Psalms 140:0 ¶ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
Another prayerful psalm of David asking for God’s deliverance from his enemies. This is a prayer that he shares with the musicians at the tabernacle as a testimony to his dependency upon the LORD and his confidence that God always provides for the righteous.
Spurgeon: “‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord;’ and David when most wounded by undeserved persecution and wicked falsehood was glad to leave his matters at the foot of the throne, where they would be safe with the King of kings.”
Psalms 140:1 ¶ Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
Psalms 140:2 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
Psalms 140:3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.
David opens right up crying out to the LORD in prayer for deliverance from those who are oppressing him unjustly. They are constantly making plans for war against him. They are spreading slander about him.
Can’t help but think of the verses in James regarding the power of the tongue.
James 3:5–8 “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
Spurgeon: “The persecuted man turns to God in prayer; he could not do a wiser thing. Who can meet the evil man and defeat him save Jehovah himself, whose infinite goodness is more than a match for all the evil in the universe? We cannot of ourselves baffle the craft of the enemy, but the Lord knoweth how to deliver his saints. He can keep us out of the enemy's reach, he can sustain us when under his power, he can rescue us when our doom seems fixed, he can give us the victory when defeat seems certain; and in any and every case, if he do not save us from the man he can keep us from the evil.”
Selah = a pause in the music; an opportunity for reflection
Guzik: “Selah is repeated three times in Psalm 140, and here indicates that the deep sinfulness of man is worthy of our careful consideration. We often think too little of God’s greatness and too little of man’s sinfulness.”
Psalms 140:4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.
Psalms 140:5 The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
These verses basically repeat and emphasize David’s prayer for deliverance from his enemies. He adds that they are laying traps for him in various places.
I think these traps are in connection with the slander they are spreading out David. They are probably hoping to catch him acting in disobedience against God and exposing him as a hypocrite.
Psalms 140:6 I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.
Psalms 140:7 O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
David relates that he called out to the LORD as “my God”; he has yielded himself as a servant under God’s authority. On that basis, he pleads with the LORD to hear his pleas for help and to act in accordance with his pleas. He is again expecting God’s deliverance based on past experience.
Courson: “In that David’s enemies gave him cause to lean even more heavily upon the Lord, they unknowingly contributed to his victory. And the same thing can happen in our lives if hardship draws us closer to the Lord rather than away from Him.”
Psalms 140:8 ¶ Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
David prays that the LORD will not let his enemies succeed in their plans. If they do succeed, he is sure they will exalt themselves—and demean the LORD in the process seems to be the inference, since David had so publicly declared himself as God’s servant.
Selah = a pause in the music; an opportunity for reflection
Psalms 140:9 As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
Psalms 140:10 Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
Psalms 140:11 Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
As was often the case, David begins to pray a curse over his enemies. I have to remind myself that David was a warrior living under the law, the old covenant; he hadn’t been exposed to the grace that Jesus taught as the foundation of the new covenant that He introduced. The psalmist calls for the LORD to let his enemies suffer in the way that they had planned to cause him to suffer. He wants them to be destroyed, never to rise up against him again. He wants those who spread lies and slander to be rejected by the people.
Psalms 140:12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
Psalms 140:13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
David closes his song with a declaration of confidence that the LORD will take care of those that are needy and destitute. He is sure that those that are righteous will give thanks to the LORD for the privilege of living as His servant. He is confident that the LORD will answer his prayer.
Psalms 141:0 ¶ A Psalm of David.
Guzik: This psalm “shows David as a man of tender conscience who asked God to deal with his own sin and weakness before addressing the wicked men who fought against him. It shows that David was even more concerned about evil inside him than he was about evil from others.”
Psalms 141:1 ¶ LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.
Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
David opens with a sense of intense urgency regarding his prayer. He wants the LORD to receive his prayer as a sweet-smelling incense, as a sacrifice of praise.
This reminds me of a few verses in Revelation that make a direct connection with our prayers and incense.
Revelation 5:8 “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.”
Revelation 8:3–4 “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”
The Greek for “odours” in 5:8 is a reference to incense.
Guzik: “When a child cries out to a parent, the parent hears not only the words but the voice of the cry. The LORD can hear the voice of His people when they cry out to Him, and it moves Him to action.”
Courson: “Outward acts of worship which show an inward heart of love bring the Lord great joy.”
Psalms 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
Psalms 141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
In thinking of his prayers in connection to sweet incense before the LORD, David prays that the LORD will take control of what comes out of his mouth. Incense offered before the LORD was to be sweet and holy. This reminded me of some verses in James, and I think David did not want to fall into that category of person.
James 3:8–10 “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
David wants the LORD to take control of his life, of his heart, so that he won’t even be tempted to become like those that are wicked and unrighteous. He wants no part of taking part in what gives them pleasure.
Spurgeon: “He who holds the heart is lord of the man: but if the tongue and the heart are under God's care all is safe.”
Psalms 141:5 ¶ Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
Psalms 141:6 When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.
David is asking that God even use righteous men as needed to rebuke him if he lets down his guard and begins to act in any way that aligns with the wicked; he will consider such action a kindness. I think he is especially concerned about maintaining control of his tongue. He is committed to praying against those that afflict others, causing great misery.
Verses 6 and 7 are a bit hard. I think he is saying that when the wicked are judged and eliminated from the strongholds of influence they have established, the people will recognize the sweetness of David’s prayer (as expressed in this song) against such evil.
Psalms 141:7 Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
Most translations apply these words to the wicked that have been judged and are comparing their bones to rocks that have been plowed under the ground and shown no respect in death.
Psalms 141:8 But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.
Psalms 141:9 Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
David is committed to keeping his eyes fixed in faith on the LORD God. He is trusting that God will rescue him from his enemies and from the traps they have laid for him to draw him into sin.
Psalms 141:10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
David closes with a prayer that the wicked are ensnared by the traps of their own making and that he escapes being snared.