, I thank you, I am not like other men. And he went through this list of some of the religious practices that he would engage in. And then he looked at this tax collector And he said, Lord, I thank you, I am not like. Well, notice in verses 5 down through 9, we have a description of the taunting of the enemies of God's people. My enemies say of me in malice, when will he die and his name perish? And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words while his heart gathers iniquity. When he goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But you, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them." Well, in verses 5 through 9, we see this description of how wicked people hate God, and they hate God's people. And sadly, that is true even to this day. Some show their hatred and disdain in just viewing with a mocking glance. Others would engage in actual acts of hatred, in words and in acts of persecution. Here we have David experiencing hatred. And, of course, the Lord Jesus himself was hated without a cause. He had done nothing wrong. Never can we say that about ourselves, even as we seek to follow the Lord Jesus. My enemies say of me in malice, when will he die and his name perish? That's pretty rough. Here's a man sick, and people are saying, good for him. When will he die? And then verse six, when one comes to see me, he utters empty words. He comes, oh, I'm so sorry you're sick. But in his heart, what's he doing? Gathering iniquity. And when he goes out, he's telling things about me. Telling how bad I look. On and on. All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They put the worst spin about me and my actions. One of the things that we see in 1 Corinthians 13, that God's kind of love does what? It believes all things. Now, that doesn't mean that we're rubes and we are doormats allowing people to walk on us, but what it does mean in our dealings with one another, we put the best spin that we can instead of having a critical eye thinking, oh, I bet they meant this, which is the worst possible spin you could put. And we have all, sadly, been guilty of that in our own homes. When husband or wife speak, when your parents speak, or a brother or sister speaks, well, I bet they meant bad about that, instead of putting the best possible spin upon it. Here is this description of those who are the enemies of Christ and David's enemies. They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies. It is this picture of he's getting what he deserves. What a contrast to those who are crying to God for mercy. Even our enemies, we pray that God would touch their hearts and grant them repentance. Our personal enemies. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me." And this was quoted by our Lord Jesus, that he was the one who was betrayed by Judas. Judas was the close friend who had pretended, oh yes, Jesus, you are the Messiah, you are the great Savior. But his heart was full of embezzling. and hatred, and he sold the Savior for 30 pieces of silver. Well, David comes back now in view of the enemies of God, and God tells us that all of God's people, this side of heaven, Jesus tells us in John 15, do not think that a servant is above his master. If they hated me, they will hate you. Why? Because you are not of the world. In 2 Timothy 3, the Lord describes those who would oppose the living God. And in that context, He tells Timothy, all who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution. But those who are at war against the Lord Jesus, they will come to nothing. And so we see in verses 10 through 12 now what David prays. But ye, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them. David was the king and it was his responsibility and job to administer temporal justice. And we praise God for those that God raises up who are willing to stand for righteousness. To be, as we read in Romans 13, the servant of God, to be a terror to evildoers and protect those who do right. policeman, the sheriff, we have the military in our country. What a blessing it is for those to be servants of the living God to protect. And it is their duty and responsibility to render temporal justice. Our prayer is that evil would be destroyed. Now we're going to be looking later on in our series of the Psalms at the Psalms that are full of this language, raise me up that I may repay them. Those are referred to as the imprecatory Psalms. And these are the war psalms of the Prince of Peace. These are the psalms that Jesus is praying. And all of the enemies of God will be destroyed. in God's good time, and we humbly pray that God would destroy His enemies, either by converting them as what happened to us by the grace of God. We used to be enemies of God. And what did God do to us? He destroyed us as an enemy and made us a new creation in Christ. But there are those that God is pleased to leave in their rebellion, like He did King Herod and like He did Pharaoh, and He used them as trophies of His justice. But David is crying, Lord, be gracious to me. Raise me up. And the one that God has seated upon the throne to make all things right is our Lord Jesus Christ. And in His name we pray that evil