Psalms 140

1 To victory, the psalm of David. Lord, deliver thou me from an evil man; deliver thou me from a wicked man. (To victory, the song of David. Lord, save thou me from evil people; yea, save thou me from violent, or wicked, people.)

2 Which thought wickednesses in the heart; all day they ordained battles. (Who always think in their hearts about doing wicked things; who plan out battles all day long/day after day.)

3 They sharpened their tongues as serpents; the venom of snakes is under the lips of them. (Their tongues be sharp like the fangs of serpents; the venom of snakes is on their lips.)

4 Lord, keep thou me from the hand of the sinner; and deliver thou me from wicked men. Which thought to deceive my goings; (Lord, keep thou me safe from the power of the sinner; and save thou me from the wicked, from those who think out ways to thwart my progress.)

5 proud men hid a snare to me. And they laid forth cords into a snare; they setted (a) trap to me beside the way. (Proud people hid a snare for me, yea, they laid out cords for a snare; they set a trap for me along the way.)

6 I said to the Lord, Thou art my God; Lord, hear thou the voice of my beseeching (Lord, hear thou the words of my plea).

7 Lord, Lord, the virtue of mine health; thou madest shadow on mine head in the day of battle. (Lord, Lord, my strong salvation/my strong deliverance; thou madest a shadow upon my head on the day of battle.)

8 Lord, betake thou not me from my desire to the sinner; they thought against me, forsake thou not me, lest peradventure they be enhanced. (Lord, do not thou deliver me unto the desires of the sinners; they have planned to harm me, so abandon thou me not, lest they gain an advantage over me.)

9 The head of the compass of them; the travail of their lips shall cover them. (As for the leaders of those who surround me; let the treachery of their own lips ensnare them.)

10 Coals shall fall on them, thou shalt cast them down into fire; in(to) wretchednesses (where) they shall not (be able to) stand. (Let burning coals fall upon them, and be they thrown down into the fire; yea, into a wretchedness from which they shall never be able to escape.)

11 A man that is a great jangler shall not be (well-) directed in earth (A man who is a great gossip, or a slanderer, shall not be successful in the world); evils shall take an unjust man in(to) perishing.

12 I have known, that the Lord shall make doom of a needy man; and the vengeance of poor men. (I know, that the Lord shall make judgement in favour of the needy; and he shall take vengeance for the poor.)

13 Nevertheless just men shall acknowledge to thy name; and rightful men shall dwell with thy cheer. (Truly the righteous shall give thanks to thy name; and the upright shall live in thy presence./Truly the righteous shall praise thy name; and the upright shall worship before thee.)

Psalms 140 Commentary

Chapter 140

David encourages himself in God. (1-7) He prays for, and prophesies the destruction of, his persecutors. (8-13)

Verses 1-7 The more danger appears, the more earnest we should be in prayer to God. All are safe whom the Lord protects. If he be for us, who can be against us? We should especially watch and pray, that the Lord would hold up our goings in his ways, that our footsteps slip not. God is as able to keep his people from secret fraud as from open force; and the experience we have had of his power and care, in dangers of one kind, may encourage us to depend upon him in other dangers.

Verses 8-13 Believers may pray that God would not grant the desires of the wicked, nor further their evil devices. False accusers will bring mischief upon themselves, even the burning coals of Divine vengeance. And surely the righteous shall dwell in God's presence, and give him thanks for evermore. This is true thanksgiving, even thanks-living: this use we should make of all our deliverances, we should serve God the more closely and cheerfully. Those who, though evil spoken of and ill-used by men, are righteous in the sight of God, being justified by the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to them, and received by faith, as the effect of which, they live soberly and righteously; these give thanks to the Lord, for the righteousness whereby they are made righteous, and for every blessing of grace, and mercy of life.

Chapter Summary

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.