Psalms · Chapter 141

Verse 1. Lord, I cry unto thee] Many of David’s Psalms begin with complaints; but they are not those of habitual plaint and peevishness. He was in frequent troubles and difficulties, and he always sought help in God. He ever appears in earnest; at no time is there any evidence that the devotion of David was formal. He prayed, meditated, supplicated, groaned, cried, and even roared, as he tells us, for the disquietude of his soul. He had speedy answers; for he had much faith, and was always in earnest.

1. Lord, I cry unto thee—Hebrew, Jehovah, I have called thee, hasten to me. The impassioned cry supposes great want and imminent danger. This might apply to various points of the psalmist’s history. The time we have assumed in the introductory note is one of them. His second visit to Gath was a final and hazardous resort, exposed, as the history shows, to the jealousy of the Philistine nobility on the one hand and the robber tribes of the desert on the other. He had only to pass a few miles eastward to come within Saul’s dominions, and meet a stronger and a deadlier foe, to escape whom he had accepted this desperate alternative.

Verse 2. As incense] Incense was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. Exodus 29:39, and Numbers 28:4.

As the evening sacrifice.] This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt. But it does not appear that David refers to any sacrifice, for he uses not jbz zebach, which is almost universally used for a slaughtered animal; but hjnm minchah, which is generally taken for a gratitude-offering or unbloody sacrifice. The literal translation of the passage is, “Let my prayer be established for incense before thy faces; and the lifting up of my hands for the evening oblation.” The psalmist appears to have been at this time at a distance from the sanctuary, and therefore could not perform the Divine worship in the way prescribed by the law. What could he do? Why, as he could not worship according to the letter of the law, he will worship God according to the spirit; then prayer is accepted in the place of incense; and the lifting up of his hands, in gratitude and self-dedication to God, is accepted in the place of the evening minchah or oblation. Who can deplore the necessity that obliged the psalmist to worship God in this way?

Verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee — Hebrews Ëynpl ˆwkt, be directed to thy face, person, or presence. Let it not be lost, but let it come unto thee and find audience; as incense — Let it be owned and accepted by thee, no less than if it had been offered with incense at thine altar, from which I am now banished, and so am prevented from offering it there. And the lifting up of my hands — My prayer made with hands lifted up, which was the usual gesture in praying; as the evening sacrifice — In which he instances rather than the morning sacrifice, either because this prayer was addressed to God in the evening, or because the evening sacrifice was more solemn than that of the morning, and was attended with more company and more prayers; whence the ninth hour, which was the time of this sacrifice, is emphatically called the hour of prayer, Acts 3:1.

2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee—ˆwk, koon, rendered “set forth,” here takes the sense of prepare, make ready, and, in Niphal future, “My prayers shall be prepared as incense.” The word is used in the Levitical technology, and refers to the careful preparation of the spices for holy incense, forbidden in common use. Exodus 30:34-38, where see note. Before thee—Better, Before thy face, in thy immediate presence, as in the holy place in the tabernacle. As the evening sacrifice—Hebrew, As the minchah of evening. The “minchah” was a bloodless offering, made in conjunction with bloody sacrifices, and always with the daily morning and evening lamb. The law respecting the minchah is given in Leviticus 2, and of the daily minchah, Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 4:16, where see notes; in all which places, as also throughout Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, the word is rendered “meat-offering” in our English Bible. It was accounted “a sweet savour unto the Lord,” “most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.” Leviticus 2:2, 3. Its import was that of an azkarah, or memorial, and, from Exodus 29:42-46, a standing memorial throughout the generations of the perpetual presence of God with his people, and of the acceptance of their offerings. The psalmist, now in exile among heathen tribes, desires his worship may be as acceptable to God as the most holy services of the tabernacle.

Verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth] While there are so many spies on my actions and words, I have need to be doubly guarded, that my enemies may have no advantage against me. Some think the prayer is against impatience; but if he were now going to Gath, it is more natural to suppose that he was praying to be preserved from dishonouring the truth, and from making sinful concessions in a heathen land; and at a court where, from his circumstances, it was natural to suppose he might be tempted to apostasy by the heathen party. The following verse seems to support this opinion.

