“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.” -Psalm 41:1–3
This Psalm begins with a beatitude not unlike Jesus’s beatitudes. Take Matthew 5:7, for example: ““Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” -Matthew 5:7 There is a statement and a promise.
Here the statement is about one who considers the poor. The poor here means weak or helpless. To consider this poor one is to observe, contemplate, and successfully understand his situation so he can be ministered to appropriately.
Because of the awkward grammatical structure of the Hebrew, scholars and translators are divided about the nature and object of the promises that go with the statement.
On one hand, the promise could be toward the one who considers which would confirm the beatitude nature of the passage. That is, in the day of trouble, the Lord will deliver the one who considers the poor. The Lord will protect him and keep him alive and he will be called blessed in the land. The Lord will not give him up to his enemies and will restore his health when he becomes ill. In this scenario, the blessed man is so because the Lord rewards him for his consideration of the poor.
This school of thought is confirmed by Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
On the other hand, it could be that the one who truly considers the poor will see that it is the Lord that protects him and keeps him alive. It is the Lord who considers him blessed in the land. It is the Lord who does not give him up to the will of his enemies. It is the Lord who sustains him on his sickbed; and, in his illness it is the Lord who restores him to full health. In other words, the blessing is seeing the hand of the Lord at work for those who cannot help themselves.
This school of thought is confirmed by Psalm 140:12: “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.” And, “Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.” -Proverbs 22:22–23
In either case, “The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.” -Proverbs 22:2