Reflections on Psalms 141

 Psalms 141(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by David.) I pray to you, LORD! Please listen when I pray and hurry to help me.
2. Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice.
3. Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.
4. Don't let me want to do evil or waste my time doing wrong with wicked people. Don't let me even taste the good things they offer.
5. Let your faithful people correct and punish me. My prayers condemn the deeds of those who do wrong, so don't let me be friends with any of them.
6. Everyone will admit that I was right when their rulers are thrown down a rocky cliff,
7. and their bones lie scattered like broken rocks on top of a grave.
8. You are my LORD and God, and I look to you for safety. Don't let me be harmed.
9. Protect me from the traps of those violent people,
10. and make them fall into their own traps while you help me escape.

---

Psalms 141 is David's evening prayer. In it he prayed for the Lord to hear his prayer, keep him from wicked thoughts and acts, and protect him from the wicked acts of others.

Hear his prayer: In verses 1-2, David requested that the Lord not only "listen to my voice when I call on You," but that He would be quick to help him. Also, that his prayer would be like a pleasing and fragrant incense to the Lord.

Keep him from wicked thoughts and acts: Verses 3-7 reveal David's desire to be kept from wickedness. He asked the Lord to "set up a guard for my mouth," and to "not let my heart turn to any evil thing." Then he asks the Lord to allow the righteous to help by rebuking him if he strayed toward evil acts. He wanted the Lord to help him "not refuse" this input from righteous people but to accept it as acts "of faithful love."

Protect him from the wicked acts of others: When it came to the traps and snares set by evildoers against him, David looked to the Lord as his refuge to protect him. He asked not only that he be protected from the traps, but that those who set them fall into their own traps.

I see here a connection between David's request to be kept from doing evil and his request to be protected from the evil acts of others. There are two aspects to this connection. First, David could not expect the Lord to protect him from the evil acts of others if he himself is involved in evil. And second, David needed to give over to the Lord his protection from the evil acts of others as well as keeping him from doing evil. Otherwise, if he were to attempt on his own to deal with the evil acts of others he would resort to evil himself. By fighting against his enemy himself, he would become like his enemy.