Blessed is he that considereth the poor. That's how our psalm begins. It begins with a general proposition. In fact, in the first four verses of this psalm, you have something of an explanation as to what is the blessedness of this one who considers, that is who is wise, who is sensitive, who is merciful toward the poor. What you find in this Psalm is that of course, the Lord, he upholds the one who is merciful. And we find that in the first four verses. But it might be surprising friend, to remember the context in which this comes to us. The context in fact in Psalm 41 is given to us quite graphically. This is the words of a man on a sickbed. You can nearly picture it, can't you? The man is isolated from his friends and he lays there languishing in his illness and his disease. And like you would imagine, even in our own day, he would have friends who would occasionally come and speak with him and then they would leave him. As the man lies there, he can hear as they're talking amongst themselves. He's in a lowly place. He's in an isolated place. He's languishing. He's languishing in a distracting condition. And these are his thoughts. Blessed, he says, is the man that considereth the poor. A friend, the reason why the psalmist is thinking about the merciful man is because of course, By God's grace, he was such a man himself. So when he says God is, he is one who blesses the man who is merciful, the psalmist sees that he has himself an interest in that beatitude. But we know, friend, that these folks are not just men and women who are merciful in the sense that they do good things to their fellow men. This is a spiritual merciful. that's in view here. And we learned that from verse 12. The psalmist is not only merciful, he's a man of integrity, a man of purity. So here, friend, you have a description of the godly. The godly are described in this Psalm as being both merciful and pure. And in verses one to four again, he gives to us the promise that belongs to them. They will know God's help. when in such a condition as was the psalmist. That sick bed that is so lonely, that place of vulnerability, it says the psalmist in these first four verses is a stage of God's mercy, of his tender help toward his own. And then in verses five to nine, you see that in a fuller form and you see that in a concrete way. You see that in the experience of the psalmist. The psalmist is the one on the sickbed. Now we see that quite directly. Before he speaks abstractly in verse three about the godly man languishing alone on the bed. Now he tells us he himself was in such a condition. And verses five to nine, he presents to us the adversity which he faced. But in verses 10 to the end, we see that that condition has changed. The beatitude of verses one to four are now realized in the psalmist experience. The promise that belonged to the godly in the opening of the psalm actually is fulfilled at the end of the psalm. The godly man is sustained and he is mercifully delivered by God. A friend, I suppose as we hold all of that together, you may say, well, there's a simple lesson, isn't there? The reason that the psalmist begins by reminding us that God is merciful to the merciful is a reminder that God is a debtor to no man. It's a scriptural principle that we see throughout the scriptures. In Psalm 18, with the merciful, thou wilt show thyself merciful, says the psalmist. In the New Testament, Christ says, whosoever shall give a cup of water to drink in my name shall not lose his reward. Those who for God's sake, they administer mercy to others. God will not leave them without his mercy. And beloved you and I, we can see that quite plainly in the psalm, can't we? But I wish to probe a little bit deeper this evening. I wish to go a bit further to see how the psalmist describes the clothes. the personal aspects of God's mercy to him. Beloved, I believe as we do so, I think we may find that some of the imagery, some of the language in this psalm is among the sweetest in the scriptures, about what is God's tender dealings with his own. We learn friend, and we may take this as our theme this evening, is that God is merciful to his people in their adversity. God is merciful to his people in their adversity. But we see that, that general principle that we find right throughout the scriptures, we see that in a very specific way in this psalm. We see this because, friend, in so many ways, the psalmist describes his state and the state of the godly as one of being carried. So first I want us to see that God bears them through. He bears them through their adversity, or you may even put it this way, we see their through bearing under affliction. Take the first verse. The psalmist describes for us what belongs to the godly man, God will deliver him and he will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. So God's mercy will manifest in that ultimately the godly will be delivered and that's true. Ultimately he will, perhaps in a very particular providence, In this life, he'll know that deliverance from a very particular illness. But all of the godly will be delivered, for they'll be taken out of a life of sin and of its effects and translated into a state of glory. They will be delivered. But then secondly, I want you to notice this. The psalmist goes on to say, well, the Lord will preserve him. The Lord will keep him alive. