Fathers

Psalms 41

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Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil. Yahweh 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. Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness. I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.” My enemies speak evil against me: “When will he die, and his name perish?” If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it. All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me. “An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him. Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.” Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me. But you, Yahweh, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them. By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me. As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever. Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 41:6

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"And entered in to see." What Christ suffered, that suffereth also the Church; what the Head suffered, that suffer also the Members. "For the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord." ... If to Christ's Members thou belongest, come within, cling to the Head. Endure the tares if thou art wheat, endure the chaff if thou art grain. Endure the bad fish within the net if thou art a good fish. Wherefore before the time of winnowing dost thou fly away? …

Exposition on Psalm 41 ↗

Ambrose of Milan

Judas went out, and he spoke. He went out from the faith, he went out from the council and number of the apostles. He went out from Christ's banquet to the villainy of Satan; he went out from the grace that sanctifies to the noose that strangles. He went to speak vain things to infidels. He went outside, leaving behind the mysteries of life that lay within. He went out, for he had never known the mysteries that are contained in Scripture.

Commentary On Twelve Psalms 41:17 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

And sinners procure this by lying in ambush. Thus he first sets forth the manner of ambush. Second he shows the effect of the ambush, at "He came in." Concerning the first he does three things. For first he proposes the deceitful entry. Second, the feigned speech. Third, the insidious disposition. He says therefore, "If he came in to see me." Jerome has, "to visit"; as if to say: they did not come for the sake of friendship, but for the sake of spying. Thus the leaders of the Jews came to catch Jesus. …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