My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad. When someone comes to see meThis phrase sets the scene of a personal visit, which in the ancient Near Eastern context, was a significant social interaction. Visits were often seen as opportunities for fellowship and support, especially in times of illness or distress. The Hebrew root for "comes" (בּוֹא, bo) implies an intentional action, suggesting that the visitor has a purpose, though not necessarily a benevolent one. This highlights the vulnerability of the psalmist, who is open to receiving visitors, expecting comfort but instead encountering deceit. he speaks falsely
The Hebrew word for "falsely" (שָׁוְא, shav) can mean vanity, emptiness, or deceit. This indicates that the visitor's words are not just untrue but are devoid of sincerity and substance. In a biblical context, false speech is often condemned as it breaks the commandment against bearing false witness (Exodus 20:16). The psalmist is thus highlighting the betrayal of trust, as the visitor's words are not meant to heal or support but to deceive. while his heart gathers slander
The heart, in Hebrew thought, is the center of one's inner life, encompassing mind, will, and emotions. The phrase "gathers slander" (קָבַץ, qavats) suggests an active accumulation, as if the visitor is collecting information to use maliciously. Slander (רָכִיל, rakil) is a serious offense in biblical teaching, often associated with the actions of a talebearer or gossip (Leviticus 19:16). This reveals the visitor's true intentions, which are to harm the psalmist's reputation rather than to offer genuine concern. then he goes out and spreads it abroad
The act of going out and spreading slander indicates a deliberate and public dissemination of falsehoods. The Hebrew verb for "spreads" (דִּבֶּר, diber) implies speaking or declaring, often with authority or intent. This action transforms private deceit into public damage, reflecting the destructive power of words. In the biblical narrative, such behavior is condemned as it sows discord and division within the community (Proverbs 6:16-19). Persons / Places / Events 1. DavidTraditionally attributed as the author of Psalm 41, David is expressing his experience of betrayal and deceit by those who visit him under false pretenses. 2. VisitorsThese are individuals who come to David, pretending to be concerned, but their true intention is to gather information to slander him. 3. HeartIn Hebrew thought, the heart ("lev") is the center of thought, emotion, and intention. Here, it signifies the deceitful intentions of the visitors. 4. SlanderThe act of making false and damaging statements about someone. In this context, it refers to the malicious gossip spread by the visitors. 5. Spreading AbroadThis phrase indicates the dissemination of slanderous information, highlighting the betrayal and the public nature of the deceit. Teaching Points Guard Against DeceitBe aware of the intentions behind words. Not everyone who speaks kindly has pure motives. Discernment is crucial. The Power of the HeartOur words reflect our heart's condition. Cultivate a heart aligned with God's truth to ensure your speech edifies rather than destroys. The Destructive Nature of SlanderSlander can cause significant harm. As Christians, we are called to speak truth and love, avoiding gossip and falsehood. Seek God's ProtectionIn times of betrayal, seek refuge in God. He is our defender against false accusations and deceit. Reflect Christ in SpeechLet your words be a reflection of Christ's love and truth. Strive to build others up rather than tear them down. Bible Study Questions 1. How can we discern the true intentions of those who speak to us, and what biblical principles can guide us in this discernment? 2. In what ways can we ensure that our own hearts are not gathering slander or deceit? What spiritual disciplines can help in this process? 3. How does the concept of the heart in Hebrew thought challenge or deepen your understanding of personal integrity and speech? 4. Reflect on a time when you experienced or witnessed slander. How did it affect you, and what biblical responses can help in such situations? 5. How can we actively work to prevent the spread of slander within our communities, and what role does accountability play in this effort? Connections to Other Scriptures Proverbs 6:16-19This passage lists things the Lord hates, including a lying tongue and a false witness who pours out lies, which connects to the deceitful actions described in Psalm 41:6. Matthew 12:34-37Jesus speaks about how the mouth speaks what the heart is full of, relating to the deceitful heart and false speech in Psalm 41:6. James 3:5-10James discusses the power of the tongue and its potential for harm, paralleling the destructive nature of slander mentioned in Psalm 41:6. People David, Korah, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Abroad, Deceit, Empty, Evil, Falsehood, Falsely, Gathereth, Gathers, Goes, Heart, Iniquity, Itself, Keeps, Makes, Mischief, Outside, Public, Slander, Speaketh, Speaks, Spreads, Store, Street, Telleth, Tells, Utters, Vanity, WickednessDictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 41:6 5016 heart, fallen and redeemed
6163 faults Psalm 41:5-6 5202 accusation, false Psalm 41:5-8 5868 gossip Psalm 41:5-9 5951 slander Library Christ Teaching Liberality
If we should attempt to mention all the parables which Jesus spoke, and the miracles which he performed, and the many other lessons which he taught, it would make a long list. As we have done before we can only take one or two specimens of these general lessons which Jesus taught. We have one of these in the title to our present chapter, which is--Christ Teaching Liberality. This was a very important lesson for Jesus to teach. One of the sad effects of sin upon our nature is to make it selfish, …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the YoungOf visions. The Graces Our Lord Bestowed on the Saint. The Answers Our Lord Gave Her for those who Tried Her.
