Psalms 141:1-9

An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.

1 O LORD, I call upon You; ¹hasten to me! ²Give ear to my voice when I call to You!

2 May my prayer be counted as ³incense before You; The ⁴lifting up of my hands as the ⁵evening offering.

3 Set a ⁶guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the ⁷door of my lips.

4 ⁸Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice deeds of wickedness With men who ⁹do iniquity; And ¹⁰do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let the ¹¹righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is ¹²oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it, For still my prayer ¹³is against their wicked deeds.

6 Their judges are ¹⁴thrown down by the sides of the rock, And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one ¹⁵plows and breaks open the earth, Our ¹⁶bones have been scattered at the ¹⁷mouth of Sheol.

8 For my ¹⁸eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord; In You I ¹⁹take refuge; ²⁰do not leave me defenseless *.

9 Keep me from the ²¹jaws of the trap which they have set for me, And from the ²²snares of those who do iniquity.

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Psalms 141:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 141

\\<>\\. This psalm was written about the same time, and upon the same occasion, as that going before and what follows after; even when David was persecuted by Saul, and when he was in great danger of his enemies, and snares were laid for his life.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 22

1. Psalms 22:19; Psalms 38:22; Psalms 70:5
2. Psalms 5:1; Psalms 143:1
3. Exodus 30:8; Luke 1:10; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3, 4
4. 1 Timothy 2:8
5. Exodus 29:39, 41; 1 Kings 18:29, 36; Daniel 9:21
6. Psalms 34:13; Psalms 39:1; Proverbs 13:3; Proverbs 21:23
7. Micah 7:5
8. Psalms 119:36
9. Isaiah 32:6; Hosea 6:8; Malachi 3:15
10. Proverbs 23:6
11. Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 19:25; Proverbs 25:12; Proverbs 27:6; Ecclesiastes 7:5; Galatians 6:1
12. Psalms 23:5; Psalms 133:2
13. Psalms 35:14
14. 2 Chronicles 25:12
15. Psalms 129:3
16. Psalms 53:5
17. Numbers 16:32, 33; Psalms 88:3-5
18. Psalms 25:15; Psalms 123:2
19. Psalms 2:12; Psalms 11:1
20. Psalms 27:9
21. Psalms 38:12; Psalms 64:5; Psalms 91:3; Psalms 119:110
22. Psalms 140:5

Footnotes 10

[a]. Lit "fixed"
[b]. Lit "to"
[c]. Lit "in"
[d]. Or "lovingly"
[e]. Lit "And my prayer"
[f]. Or "in spite of their calamities"
[g]. I.e. the nether world
[h]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
[i]. Lit "pour out my soul"
[j]. Lit "hands of the trap"