Verses 3, 4. Set a watch before my mouth — That I may not, through mine own infirmity, and the great provocation of mine enemies, break forth into any unadvised speeches, or any expressions of impatience, distrust, envy, or malice; keep the door, &c. — My lips, which are the door of my mouth, whence words come forth. Incline not my heart — Suffer it not to be inclined, either by the temptations of the devil, the world, or the flesh, to any evil thing — Whatever inclination there may be in me to sin, let it be not only restrained but mortified by divine grace; and keep me, not only from wicked words and works, but from all evil motions of the heart, which might otherwise draw me to join with wicked men in sinful courses, or to act wickedly as they do. And let me not eat of their dainties — Let me not partake of the pleasures or advantages which they gain by their wickedness. My troubles and afflictions are more desirable than such prosperity.

3. Keep the door of my lips—The “lips” are but the “door” of the heart, through which, from within, escape words. Here he would have a sentinel placed. He had need of a guarded speech in view of his relations to Saul and the Hebrew public, of his enemies among whom he lived, and of his sacred character as the anointed and beloved of God, against whose providences he might be tempted to complain.

V. 4. Incline not-Suffer it not to be inclined. Heart-Keep me not only from wicked speeches, but from all evil motions of my heart. Dainties-The pleasures or advantages which they gain by their wickedness.

Verse 4. Let me eat not of their dainties.] This may refer either to eating things forbidden by the law; or to the partaking in banquets or feasts in honour of idols.

Verses 3, 4. Set a watch before my mouth — That I may not, through mine own infirmity, and the great provocation of mine enemies, break forth into any unadvised speeches, or any expressions of impatience, distrust, envy, or malice; keep the door, &c. — My lips, which are the door of my mouth, whence words come forth. Incline not my heart — Suffer it not to be inclined, either by the temptations of the devil, the world, or the flesh, to any evil thing — Whatever inclination there may be in me to sin, let it be not only restrained but mortified by divine grace; and keep me, not only from wicked words and works, but from all evil motions of the heart, which might otherwise draw me to join with wicked men in sinful courses, or to act wickedly as they do. And let me not eat of their dainties — Let me not partake of the pleasures or advantages which they gain by their wickedness. My troubles and afflictions are more desirable than such prosperity.

4. Incline not my heart—As in verse 3 he would have the “door” of his “lips” guarded, so now he would have his “heart” rightly inclined. The prayer is against being abandoned to the pressure and tendency of external circumstances. If left to himself he would fall into sin. Practise wicked works—Literally, To practise practices in wickedness. The habit of evil doing, into which he was in danger of insensibly gliding by the contagion of surrounding example, he here deprecates. Not eat of their dainties— Neither at their idol feasts nor as a guest at their social entertainments; thus tacitly condemning their practices.

V. 5. Smite-By reproofs. Break-Not hurt, but heal and greatly refresh me. Calamities-In the calamities of those righteous persons who reproved him. When they came into such calamities as those wherein he was involved he would pity them and pray for them.

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me] This verse is extremely difficult in the original. The following translation, in which the Syriac, Vulgate, Septuagint, Æthiopic, and Arabic nearly agree, appears to me to be the best: “Let the righteous chastise me in mercy, and instruct me: but let not the oil of the wicked anoint my head. It shall not adorn (yny yani, from hwn navah) my head; for still my prayer shall be against their wicked works.” The oil of the wicked may here mean his smooth flattering speeches; and the psalmist intimates that he would rather suffer the cutting reproof of the righteous than the oily talk of the flatterer. If this were the case, how few are there now-a-days of his mind! On referring to Bishop Horsley, I find his translation is something similar to my own:—

Let the just one smite me, let the pious remove me.

Let not the ointment of the impious anoint my head.

But still I will intrude in their calamities.

Verse 5. Let the righteous smite me — Namely, by reproofs. If at any time, through the frailty of nature, I should be inclined to yield to temptation, let me find, among my attendants or friends, some righteous and faithful person, who, with kind severity, will check and reprove me. It shall be a kindness — I shall be so far from being offended with it, as an act of enmity or ill will, that I shall esteem it an act and mark of true friendship. It shall be an excellent oil — Hebrews var ˆmv, the oil of the head, that is, as the oil which is poured upon the head as the manner was in great feasts and solemnities, which shall not break my head — Nor hurt, but heal, and greatly refresh me. For yet my prayer shall be in their calamities — Either, 1st, In the calamities of those persons who reproved and censured him. When they came into such calamities as those wherein he had been involved, he would pity them, and pray for them. Or, he may mean the calamities of his enemies, of which he speaks in the next words. He foresaw that his enemies would be in calamities, and that they would need, and desire his prayers; and he here declares he would willingly grant them: but the Hebrew of this clause may be properly rendered, My prayer shall be against their wickedness.

5. Let the righteous smite me—This is preferred to the “dainties” of the wicked, verse 4. Smiting, here, literally means beating as with a hammer, as Judges 5:26, Psalm 74:6; sharp reproof, as it is called in the next line. Kindness—Or, taking the word adverbially, Let the righteous smite me kindly. See the maxim Proverbs 27:6. Excellent oil—Literally, Oil of the head, and hence refined—of excellent quality. Not break my head—Better, My head shall not refuse it. In Hebrew idiom equal to, “it shall cheer and refresh my head”—diffuse joy and gladness, which answers to the figurative idea of anointing the head with oil. Psalm 23:5; 45:7; Luke 7:46. Or, taking awn (noh) in the sense of discourage, depress, as Numbers 32:7, 9, we may render: “It [the smiting reproof] shall not depress my head”—not bow it down as if in sorrow or shame. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities—An ambiguous sentence. The word translated “calamities” may signify either affliction or wickedness. It is best to understand the psalmist as referring to his enemies, and render: “For yet my prayer also shall be against their wickedness;” that is, I return only prayer for their malice.

V. 6. Judges-The chief of mine enemies. Overthrown-Or, cast down headlong by thine exemplary vengeance. Hear-Hearken unto my counsels and offers which now they despise.

Verse 6. When their judges are overthrown in stony places] [ls ydyb biyedey sela, “In the hands of the rock.” Does this rock signify a strong or fortified place; and its hands the garrison which have occupied it, by whom these judges were overthrown? If we knew the occasion on which this Psalm was made, we might be the better able to understand the allusions in the text.

They shall hear my words; for they are sweet.] Some think there is here an allusion to David’s generous treatment of Saul in the cave of En-gedi, and afterwards at the hill of Hachilah, in this verse, which might be translated: “Their judges have been dismissed in the rocky places; and have heard my words, that they were sweet.” Or perhaps there may be a reference to the death of Saul and his sons, and the very disastrous defeat of the Israelites at Gilboa. If so, the seventh verse will lose its chief difficulty, Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth; but if we take them as referring to the slaughter of the priests at Nob, then, in stead of translating lwav ypl lephi sheol, at the grave’s mouth, we may translate at the command of Saul; and then the verse will point out the manner in which those servants of the Lord were massacred; Doeg cut them in pieces; hewed them down as one cleaveth wood. Some understand all this of the cruel usage of the captives in Babylon. I could add other conjectures, and contend for my own; but they are all too vague to form a just ground for decided opinion.

Verse 6. When their judges are overthrown, &c. — “Of this verse, as it stands in our translation,” says Dr. Horne, “I know not what can be made. When literally rendered from the Hebrew, it runs thus; Their judges have been dismissed in the sides of the rock,” [ls yryb wcmvn, “and have heard my words that they were sweet. David, reflecting on Saul’s cruelty in driving him out of his country to wander among aliens and idolaters, very naturally calls to mind, and mentions his own different behaviour toward that implacable enemy, whose life he had spared two several times, when he had it in his power to destroy him as he pleased.” This is also Mr. Peters’s interpretation of the passage, who translates it as above, understanding, by µhycpv, rendered their judges, their leaders, or generals, according to the frequent usage of the word in Scripture. The sense evidently is, “Their princes have been dismissed in safety when I had them at an advantage in those rocky deserts, and they only heard me expostulate with them in the gentlest words;” indeed, “in a manner so mild and humble that even Saul himself was overcome, and lift up his voice and wept, saying, My son David, thou art more righteous than I: the Lord reward thee good for what thou hast done unto me this day, 1 Samuel 24:16. Such has been my conduct toward the servants of Saul; yet how have my people, alas! been by them most miserably butchered!”

6. Their judges have been dismissed in the rocky places, and have heard my words that were sweet.

7. Like as when one cutteth and cleaveth, so have our bones been scattered on the earth, at the command of Saul.”—

This good man, for lwav ypl lepi sheol, at the grave’s mouth, reads, “at the command of Saul.” Dr. Durell has done the same; and bishop Horne has adopted the reading. Sheol, the grave, and Saul, being the same in the Hebrew.

Verse 6. When their judges are overthrown in stony places. The readings vary here. “When their judges shall be swallowed up together in stony places—when their governors shall be precipitated among the rocks.” When any man was found murdered, the elders washed their hands, and purged the land of innocent blood, by slaying a beast in a rough place. Elijah, following custom no doubt, slew the prophets of Baal at the brook, or in the stony bed of the river, then dried up. A similar custom prevails among the Caribbs, in St. Vincent. One of them had killed his wife. Her brother demanded satisfaction of the offender; and on being asked what kind of satisfaction he demanded, he replied, “That you shall take your sister, and kill her over such a stream of water.” Hence it is highly probable that the Hebrew and the Indian custom of putting criminals to death in rough places, or on streams of water, originated in early customs of the patriarchal families. Though insuperable difficulties present themselves in all the ancient Versions, yet the sense seems to refer to the massacre of the eighty priests by Saul, whose words were sweet; but whose bones were profanely scattered on the ground.

6. When their judges are overthrown in stony places—Literally, Their judges [princes] have been cast down by the sides of the rock. The verb is in Niphal (passive) perfect, and applies to David’s enemies, whom he beholds as already condemned and punished by being thrown from a cliff, a mode of punishment not unknown to the ancients, (2 Chronicles 25:12,) and probably the mode advised against David should he be arrested. French and Skinner translate:—

“Their rulers shall be hurled over the sides of the rock, And men shall hearken to my words, for they are sweet.”

But more probably shamat (rendered “overthrown”) should here be taken in the sense of release, dismiss, which it repeatedly bears, and read, “Their princes, or judges, were dismissed by the sides of the cliff, or rock,” referring to the hill or cliff of Hachilah, which David hastily descended on one side while Saul approached and encamped on the other. 1 Samuel 23:19-25; 26:3. And this is the more probable, as it was from the sides of this rocky cliff that Saul finally abandoned all further pursuit of David, and returned home, while David departed the second time to Gath. They shall hear my words; for they are sweet—Literally, And they heard my words, for they were pleasant. Both at Hachilah and Engedi David spared Saul’s life, and his mild and pacific addresses to Saul from a distant cliff awakened in that fickle king tears of gratitude and relenting. 1 Samuel 24 and 26.

V. 7. Our bones-Our case is almost as hopeless as of those who are dead, and whose bones are scattered in several places.

Verse 7. Our bones are scattered, &c. — So barbarously cruel were our enemies that they not only killed many of our friends, but left their carcasses unburied, by which means their flesh, and sinews, &c., were consumed, or torn in pieces by wild beasts, and their bones dispersed upon the face of the earth, our common grave. The words are thought to refer to Saul’s barbarity and cruelty to David’s friends, in the horrid massacre of Ahimelech and the priests, by the hand of Doeg; perpetrated in such a savage manner that he compares it to the chopping and cleaving of wood, as if he had said, “How unlike, how barbarous, has their treatment been of me! My best friends slaughtered in great numbers, at the command of Saul, (so some render lwav ypl, instead of, at the grave’s mouth,) and hewn to pieces in his presence, as one would cut or chop a piece of wood:” see Peters.

7. Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth—Hebrew, At the mouth of sheol. A figure denoting wanton and indiscriminate destruction: See Psalm 53:5; Ezekiel 6:5.

Verse 8. But mine eyes are unto thee] In all times, in all places, on all occasions, I will cleave unto the Lord, and put my whole confidence in him.

Verse 8. But mine eyes are unto thee — But in this sore distress I fix my thoughts on thee, O God, the Lord, the only living and true God, and governor of all things; in thee is my trust, &c. — In thee I repose an assured confidence that thou wilt not leave me without support and protection, much less wilt thou abandon me to the malice of those that seek to take away my life. This verse, says Mr. Peters, shows us what was David’s support under his extraordinary trials: it was a firm trust in God, as the great Lord and Ruler of the world: and a steady resolution to obey him in all things. “Among the sayings of Pythagoras this was one, aplwson seauton, simplify thyself, that is, ‘reduce thy conduct, if possible, to one single aim, and pursue it without weariness, or distraction.’ If this single aim be, to approve ourselves to God by such a course of life as he prescribes; to adhere strictly to our duty, with an eye to him who has commanded it, and patiently submit the issue of things to his all-wise and gracious providence; we have then hit upon that principle which here appears to have animated David, and may, with confidence, address our prayers to the great Lord and Sovereign of the world in all our straits and difficulties, as he does in the following part of the Psalm.” Leave not my soul destitute — Hebrew, make not my soul naked: deprive it not of thy favour and protection: or, do not pour out my soul, namely, unto death, as the same word, hr[, is used, Isaiah 53:12. In the language of the Holy Scriptures, God is said to do what he only permits or suffers to be done. But whether David here prays to have his life preserved from danger, or his soul from sin, may admit of a question. The words will suit with either explanation, and probably he might intend both; but chiefly the latter. We have seen, from verse 4, how earnestly he begs that God would protect him by his grace from complying with the idolatrous practices of the heathen, to whom he was about to flee for refuge; and it is remarkable that, in his last speech to Saul, he particularly dwells upon the danger to which his religion was exposed, 1 Samuel 26:19. They have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go serve other gods. As if he had said, “They have done what lies in their power to drive me to idolatry, by forcing me into a country where I shall have the strongest temptations to it.” This was a thing he seems to have dreaded more than death; and therefore he prays against it in the next verse.

