Daily Bible Nugget #961, Psalm 41:1

The Nugget:

Psa 41:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. (KJV)

Psa 41:1  For the music director. A psalm of David. Blessed is the one who has regard for the poor; in the day of disaster, Yahweh delivers him. (LEB, Lexham English Bible)

Psa 41:1  To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Blessed is he who acts wisely toward the poor; Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil. (LITV, Literal Translation of the Bible)

Psa 41:1  To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Blessed is he who acts wisely toward the poor; Jehovah will deliver him in time of trouble. (MKJV, Modern King James Version)

Psa 41:1  Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the LORD will help them when they are in trouble. (GNB, Good News Bible)

Psa 41:1  For the choir director; a psalm by David. Blessed is the one who has concern for helpless people. The LORD will rescue him in times of trouble. (GW, God’s Word translation)

Psa 41:1  To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble. (BBE, Basic English Bible)

Psa 41:1  (A psalm by David for the music leader.) You, LORD God, bless everyone who cares for the poor, and you rescue those people in times of trouble. (CEV, Contemporary English Version)

Psa 41:1  For the music director; a psalm of David. How blessed is the one who treats the poor properly! When trouble comes, may the LORD deliver him. (NET Bible)

Psa 41:1  To the director: A song of David. Those who help the poor succeed will get many blessings. When trouble comes, the LORD will save them. (ERV, Easy-to-Read Version)

MY COMMENT:

Helping the poor does not always involve giving them money. I recall that Peter responded to a poor and needy man with the words “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).

I like the insight the ERV provides when it translates Psalm 41:1 to read “Those who help the poor succeed will get many blessings.”

There are many ways to help the poor. If you have a skill or special knowledge you can share with them, do so when the opportunity presents itself.

As a middle school teacher, I developed a reading program to help my students. When I became a high school teacher I further expanded and developed my reading program.

While teaching junior high school, I soon learned that if I was not successful in helping a student improve his or her reading skills they would likely drop out of school and get into trouble.

In the process of attending a neighborhood church where my junior high school students lived, I was able to encourage them to become very interested in the Bible. Some of them asked me to hold a Bible study in their homes and I did.

Student questions guided me in preparing The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. When my students asked a question in Sunday School or in a home Bible study that I did not know the answer to, I told them I would try to find the answer for them by the next time we met. When my students learned I was preparing a new edition of the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, they insisted that I include the answers to Bible questions they had asked in explanatory notes so that when my new edition was published, they would have a permanent resource to access those notes.

When I taught English at Cass Technical High School, I continued developing my reading program. My gifted students were very fearful of several English teachers they expected to have in future semesters who emphasized traditional grammar. I added chapters to my reading program to prepare them for those teachers. Those teachers came to me from time to time and told me they always knew which students were from my English class because they knew their English grammar.

The school administration at Cass Technical High School asked me to sponsor the Bible Discussion Club. Bible questions from these gifted and talented students motivated my own deeper study of the Bible. Those questions also required me to buy yet more reference books about the Bible. Many notes and additional cross references are in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as a result. I placed still more notes and cross references based on questions and the answers I provided to a college and career Sunday school class which I taught in Detroit, as well as the college and career Sunday school class I taught in Gainesville, Florida.

I may not be a famous, well-known author, but I am thankful for all the students I have helped learn to read and write better and for the spiritual boost I have seen take place among students in my Bible study groups and classes.

I am thankful to have found ways to help poor and extremely disadvantaged students academically using my Language Enrichment Program which is available on Amazon.

I am thankful also that I was able to help and encourage many students spiritually by teaching them how to study the Bible. You can easily do the same by using The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge yourself and sharing it with others in your family, neighborhood, home school, Sunday school, and church.