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Psalm 140

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1

Deliver me, O L ord, from evildoers;

protect me from those who are violent,

2

who plan evil things in their minds

and stir up wars continually.

3

They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,

and under their lips is the venom of vipers. Selah

 

4

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

protect me from the violent

who have planned my downfall.

5

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

 

6

I say to the L ord, “You are my God;

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

7

O L ord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

8

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

do not further their evil plot. Selah

 

9

Those who surround me lift up their heads;

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10

Let burning coals fall on them!

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

11

Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil speedily hunt down the violent!

 

12

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

and executes justice for the poor.

13

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall live in your presence.


11. The man of tongue, 232232     “A man, of tongue, i.e., of evil tongue; a slanderer or detractor.” — Phillips. The Bible translation renders the phrase “an evil speaker;” and the Chaldee Paraphrase has “the man of detraction, with a three-forked tongue;” because such a man wounds three at once — the receiver, the sufferer, and himself. etc. Some understand by this the loquacious man, but the sense is too restricted; nor is the reference to a reproachful, garrulous, vain and boastful man, but the man of virulence, who wars by deceit and calumny, and not openly. This is plain from what is said of the other class of persons in the subsequent part of the sentence, that his enemies were given to open violence as well as to treachery and cunning — like the lion as well as the wolf — as formerly he complained that the poison of the asp or viper was under their lips. The words run in the future tense, and many interpreters construe them into the optative form, or into a prayer; but I prefer retaining the future tense, as David does not appear so much to pray, as to look forward to a coming deliverance. Whether his enemies wrought by treachery, or by open violence, he looks forward to God as his deliverer. The figure drawn from hunting is expressive. The hunter, by spreading his toils on all sides, leaves no way of escape for the wild beast; and the ungodly cannot by any subterfuge elude the divine judgments. Mischief hunts them into banishment’s, for the more they look for impunity and escape, they only precipitate themselves more certainly upon destruction.


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