8, 9. In these verses David declares his sole trust in God. He admits that human resources had utterly failed. His prayer is plaintive. Leave not my soul destitute—Do not make my soul empty, or naked.

Verses 9, 10. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me — Keep me from being taken in it: give me to discover and evade it. If Saul and his evil counsellors be intended in this clause, probably the heathen, to whom David was now driven for refuge, were meant in the next. They were workers of iniquity in the worst sense, being worshippers of idols, and their idols were always snares to the Israelites, as their history informs us, and as they were forewarned by God himself, Judges 2:3. Their gods will be a snare unto you, Hebrew, vqwm, the same word with that translated, in the plural number, gins, in this verse. Let the wicked fall — Hebrew, wlpy, they shall fall; into their own nets — Into the snares, dangers, and mischiefs which they design for me. While that I withal escape — Namely, together with my followers, or, in like manner, as I have formerly done. But many translators, both ancient and modern, join the word djy, here rendered withal, or together, to the preceding clause to which it is placed next in the Hebrew, and then the meaning is, the wicked shall fall into their own nets together, or alike, one as well as another, Saul himself not excepted, (whom, though I dare not destroy him, God will judge,) while that I escape, am preserved from that common calamity in which mine enemies perish. Which was verified by the event. For David escaped all the snares which were laid for him on every side; and was strangely kept out of harm’s way, when Saul and other of David’s enemies were cut off by the Philistines, 1 Samuel 31. So will the devices of the enemies of God’s people be in the end turned against themselves. They shall fall and perish, but the saved of the Lord shall triumph with their Redeemer to eternity. Reader, see that thou be one of these!

8, 9. In these verses David declares his sole trust in God. He admits that human resources had utterly failed. His prayer is plaintive. Leave not my soul destitute—Do not make my soul empty, or naked.

Verse 10. Let the wicked fall into their own nets] This is generally the case; those who lay snares for others fall into them themselves. Harm watch, harm catch, says the old adage. How many cases have occurred where the spring guns that have been set for thieves have shot some of the family! I have known some dismal cases of this kind, where some of the most amiable lives have been sacrificed to this accursed machine. Whilst—I withal escape.] They alone are guilty; they alone spread the nets and gins; I am innocent, and God will cause me to escape.

Verses 9, 10. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me — Keep me from being taken in it: give me to discover and evade it. If Saul and his evil counsellors be intended in this clause, probably the heathen, to whom David was now driven for refuge, were meant in the next. They were workers of iniquity in the worst sense, being worshippers of idols, and their idols were always snares to the Israelites, as their history informs us, and as they were forewarned by God himself, Judges 2:3. Their gods will be a snare unto you, Hebrew, vqwm, the same word with that translated, in the plural number, gins, in this verse. Let the wicked fall — Hebrew, wlpy, they shall fall; into their own nets — Into the snares, dangers, and mischiefs which they design for me. While that I withal escape — Namely, together with my followers, or, in like manner, as I have formerly done. But many translators, both ancient and modern, join the word djy, here rendered withal, or together, to the preceding clause to which it is placed next in the Hebrew, and then the meaning is, the wicked shall fall into their own nets together, or alike, one as well as another, Saul himself not excepted, (whom, though I dare not destroy him, God will judge,) while that I escape, am preserved from that common calamity in which mine enemies perish. Which was verified by the event. For David escaped all the snares which were laid for him on every side; and was strangely kept out of harm’s way, when Saul and other of David’s enemies were cut off by the Philistines, 1 Samuel 31. So will the devices of the enemies of God’s people be in the end turned against themselves. They shall fall and perish, but the saved of the Lord shall triumph with their Redeemer to eternity. Reader, see that thou be one of these!

10. Let the wicked fall, etc.—The verb is in the declarative future—the wicked shall fall into their own nets. Whilst that I withal escape—The Hebrew pointing seems at fault here. Yahad, “together,” (English version “withal,”) belongs to the previous hemistich, and the whole should read:— The wicked together shall fall into their own nets;

Meanwhile I shall pass over [safely.]