Psalms 140:1-9

1 Lord, rescue me from evil people; protect me from cruel people

2 who make evil plans, who always start fights.

3 They make their tongues sharp as a snake's; their words are like snake poison.Selah

4 Lord, guard me from the power of wicked people; protect me from cruel people who plan to trip me up.

5 The proud hid a trap for me. They spread out a net beside the road; they set traps for me.Selah

6 I said to the Lord, "You are my God." Lord, listen to my prayer for help.

7 Lord God, my mighty savior, you protect me in battle.

8 Lord, do not give the wicked what they want. Don't let their plans succeed, or they will become proud.Selah

9 Those around me have planned trouble. Now let it come to them.

Psalms 140:1-9 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.