Psalms 140:7-13

7 My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender, you have protected me in battle.
8 Lord, don't give the wicked what they want; don't let their plots succeed.
9 Don't let my enemies be victorious; make their threats against me fall back on them.
10 May red-hot coals fall on them; may they be thrown into a pit and never get out.
11 May those who accuse others falsely not succeed; may evil overtake violent people and destroy them.
12 Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy.
13 The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence.

Psalms 140:7-13 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This psalm, A ben Ezra says, was composed by David before he was king; and Kimchi says, it is concerning Doeg and the Ziphites, who calumniated him to Saul; and, according to our English contents, it is a prayer of David to be delivered from Saul and Doeg. The Syriac inscription is, "said by David, when Saul threw a javelin at him to kill him, but it struck the wall; but, spiritually, the words of him that cleaves to God, and contends with his enemies." R. Obadiah says, it was made at the persecution of David by Saul, which was before the kingdom of David; as the persecution (of Gog) is before the coming of the Messiah. It is indeed before his spiritual coming, but not before his coming in the flesh; and David may be very well considered in the psalm as a type of Christ, for he was particularly so in his sufferings, as well as in other things.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. [Probable text] Don't let my enemies be victorious; [Hebrew unclear.]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.