Psalm 41:12-13

The final thoughts of the last psalm of Book 1 of the Psalter are expressed.

Let’s ask once more: who is speaking in verse 12? Can we or David say these words about “upholding me in my integrity?” This integrity verse has to be reconciled to verse 4, which is a confession of sin against God Himself. For us and David, these two verses can be reconciled. They are reconciled only if we are constituted as sinful righteous saints. Through our redemption in Jesus Christ, we are this very thing.

On the other hand, can the Messiah be the one speaking verse 12? Again, this verse needs to be reconciled with the confession of sin in verse 4. These two verses can be reconciled if Jesus Christ is constituted as a sinless righteous sinner. As incongruous as it sounds, this is exactly what the God-man became. His sins were our sins imputed to Him, and He did and must confess these sins as His own before the Father.

In a sense, verses 12 and 13 summarize Book 1 of the Psalter. How so? Book 1, Psalm 1 began with the blessed man who was upheld in His spotless integrity. This is exactly the thought in v. 12a. Book 1, Psalm 2 describes how the Messiah was set in the Father’s presence forever as His installed King. This is the basic thought of v. 12b. The whole of Book 1 is an inclusio (literary bookends) between the two opening psalms and these two closing thoughts.

Finally, verse 13 is the doxology of Book 1. Each of the five books of the Psalter is closed with a doxology.