John Calvin Commentary Psalms 41:1

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil." — Psalms 41:1 (ASV)

Blessed is he that judgeth wisely of the poor. Interpreters generally believe that the exercise of kindness and compassion, shown in caring for the miserable and helping them, is commended here. Those, however, who maintain that the Psalmist here commends the considerate candor of those who judge wisely and charitably of men in adversity form a better judgment of his meaning.

Indeed, the participle משכיל, maskil, cannot be explained in any other way. At the same time, it should be observed why David declares those to be blessed who form a wise and prudent judgment concerning the afflictions by which God chastises His servants. We have said that he had to contend in his own heart against the perverse judgments of foolish and wicked men, because, when affliction was pressing heavily upon him, many considered that he had fallen into a desperate condition and was altogether beyond the hope of recovery.

Undoubtedly, it happened to him as it did to the holy patriarch Job, whom his friends considered to be one of the most wicked of men when they saw God treating him with great severity. And certainly, it is an error that is far too common among men to look upon those who are oppressed with afflictions as condemned and reprobate.

As, on the one hand, most men, judging God's favor from an uncertain and transitory state of prosperity, applaud the rich and those upon whom, as they say, fortune smiles; so, on the other hand, they act contemptuously towards the wretched and miserable, and foolishly imagine that God hates them because he does not exercise as much forbearance towards them as he does towards the reprobate.

The error of which we speak—namely, that of judging wrongfully and wickedly—is one that has prevailed in all ages of the world. The Scriptures in many places plainly and distinctly declare that God, for various reasons, tries the faithful by adversities: at one time to train them to patience, at another to subdue the sinful affections of the flesh, at another to cleanse and, as it were, purify them from the remaining desires of the flesh, which still dwell within them; sometimes to humble them, sometimes to make them an example to others, and at other times to stir them up to the contemplation of the divine life.

Indeed, for the most part, we often speak rashly and indiscriminately concerning others and, so to speak, plunge even into the lowest abyss those who labor under affliction. To restrain such a rash and unbridled spirit, David says that those are blessed who do not allow themselves, by speaking at random, to judge their neighbors harshly; but, rightly discerning the afflictions by which they are visited, mitigate, by the wisdom of the Spirit, the severe and unjust judgments to which we are naturally so prone.

I have just cited as an example the case of Job, whom his friends, when they saw him involved in extreme misery, did not hesitate to consider an outcast and one whose case was altogether hopeless. If anyone endowed with candor and possessed of a humane disposition should meet with such a case, he would regard it with the same discretion that David here commends.

As for ourselves, being admonished by this testimony of the Holy Spirit, let us learn to guard against too precipitate a judgment. We must therefore judge our brethren who are in affliction prudently; that is to say, we must have good hope for their salvation, lest, if we condemn them unmercifully before the time, this unjust severity in the end fall upon our own heads.

However, it should especially be observed (what indeed I have already noted) that David's object, when he saw himself, as it were, overwhelmed by the malicious and cruel judgments expressed concerning him, was to fortify himself with this as a ground of consolation, lest he should sink under the temptation.

Therefore, if at any time Satan should endeavor to destroy the foundation of our faith by the rash and presumptuous judgments of men, let us also learn to have recourse to this device of wisdom, lest unawares we fall into despair. This is the proper use of the doctrine contained in this passage.

The Lord will deliver him in the day of evil. Some connect these words, in the day of evil, with the preceding clause, and the reading thus suggested might indeed be admitted; but the distinction I have followed is better adapted to the sense and is also supported by the Hebrew accent.

Thus, at least, the doctrine that can be deduced from these words has a fuller meaning: namely, that the Lord will deliver the poor in the day of his adversity. Some think that David here prays for a blessing on behalf of the upright and compassionate, as if he had said, "May the Lord himself recompense them again for their kindness, if at any time it happens that they are grievously afflicted!"

Others suppose that David here records the language of such men, from which we may learn of their wisdom and uprightness. In my opinion, however, both are equally in error in reading this clause in the form of a desire or prayer. Whether, indeed, David speaks in his own name or in the name of others, he briefly recommends and enjoins the kindness that we should exercise towards the afflicted; for although God may for a time manifest his displeasure against them, yet he will, nevertheless, be gracious to them, so that the outcome will eventually be happier and more joyful than the judgment we might be led to form from the present state of things.

We now see that the sense in which I have explained this verse is much more copious and fuller of meaning: namely, that we should hope for salvation and deliverance from the Lord's hand, even in the day of adversity. For otherwise, no one who had once fallen into a state of sorrow and sadness would ever be able to rise again.

And I say this because the design of the Holy Spirit in this passage is not only to exhort the faithful to be ready to show kindness towards their brethren when they see them in affliction, but also to point out the remedy that has been provided for the mitigation of our sorrow whenever our faith is shaken by adversity.