1. I have wandered far from the subject; for I undertook to give reasons why the vision was no work of the imagination. For how can we, by any efforts of ours, picture to ourselves the Humanity of Christ, and imagine His great beauty? No little time is necessary, if our conception is in any way to resemble it. Certainly, the imagination may be able to picture it, and a person may for a time contemplate that picture,--the form and the brightness of it,--and gradually make it more perfect, and so …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life The Beatific vision. (Continued. )
In the Beatific Vision our intellect is glorified, and our thirst for knowledge completely satisfied. Man was created with a thirst for knowledge which can never be satiated in this world. Sin, which greatly weakened and darkened his mental faculties, has not taken away his desire and love for knowledge. And the knowledge which he acquired by eating the forbidden fruit, rather increased than satisfied his thirst. But all his efforts to reach the perfection of knowledge, even in the natural order, …
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven The Difference Between Union and Rapture. What Rapture Is. The Blessing it is to the Soul. The Effects of It.
1. I wish I could explain, with the help of God, wherein union differs from rapture, or from transport, or from flight of the spirit, as they speak, or from a trance, which are all one. [1] I mean, that all these are only different names for that one and the same thing, which is also called ecstasy. [2] It is more excellent than union, the fruits of it are much greater, and its other operations more manifold; for union is uniform in the beginning, the middle, and the end, and is so also interiorly. …
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus Perseverance of Saints.
FURTHER OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 4. A fourth objection to this doctrine is, that if, by the perseverance of the saints is intended, that they live anything like lives of habitual obedience to God, then facts are against it. To this objection I reply: that by the perseverance of the saints, as I use these terms, is intended that, subsequently to their regeneration, holiness is the rule of their lives, and sin only the exception. But it is said, that facts contradict this. (1.) The case of king Saul is …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology The Paschal Meal. Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet.
(Thursday Evening of the Beginning of Friday.) ^D John XIII. 1-20. ^d 1 Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto his Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end. [Since the second century a great dispute has been carried on as to the apparent discrepancy between John and the synoptists in their statements concerning the passover. The synoptists, as we have seen in the previous section, …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel All we Therefore, who Believe in the Living and True God...
18. All we therefore, who believe in the Living and True God, Whose Nature, being in the highest sense good and incapable of change, neither doth any evil, nor suffers any evil, from Whom is every good, even that which admits of decrease, and Who admits not at all of decrease in His own Good, Which is Himself, when we hear the Apostle saying, "Walk in the Spirit, and perform ye not the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: For these are opposed …
St. Augustine—On Continence A Discourse of Mercifulness
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 These verses, like the stairs of Solomon's temple, cause our ascent to the holy of holies. We are now mounting up a step higher. Blessed are the merciful . . '. There was never more need to preach of mercifulness than in these unmerciful times wherein we live. It is reported in the life of Chrysostom that he preached much on this subject of mercifulness, and for his much pressing Christians to mercy, he was called of many, the alms-preacher, …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Question Lxxxii of Devotion
I. Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Meaning of the Term "Devotion" S. Augustine, Confessions, XIII. viii. 2 II. Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion? III. Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Causes of Devotion " " On the Devotion of Women IV. Is Joy an Effect of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On Melancholy S. Augustine, Confessions, II. x. I Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? It is by our acts that we merit. But …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life The Lord's Prayer.
(Jerusalem. Thursday Night.) ^D John XVII. ^d 1 These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven [the action marked the turning of his thoughts from the disciples to the Father], he said, Father, the hour is come [see pp. 116, 440]; glorify thy Son, that the son may glorify thee: 2 even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him, he should give eternal life. [The Son here prays for his glorification, viz.: resurrection, ascension, coronation, etc., …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 41:6 NIVPsalm 41:6 NLTPsalm 41:6 ESVPsalm 41:6 NASBPsalm 41:6 KJV
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