Psalm 141:1

Prayer for God’s Help in Maintaining Integrity

A psalm of David.

1 I call on you, O Yahweh; hasten to me. Listen to my voice when I call to you.

Psalm 141:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 141:1

Lord, I cry unto thee
With great earnestness, importunity, and fervency, being in distress; and knowing vain was the help of man, and that none could deliver him but the Lord, and therefore continued crying unto him for help ^F23; make haste unto me;
which shows he was in a desperate condition; that he could not help himself, nor could any creature, only the Lord; and he was at a distance from him, as it seemed to him, and he delayed assistance; and therefore desires he would immediately draw nigh and be a present help in his time of need, and work speedy deliverance for him, his case requiring haste; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee;
a request the psalmist frequently makes, not contenting himself with prayer, without desiring and looking for an answer to it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 "Auxilium vocat, et duros conclamat agrestes", Virgil.

Psalm 141:1 In-Context

1 I call on you, O Yahweh; hasten to me. Listen to my voice when I call to you.

2 Let my prayer be set before you [as] incense, the lifting up of my palms [as the] evening offering.

3 Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked deeds with men [who] do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let a righteous one strike me in kindness, and let him chasten me. [It is] oil for [my] head; let not my head refuse. For still my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.

Footnotes

• [a] The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm