John Gill Commentary Psalms 41:4

"I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me: Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee." — Psalms 41:4 (ASV)

I said, Lord, be merciful unto me
(See Gill on Psalms 40:11);

heal my soul ;
not that it was diseased with sin in such sense as the souls of other men are; but it is to be understood as a petition for comfort while bearing the sins of others, and which Christ as man stood in need of when in the garden and on the cross; so healing signifies comfort in trouble, as in (Isaiah 57:18) (Malachi 4:2) ;

for I have sinned against thee ;
or "unto you", or "before you", as the Targum; not that any sin was committed by him in his own person, but he having all the sins of your people on him, which he calls his own, (Psalms 40:12) ; he was treated as a sinner, and as guilty before God, (Isaiah 53:12) ; and so the words may be read, "for I am a sinner unto you" ^F21; I am counted as one by you, having the sins of your people imputed to me; and am bound unto you, or under obligation to bear the punishment of sin;

or thus, "for I have made an offering for sin unto you" ^F23 , so the word is used, (Leviticus 6:26) (9:15) ; and so it might be rendered so in (Leviticus 5:7Leviticus 5:11) ; and perhaps may be better rendered so in (Leviticus 4:3) ; and be understood, not of the sin of the anointed priest, but of his offering a sacrifice for the soul that sinned through ignorance, (Psalms 41:2) , which offering is directed to: and then the sense here is, heal me, acquit me, discharge me, and deliver me out of this poor and low estate in which I am; for I have made my soul an offering for sin, and thereby have made atonement for all the sins of your people laid upon me; and accordingly he was acquitted and justified, (1 Timothy 3:16) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (Kl) "tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius.
• F23: "Obtuli sacrificium pro peccato", Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 249, 923.