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. And all of that, friend, all of that is language, not of deliverance alone, but of something more. It's the language of perseverance, isn't it? It's the language of a man who is still in affliction, but upheld under the burden. He is strengthened in the midst of his pain. But in verse three, friend, you have an image, a wonderful picture of what the psalmist intends. How will God persevere? How will he strengthen and uphold his servant in such adversity? In verse three, he says, he will make all his bed in his sickness. It's a wonderful image, isn't it? Here's David, King of Israel, a married man, a man with close friends, a man who had other men in his employ. And yet he doesn't turn to Michal, he doesn't turn to Abigail, he doesn't look to Jonathan if he was alive then, he doesn't look to the courtiers, he doesn't look to the physicians of the palace, no who will make his bed? That is who will be, as it were, his personal physician, caring for him and ensuring that all that is about him is looked after. It's none of those. For David, it is God. David, for David, it is God. Yes, friend, even the Lord Jesus, who is at his bedside, who is tending to him in this adversity. I mean, we see what the psalmist could expect from his so-called friends later on in the song, can't we? He knows who is the one who is his physician. He knows who is at his bedside. It is the Lord Jesus who bears him through this. And so friend, we learned that the Lord sustains his people by his special grace. And the question is, of course, How is the psalmist's bed made by the Lord? And the answer, of course, lies in what has gone before. The psalmist says that the Lord perseveres the godly. He strengthens the godly. And, excuse me. Well, friend, you and I, we can take that as being literally delivering him from a particular illness. There is something beyond that, isn't there, as well? By strengthening and keeping the man in a place of languishing, by keeping him in a place that is lonely, a place that is really a picture of vulnerability, by keeping that man from despair, by keeping him from apostasy. Friend, there you see the spiritual blessings that are communicated to the godly. It's important for us to remember, friend, that physical affliction is a time of temptation. When the godly bear through that, when they do not despair. Friend, it is the Lord Jesus who upholds them. You should not make light of that. It is God who strengthens, who preserves his own in such a case. But I want you to go another step with me. Not only is the psalmist kept body, but especially in soul from the overthrow, But notice what else he says, notwithstanding his lonely place, he says, the psalmist says, the godly shall be blessed upon the earth. That too is the way in which God makes the bed of his people. He makes it so whatever difficult providence he is under, it cannot ultimately take from him his interest in the promises of God. In other words, God ensures that even in the midst of this affliction, all things will work together for His good. The blessing that is His cannot be taken from Him, even in this adversity. All shall serve His good. And friend, we can understand then that image of the Lord making the bed of His servants in these ways. He upholds them. body and soul, and he ensures that even these great afflictions tend to his good. There is something, friend, I want you to notice as well before we leave this first point, and that is how personal the psalmist thinks of these things. Because there, friend, is the kernel of piety. In the several months that you and I, we've spent in this altar, There's perhaps not been a thought that has been more impressed upon me than this. A psalmist, when he thinks of the mercy of God, he thinks of it in the most personal way. So note, friend, what he says, thou wilt. Thou wilt make all his bed, says the psalmist about his people. God will not cause their bed to be made. No, the psalmist has it, in the most personal, most immediate way available to us in language, God himself will make their beds. God will take part with them that help me, says the psalmist in Psalm 118. It's the same idea, friend. God himself is employed to bear through his people in their affliction. Secondly, I want you to notice friend, the overbearing of God. That is God bearing his people over their adversity. Now for that, we come to verse five. And when we do so, we come really to David's prayer. He begins, be merciful. He says, heal my soul for I have sinned. So he leads, he leads thus. He leads, not with a description of an illness of body, but of soul. He leads not with a complaint of other sins, but of his own. I want you to remember, friend, that that's the psalmist's pattern. Even while languishing on this bed, he begins by saying he has a soul that needs cleansed and healed. Even in the midst of enemies, he says, first of all, he has to deal with his own sins. He leads there. And their friend is the first adversity that must be overcome. It is the disease of soul. It is the presence of sin that the psalmist recognizes must be dealt with, first of all. And then in verses six to nine, the psalmist goes on. to talk about his open and his closeted enemies. And those, if you like, they constitute the second adversity that the psalmist prays against. But the point is, friend, he prays for mercy for both regards. For both adversities, he prays that God will bear him over them. What you learn in this text, friend, is that then God bears over his, that is his people's sins and other sins as well. This is a way in which God makes the bed of his servants. He overcomes that first adversity of soul. Friend, in the scriptures, this is given to us in so many ways, isn't it? And there's so many illustrations. In the Song of Solomon, what the psalmist describes here is his need for a healing of soul and for overcoming iniquity. It's given to us there in the