USB ~ Psalms 141

Prayer for Deliverance from the Wicked

1 A psalm of David. LORD, I call to you; hasten to me; listen to my plea when I call.

2 Let my prayer be incense† before you; my uplifted hands† an evening offering. a

3 Set a guard, LORD, before my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips. b

4 Do not let my heart incline to evil, to perform deeds in wickedness. On the delicacies of evildoers let me not feast.

5 † Let a righteous person strike me; it is mercy if he reproves me. Do not withhold oil from my headc while my prayer opposes their evil deeds.

6 May their leaders be cast over the cliff, so that they hear that my speeches are pleasing.

7 Like the plowing and breaking up of the earth, our bones are strewn at the mouth of Sheol.

8 For my eyes are upon you, O LORD, my Lord; d in you I take refuge; do not take away my soul.

9 Guard me from the trap they have set for me, from the snares of evildoers. e

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while only I pass over them safely.

Footnotes

†. Psalm 141 A lament of an individual (Ps 141:1-2) who is keenly aware that only the righteous can worship God properly and who therefore prays to be protected from the doomed wicked (Ps 141:3-10).

†. 141:2 Incense: lit., “smoke,” i.e., the fragrant fumes arising from the altar at the burning of sacrificial animals or of aromatic spices; also used in Rev 5:8 as a symbol of prayer. My uplifted hands: the gesture of supplication, cf. Ps 28:2; 63:5; 88:10; 119:48; 134:2; 143:6 .

†. 141:5-7 The Hebrew text is obscure.

141:2 Ps 134:2; Ex 30:8.
141:3 Sir 22:27.
141:5 Prv 9:8; 25:12.
141:8 Ps 25:15; 123:1-2.
141:9 Ps 142:4.