Be Gracious to Me

The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

July 13, 2025

Psalm 41

 “Summer in the Psalms: Be Gracious to Me”

Here we are, halfway through the summer in mid-July, and as always, it feels like summer is flying by way too fast. Over this summer season, we are focusing on the appointed psalms each Sunday as the basis for preaching in this series entitled, “Summer in the Psalms.” Today, Psalm 41 is before us, and we focus especially on those words from verse 4: “O Lord, be gracious to me.” That becomes the theme for preaching. May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Who’s ready to play the fun game of Bible Quiz? Although there are no prizes for winning, here’s the question: how many sections are there in the Old Testament book of Psalms? And here’s a bonus question: On what are these sections of the Psalms based? No cheating – I see people grabbing their phones to do a quick Google search! Answer: There are five sections, or books, in the psalms (Psalms 1-41; Psalms 42-72; Psalms 73-89; Psalms 90-106; and Psalms 107-150). These five sections, or books, in the Psalms mirror the five books of Moses, often called the Pentateuch (meaning five books): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Psalm 41 concludes the first section, or book, of the psalms. Note how the final verse of today’s psalm ends: with a hymn of praise, a doxology: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen” (Psalm 41:13). We find similar hymns of praise, or doxologies, at the end of the first four books of the Psalms (41:13; 72:18-20; 89:42; 106.48). What about the close of the fifth and final book of psalms, which is the very final one, Psalm 150? It may well be that the whole of Psalm 150 is a hymn of praise as the final verse of that final psalm says this: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6).

Here in Psalm 41, the psalmist has been healed of whatever disease he had. He’s back among those who thought he was as good as dead. The empty words of friends and their pious platitudes mirror what Job received from his own friends when he had lost everything (Job 2:11-13; 4:1ff.). God heard and answered the prayer of the psalmist, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” (Psalm 41:4). But what happens when God doesn’t heal? We often pray for God’s healing and mercy for others or ourselves, but when healing isn’t forthcoming, then what? That can be a very hard place to be as we struggle with thoughts like: “Why isn’t God answering my prayers? Isn’t God listening? Doesn’t He care?” Paul the apostle also prayed repeatedly for God’s healing, but did not receive the healing he desired. Instead, he received this answer from the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a).  Paul goes on to say: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9b). Whether God chooses to grant the gift of physical healing or not, the Lord is indeed gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 103:8).

Like many of the psalms, Psalm 41 is a prayer of King David. The prayer has four distinct parts: 1) Verses 1-3, which is a Beatitude; 2) Verses 4-9, in which the psalmist presents his need and pours out his heart to God, bringing his own situation before the Lord; 3) Verses 10-12, which is a prayer for deliverance; and 4) Verse 13, which is that final doxology, that hymn of praise which marks the end of the first book of the Psalms (Psalms 1-41). But what are we to make of the psalmist’s words about repaying his enemies and standing before God based on his own integrity (v. 10)? That doesn’t sound right. Who can stand before God on their own? And repaying one’s enemies sounds like retribution, vengeance, and getting even. We see enough of this in the world around us without adding to it. Didn’t Jesus have some things to say about this? Among my too-many books, I have a little booklet, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, entitled Psalms: The Prayerbook of the Bible (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1970). In this little volume, Bonhoeffer writes the following: “No section of the Psalter causes us greater difficulty today than the so-called imprecatory psalms. [An imprecatory psalm is one that invokes judgment, evil or a curse on the psalmist’s enemies.] With shocking frequency their thoughts penetrate the entire Psalter (5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 21, 23, 28, 31, 35, 36, 40, 41, 44, 52, 54, 55, 58, 59, 68, 69, 70, 71, 137, and others)… They seem to be an example of what people think of as the religious first stage toward the New Testament. Christ on the cross prays for his enemies and teaches us to do the same. How can we still, with these Psalms, call for the wrath of God against our enemies?... Can the imprecatory psalms be understood as God’s word for us and as the prayer of Jesus Christ? Can we as Christians pray these psalms?” (Ibid, p. 56).  

Bonhoeffer goes on to answer his own questions: “The enemies referred to here are enemies of the cause of God, who lay hands on us for the sake of God. It is therefore nowhere a matter of personal conflict. Nowhere does the one who prays these psalms want to take revenge into his own hands. He calls for the wrath of God alone (cf. Romans 12:19)… God’s vengeance did not strike sinners, but the one sinless man who stood in the sinners’ place, namely God’s own Son. Jesus Christ bore the wrath of God, for the execution of which the psalm prays. He stilled God’s wrath toward sin and prayed in the hour of the execution of the divine judgment: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!’ [Luke 23:34]… God hates and redirects his enemies to the only righteous one, and this one asks forgiveness for them. Only in the cross of Jesus Christ is the love of God to be found. Thus the imprecatory psalm leads to the cross of Jesus and to the love of God which forgives enemies. I cannot forgive the enemies of God out of my own resources. Only the crucified Christ can do that, and I through him. Thus the carrying out of vengeance becomes grace for all men in Jesus Christ… Even today I can believe the love of God and forgive my enemies only by going back to the cross of Christ, to the carrying out of the wrath of God” (Ibid., pp. 57-60).

The psalmist’s prayer – our own prayer, “O Lord, be gracious to me,” finds its fulfillment here at the cross. It is here at the cross that the question asked in today’s Gospel lesson, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29), is answered. The One who gave his life for me now calls me to see Christ in my neighbor and be Christ to my neighbor, whoever that may be. Let us go and do likewise. Amen.