Song of Solomon is the mountains of Betha, the mountains of division. over which Christ must leap to come and do his people good. It's the same idea in this text. Friend, the psalmist is plagued. And yet here's what he says, first of all, must be addressed. The mountains of Bather must be overcome before his body needs healing. It is his soul that he deals with. Friend, what the psalmist recognizes is there is no physical sickness so strong or so dangerous as soul sickness. He knows that friend and so he prays. This is his priority, first of all. But we'll come back to that, God willing, in a moment's time. The second thing we find here is that God also bears his people over the sins of his enemies. You have the image before you in the text. David is waylaid. He's a king, but yes, he's a king laid aside because of his illness. He can't do friend for himself. He might have in times past, but now by God's providence, he is laid low. He can't even be a second cause used by God for his own deliverance. Not in this case, he's vulnerable. And so he must cast himself wholly upon God to discover and to foil the stratagems of his enemies. And the point friend of this text is that the Lord God We'll do so. But if we look at David for a moment as an example for ourselves, there is a lesson there for us. Friend, are we sensibly dependent in both regards, as was the psalmist. The psalmist acknowledges that, friend, it is God who must act to heal his soul, pardon sin, and overcome his enemies. Oh, I think we could think about that too lately. Remember who we're talking about, beloved. Here is the sweet psalmist of Israel. Here is a mighty victorious king on the field of battle. And yet, friend, how dependent How weaned is his disposition upon the Lord God. David acknowledges that though he's had such great religious experience, that God has used him remarkably, extraordinarily. Though he is the sweet psalmist of Israel, God must heal his soul. And that's his first problem. And though he's a mighty king and he has men at his command, he knows that God must be the one who fights for him on the field of battle. But none of us in this room have reached David's religious attainments. And few on the earth reached David's military and political strength. And yet how proud and how self-reliant are we? Though the psalmist Friend, he's an example of how dependent we ought to feel ourselves. But thirdly, I want you to notice the outbearing. That is how God bears his people out of their adversity. And there you have it in verse 10. He begins, by this I know that thou favorest me. That is, God has sustained him. And ergo, he says, he has a token of God's love in being sustained, There is a record, a token, if you like, that God's favor rests upon him. And he goes on to explain further what he means. As for me, he says, that is, this is my lot, thou upholdest me. Thou upholdest me, that is, God will sustain him. And then this, "'As for me, thou set'st me before thy face forever.'" And there is his eternal home, his everlasting bliss. Friend, what you learn from this last portion of Psalm 41 then is this, that temporal mercies that the psalmist expects and that he in fact enjoys from that bed of languishing and difficulty, those tender mercies flowed from eternal love. What you see here is that here is a man who, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he knows he has an interest in the love of God. That's the foundation of all, he says, to what he's experienced. And he interprets providence, friend, in light of his interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. What do I mean? Friend, what he takes here in this text very plainly is that that deliverance and that healing that comes to him. He does not take that, friend, as an expression of God's common grace, like the rain falling upon the just and upon the unjust. In substance, friend, there is such a thing as common grace. But in divine intention, friend, every single mercy flows from that eternal love. Though in substance, friend, the rain may fall upon the just and the unjust, the divine intention toward his people is entirely different. It flows from special love. And here the psalmist acknowledges that. By this I know that thou favorest me, he says. I have an interest, a special interest in thy grace. But beloved, he goes a step further, doesn't he? Because upon reflecting on that temporal deliverance, how does the psalmist end his reflection? He ends eternity. That temporal mercy, that grace that he experiences in time that flows from God's favor, Friend, he doesn't leave it in time there, but he allows it, friend, in his mind to take him to what is his everlasting home. Put it another way, friend, when he looks at temporal mercy, he sees a foretaste of eternal grace. If you like, friend, in this moment, the psalmist shows us that the godly, when they experience God's temporal grace, They need to see that really as the breaking in of what is theirs for eternity, but a shard, a piece of what is theirs for everlasting years. Friend, how quickly do we leave a table? I mean, how quickly do we leave a sickbed and deliverance? without meditating as does the psalmist, without returning thanks, and without tracing, friend, even those mercies back to their source, God's paternal love in the Lord Jesus Christ. Friend, here is a pattern as well for us. And so what we learn in this psalm as we close is that God is merciful to his people in their adversity. In their through bearing, he sustains their souls by his gracious hand. He overbears their sins, the stratagems of their enemies. And in their outbearing, he manifests his paternal, his everlasting