A psalm of David
141
📚LORD, I cry out to you.Come quickly 📖 to me.
Give ear 📖 to my voice,
when I cry out to you.
2 📚Let my prayer be set out
before you like incense 📖,
and the lifting up of
my hands be like the evening
sacrifice 📖.
3 📚Set a guard, O LORD,
over my mouth.
Keep watch over the door
of my lips.
141:3 David knew that the mouth that prayed could also say bitter, unwise, unholy words. He knew too how difficult it is to control the tongue (see Jam 3:2-12). So he prays for God Himself to be a watchman at the door of his mouth.⚜
4 📚Do not incline my heart to
any evil thing,
to practice wicked works
with men who are evildoers;
and do not let me eat of their
delicacies.
141:4 When the wicked are in positions of leadership and prospering, the righteous may be tempted to compromise with them. And the wicked may offer inducements (“delicacies”) to corrupt the righteous. When standards of morality are low, and everyone seems to be practicing certain evils, God’s true servants may also get entangled. At such times we would do well to pray as David did.⚜
5 📚Let the righteous strike me;
it is a kindness;
and let him rebuke me;
it is an excellent oil;
my head will not refuse it.
For my prayer will still
be there in
their distresses 📖.
141:5 Far better to be flogged by the righteous than to be feasted by the wicked. Far better to be rebuked by a good man than flattered by a bad one. David realized that what the righteous did or said to him was for his correction, and he welcomed it (compare Prov 27:6).⚜
6 📚When their judges are thrown
down at the cliffs,
they will hear my words;
for they are sweet.
141:6 This was probably written when David was being pursued by Saul in the desert. He believed that Saul and his helpers would fall and that the people would then welcome his words.⚜
7 📚Our bones are scattered at the
grave’s 📖 mouth,
as when one plows and breaks up
the ground.
8 📚But my eyes are on you,
O God the Lord.
My trust is in you.
Do not leave my soul destitute.
9 📚Keep me from the snares
which they have
laid for me,
and the traps of evildoers.
10 📚Let the wicked fall into their
own nets, while I escape.
141:10 A prayer that perfect justice will prevail (Ps 7:15; 35:8; 57:6. See Esther 7:10; Dan 6:24).⚜