would be stopped and that God would save His lost sheep and destroy His enemies. In verse 11, David says, By this I know that you delight in me. My enemy will not shout in triumph over me. As God's people, we are those who have victory in Jesus. The enemies of sin and death and hell, Jesus has defeated. And in God's good time, we will see Every knee bow before the Lord Jesus Christ. Those in this life who by His grace has bowed, confessing Jesus is Lord, it will be our joy to bow in joy on that great day. But those who are apart from Christ, who leave this life in rebellion against Jesus, they also will bow, but it will be to their heart and their shame. They will confess in terror that indeed Jesus is the Lord. But you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever. The Lord is the one who holds on to us and gives us a heart of integrity. Only Jesus is the perfect Savior, but those who would follow Jesus, we want to be faithful followers of the Lamb. And our desire is to be set in the presence of the Lord. And we depend upon God to take care of us and hold on to us and revive us to keep trusting Jesus and showing mercy to the poor day in and day out. Indeed, our testimony is and will be, O living God, you have upheld me. Because of your grace, I belong to you. And Jesus, you are the perfect Savior. I depend upon your integrity. And we desire to be men and women of integrity. You know, there is all kinds of talk in our day and time about what is needed in this country. You know what is needed? It is for people's hearts to be changed to repent and believe in Jesus so that people would walk humbly before God and just do what is right in the sight of God. And that can only take place when people are repenting and believing in Jesus. And then this psalm ends with the declaration of praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, amen and amen. David was still in trouble when this psalm ends, but he's praising God up front, saying, Lord, I know that because of your mercy to me, You will rescue me. And that is always true for the child of God. Sometimes God rescues us by healing us in this life. Sometimes he gives us the ultimate healing by taking us home to glory. But God is always at work and faithful. I want us to end by thinking about our ministry to the poor, which is where this psalm began. Because of us trusting in Jesus, and we'll just read the verses that talk about what one of the things we can be doing to those who are poor. in our midst look at second corinthians chapter one we're just going to read these verses as we close David says, blessed be the God of Israel. And here's a passage that talks about in our distress, we are blessing God, and we, even in our distress, are seeking to show God's mercy and compassion to those around us. Look at 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of mercies and God of all comfort. That's what David had in the midst of this trouble. He had enemies persecuting him. He had people lying about him. He had people saying, oh, I'm glad he's sick. I'm glad he's going to die. When will he die? Can't come soon enough. He was in distress. But his hope was in the Lord. He had comfort. And he even ends this psalm praising God. And so it is with us. Not only do we know the God of comfort, look in verse 4, who comforts us in all our affliction. Why? So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. And so as those who are poor, poor in spirit, Jesus has showered his mercy upon us. And even though we live in a world where there's persecution and conflict, there are enemies of God. And if you love the Lord Jesus, there will be people who will seek to persecute you. What does God want us to do? Trust and obey Jesus. and rejoice that the Lord is at work. Rejoice that the Lord hears our crying in His good time. He will deliver. And in the midst of our affliction, we seek to comfort those around us with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted. That's what poor people do. That's what the poor in spirit do. We cry to God. And even in affliction, we are looking to the one who in his good time is going to set everything right. And he will deal with all of his enemies. He will either convert them as he has graciously done to us, or he will crush them. Blessed be the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Amen. and amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. It is so rich. And Lord, there is much opposition to the gospel. And Father, we pray that you would give us grace to cry to you, to remember to show your mercy, your comfort, to those around us, even as we are in our affliction. And we would be those who have confidence that you yet reign on high, O Lord Jesus, and that you are going to deal with all of your enemies. O Lord, you will either convert them or crush them. You call upon us to walk and live by faith. and someday you will set us in your very presence forever and ever. Until that day, oh Lord God, continue to save us, continue to hold on to us, and continue to use us as we pray, as we trust, as we seek to show your mercy to those around us. Lord, bring praise to your name. In Christ we pray, amen.