love toward them. For our examination friend, this text, it raises a question that we should have already encountered several points in our time in the Psalter. And that is, do we think about sin the way that the psalmist does in this psalm and in others? I mean, here's David's danger. He's on a sickbed, he's plagued, and yet his cry is, first of all, heal my soul. That's his priority. I wonder, friend, do we have that same sense ourselves? that most of all, we need a healing of soul. The psalmist knew that, do we? But then friend, if you can go a step further, you can see how the psalmist interprets chastening. An orthodox doctrine of affliction, that which we've been meditating on now for several weeks, is that in every affliction, we have a cause for humiliation. Even though not every affliction is sent for very particular sins, every affliction is sent on account of sin. in the sense that it is at least to deal with my indwelling sin, to curb it, and to purify me more from it. So it is a cause for humiliation still. The psalmist uses his affliction that way, Christian. Do we? Every affliction ought to be used that way, beloved. One of the things that has struck me most as I've read men of old, It's how practiced they were in this, and how little that seems to have translated into our own generation. Now in this psalm, you have an orthodox doctrine of affliction set before us, as well as its practice. But can I go even a step further? The psalmist thinks about sin in a way that, again, is most personal. You remember how he describes God dealing with him. Thou makest all my bed, So God is the one who is his attendant. The Lord Jesus there is the one who is at his bedside. But then, friend, you see this, the psalmist goes on to say, I have sinned against thee. It says, though he says, though thou hast upheld me, though thou art the one who makes my bed, I have sinned against thee. I have offended the one whose hand has tenderly dealt with me. It's the same thing we saw in Psalm 40. Do you remember, friend, do you remember even last week, how the psalmist begins that Psalm by saying, thy gracious thoughts toward me are more than can be numbered. Do you remember how he closes? My sins against thee are more than the hairs of mine head. Thy gracious thoughts toward me are innumerable, and my sins against thee I cannot number. Could the psalmist ever talk impersonally about sin, I wonder? No, friend. In this text, he recognizes his sin is against one who has been so gracious to him. He looks at the mercies of God And from there, he sees something even more about the guilt and the heinousness of his sin. And the question is, do we? But for our comfort, beloved, I want you to note that despite the fact that he has sinned, he's saved. But the question is why? Why is it that God is still so tender with him, though the psalmist confesses himself that he has sinned so and so grievously against him? The answer is because another would say these words. My own familiar friend lifted his heel against me. That one who would say that at a later time, for a time, would have none to make his bed. No, he would come to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? John 19 takes up these words. and says they are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, his betrayal, his experience of humiliation. If I can put it this way, friend, David's bed was made by the Lord in this case, because for a time, Christ's would be neglected in David's place. An analogy here, friend, is perhaps useful. It is as though the Lord Jesus says, the ire that would turn thee from David and making his bed and doing him good in his affliction, turn that ire upon me instead and do David good. And that is why the godly have their bed made by the Lord. It was because the Lord Jesus was forsaken and his people are not. And then friend finally noticed this. This grace that we have, that the Lord is so near to his people, it comes to us only through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is special grace, the psalmist reminds us, special favor. And the one who tenders it to us is the one who was for a time forsaken. He who suffered instead of his people. Even now he makes their beds. He is the one, beloved, who still sticketh closer than a brother. And so beloved, the exhortation for us, I want you to notice in verse 10, is first of all, that you and I, we are to pray for mercy in the right way. The psalmist prays that he might be raised, that he might requite his enemies. And this, I think, friend, often we think is something prayed out of self-interest, out of a vengeful spirit. It's not. David is a king. And what he's praying here essentially is that God would raise him up so that he as a king could do his duty to serve God as he appointed him. If you like, he is praying for mercy so that he could be at his post to serve the Lord longer and more faithfully. To the enemies of God's anointed in this case, friend is to be an enemy of God. And all the psalmist is praying for is that God would heal him. so that he might do his duty and serve the Lord yet a little longer. That's how you and I are supposed to pray for mercy, not as an end in itself. Friend, it doesn't matter how long you live. It matters how you live. Psalmist knows that, and so he prays for mercy, that he might serve the Lord, and so should we. But the second exhortation, friend, is this, It's a basic one, but it's one on which the psalmist concludes. And you and I are to return to thanks for every time the Lord has made our bed. Every time. These should be our words as well. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen and amen.