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Psalm 140

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

Deliver me, O L ord, from evildoers;

protect me from those who are violent,

who plan evil things in their minds

and stir up wars continually.

They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,

and under their lips is the venom of vipers. Selah

Guard me, O L ord, from the hands of the wicked;

protect me from the violent

who have planned my downfall.

The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread a net,

along the road they have set snares for me. Selah

I say to the L ord, “You are my God;

give ear, O L ord, to the voice of my supplications.”

O L ord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

Do not grant, O L ord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their evil plot. Selah

Those who surround me lift up their heads;

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

Let burning coals fall on them!

Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!

Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil speedily hunt down the violent!

I know that the L ord maintains the cause of the needy,

and executes justice for the poor.

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall live in your presence.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

4. Keep me, O Jehovah! To complaints and accusations he now again adds prayer, from which it appears more clearly, as I observed already, that it is God whom he seeks to be his avenger. It is the same sentiment repeated, with one or two words changed; for he had said deliver me, now he says keep me, and for the wicked man he substitutes the hand of the wicked. He had spoken of their conceiving mischief’s, now of their plotting how they might ruin a poor unsuspecting individual. What he had said of their fraud and deceit he repeats in figurative language, which does not want emphasis. He speaks of nets spread out on every side to circumvent him, unless God interposed for his help. Though at first sight the metaphors may seem more obscure than the prayer was in its simple unfigurative expression, they are far from darkening the previous declarations, and they add much to the strength of them. From the word גאים, geim, which signifies proud or lofty in the Hebrew, we learn that he does not speak of common men, but of men in power, who considered that they would have no difficulty in crushing an insignificant individual. When our enemies attack us in the insolence of pride, let us learn to resort to God, who can repel the rage of the wicked. Nor does he mean to say that they attacked him merely by bold and violent measures, for he complains of their spreading gins and snares; both methods are spoken of, namely, that while they were confident of the power which they possessed, they devised stratagems for his destruction.