Psalms 140

1 God, get me out of here, away from this evil; protect me from these vicious people.
2 All they do is think up new ways to be bad; they spend their days plotting war games.
3 They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt, speak venomous words that maim and kill.
4 God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones, protect me from these vicious people;
5 Stuffed with self-importance, they plot ways to trip me up, determined to bring me down. These crooks invent traps to catch me and do their best to incriminate me.
6 I prayed, "God, you're my God! Listen, God! Mercy!
7 God, my Lord, Strong Savior, protect me when the fighting breaks out!
8 Don't let the wicked have their way, God, don't give them an inch!"
9 These troublemakers all around me - let them drown in their own verbal poison.
10 Let God pile hellfire on them, let him bury them alive in crevasses!
11 These loudmouths - don't let them be taken seriously; These savages - let the Devil hunt them down!
12 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims, that you care for the rights of the poor.
13 And I know that the righteous personally thank you, that good people are secure in your presence.

Psalms 140 Commentaries

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.