Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo
Read

Psalm 41:4

I said, “LORD, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

2The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
3The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness.
4I said, “LORD, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5My enemies speak evil against me: “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →
← Psalm 41:3Psalm 41:5 →
Notice

“Heal me” comes from a sickbed where confession and the need for mercy share one prayer, leaving little room for claims of deserving God's help.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What, if anything, do you need to name before God in the words “sinned against you”?

Write on this

What difference might asking for mercy make to the way you pray for healing?

Write on this
Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 103:3who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,Psalm 41 asks God for healing while confessing sin; Psalm 103 praises God as the one who forgives and heals.
Luke 18:13But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’Both speakers acknowledge their sin and ask God for mercy without offering a defense of themselves.
James 5:15–16and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.Both passages connect prayer with sickness and sin, though James makes the presence of sin conditional.
John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal …Both texts speak of God's healing; Psalm 41 asks for it, while John describes people prevented from turning toward it.
Hosea 6:1“Come! Let’s return to the LORD; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.Both turn toward the LORD for healing, though Hosea names him as the one who has also wounded.
Matthew 9:12When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.Psalm 41 asks for healing in sickness; Jesus speaks of sick people's need for a physician.
2 Chronicles 30:18–20For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover other than the way …Psalm 41 seeks mercy after personal sin; Hezekiah seeks the LORD's pardon for people who ate Passover without cleansing.
Psalm 147:3He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.Both passages look to God for healing, though Psalm 41 names sin and Psalm 147 names the broken in heart.
Psalm 6:2–4Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.Both prayers ask the LORD for mercy and healing from within bodily weakness.
Psalm 32:5I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.Both speakers acknowledge sin before the LORD; Psalm 41 asks for mercy, while Psalm 32 recounts forgiveness received.
Where this verse fits

Guilt and confession. illness or diagnosis.

What the Bible says about guilt →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 41:4 aloud before bed tonight

prayeroncelight
Encouragement

Confession does not close the way to prayer. Here, someone who has sinned still asks YHWH for mercy and healing; the plea rests on God's mercy.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 41:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 41 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).