Psalms 141

Psalms 141:1-10

Psalms 141AFTER an introductory petition for a favourable hearing, Psalms 141:1-2, the Psalmist prays to be delivered from the power of temptation, Psalms 141:3-4, comforts himself under his afflictions as paternal chastisements, Psalms 141:5-6, anticipates the ruin of his enemies, Psalms 141:7, and prays for deliverance from them in the mean time, Psalms 141:8-10. This psalm, like the one before it, is distinguished by a pregnant brevity and the use of rare expressions, while at the same time it is full of verbal and real coincidences with the psalms of David. These indications are so clear and undeniable, that a sceptical critic of great eminence (De Wette) pronounces it one of the oldest psalms in the collection. With respect to its position in the Psalter, see the prefactory notes to Psalms 135, 140.

1. (Psalms 141:1) A Psalm. By David. Jehovah, I invoke thee; hasten to me; give ear to my voice in my calling to thee. This verse is entirely made up of phrases frequently occurring in the psalms of David. I invoke thee, Psalms 17:6. Hasten to me, Psalms 22:19; Psalms 70:1; Psalms 71:12. Hear my voice, Psalms 140:6. In my calling, Psalms 4:1.

2. (Psalms 141:2) Let my prayer continue (as) incense before thee, the offering of my hands (as) the evening oblation. Continue, literally be established, as in Psalms 140:11. He prays not only for acceptance, but for constant or perpetual acceptance, as the offerings referred to were the stated daily services of the Mosaic ritual. Incense is in Scripture the symbol of prayer. In the books posterior to the Pentateuch it is commonly mentioned as an evening oblation (1 Kings 18:29; 1 Kings 18:36, 2 Kings 16:15, Daniel 9:21, Ezra 9:4-5, perhaps because in the evening it was reckoned the main offering, whereas in the morning it was merely an appendage to the animal sacrifice. Lifting up is not the meaning of the Hebrew word (txwm) in any other place, whereas it often means a gift, and especially a portion of food (Genesis 43:34, 2 Samuel 11:8), in which sense it might naturally be applied to the vegetable offerings of the Law.

3. (Psalms 141:3) Set, O Jehovah, a guard at my mouth; watch over the door of my lips. The prayer, for which he had bespoken audience and acceptance, was a prayer against the power of temptation, and first with reference to sins of speech. See above, on Psalms 39:1. The words translated watch and door are forms occurring only here, but etymologically near akin to others which are in common use.

4. (Psalms 141:4) Incline not my heart to an evil word, to practise practices in wickedness with men (who are) workers of iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties. An evil word may be strictly understood, as referring still to sins of the tongue, or be taken in the idiomatic sense of an evil matter, which last is preferred by most interpreters. The assonance in practise practices is copied from the Hebrew, where the cognate verb and noun are combined in the same manner. Practices in wickedness, or wicked practices. The last words seem to be a prayer, that he might not be tempted, by the luxurious prosperity of wicked men, to follow their example. See above, on Psalms 73:3-7; Psalms 73:12.

5. (Psalms 141:5) Let the righteous smite me (in) mercy and chasten me— oil for the head let not my head refuse— for (it is) still (to come)— and my prayer (must still ascend) in their injuries. This verse is so obscure as to be almost unintelligible. According to the English versions, it expresses his willingness to be rebuked by good men for his benefit. But this sense is not only hard to be extracted from the words, but foreign from the context. Of the many contradictory interpretations which have been proposed, the most probable is that which makes the sentence mean, that the sufferings endured by the good man, even at the hand of the wicked, are chastisements inflicted by a righteous God in justice and in mercy, and as such may be likened to a festive ointment, which the head of the sufferer should not refuse, as he will still have need of consolation and occasion to invoke God, in the midst of trials and of mischiefs yet to be experienced.

6. (Psalms 141:6) Thrown down among the rocks are their judges; and (then) they hear my words, for they are sweet. When the judgments in reserve for the leaders of my enemies shall come upon them, they will perceive too late how reasonable are my words, and wish that they had hearkened to them sooner. Thrown down, originally let go, here used as in 2 Kings 9:33. Among the rocks, literally in (or into) the hands of the rock. Some understand this to mean into its power (see Psalms 141:9 below); others, against its sides (see Psalms 140:6); but the simplest explanation is that which supposes the rock to be personified and represented as standing below and holding out its hands to catch the person or thing falling. Some in the last clause read, that they are sweet. Then, when it is too late, they shall perceive how sweet my words are.

7. (Psalms 141:7) Like (one) ploughing and cleaving the earth— scattered are our bones at the grace’s mouth (or the mouth of hell). There are only two plausible interpretations of this obscure comparison. As the first Hebrew verb, in its derivative forms, has the general sense of cleaving, and the second is expressly used (Ecclesiastes 10:9) in that of splitting wood, some interpreters give both verbs that specific meaning here, and suppose the verse to be simply a description of mortality or carnage, the effect of which is, that human bones lie about the opening of the grave, or the devouring jaws of hell (Isaiah 5:14), as numerous and as little heeded as so many logs or sticks of wood. To this it is objected, that the phrase in (or on) the earth is then unmeaning, or at least superfluous, and that the verse, if thus explained, does not cohere with the ensuing context, which supposes the contents of this verse to be cheering and consolatory. The other interpretation avoids these objections, by explaining the first clause not of cleaving wood but ploughing, to which the first verb is applied in Arabic. Like (one) ploughing and cleaving (making furrows) in the earth, not for the sake of mangling its surface, but to make it fruitful and productive, (so) our bones are scattered at the mouth of hell, as the necessary means of a glorious resurrection.

8. (Psalms 141:8) For unto thee, Jehovah, Lord, (are) my eyes— in thee have I confided— pour not out my soul. The for refers to the consolatory import of the verse preceding. The one before us contains several favourite Davidic phrases. My eyes are unto thee, Psalms 25:15. In thee have I confided (or sought refuge), Psalms 2:12; Psalms 31:1. In the last clause the soul or life is confounded with its vehicle. See Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 17:14. The same remarkable expression is applied by Isaiah (Isaiah 53:12) to the voluntary death of the Messiah. That the verb literally means to pour out, is clear from Genesis 24:20, Isaiah 32:15. This verse resembles Psalms 140:7, in two points, the combination Jehovah Adhonai, and the supernumerary.

9. (Psalms 141:9) Keep me from the hands of the snare which they have netted for me, and the nets of the doers of iniquity. The word hands is entirely omitted both in the English Bible and the Prayer Book version. It is put, by a favourite personification, for power or possession. The use of the expression here was probably occasioned by its previous use in Psalms 140:4. The verb netted is here employed to represent the cognate verb and noun in Hebrew.

10. (Psalms 141:10) Let the wicked .fall into their own traps, while I at the same time escape. Compare Psalms 7:15. The combination of the singular and plural in the first clause— wicked (men) and his snares— shews that the singular denotes not a real but ideal person, representing a whole class. The best construction of the last clause is that given in the English Bible and retained above, with the single change of withal to the synonymous but less ambiguous expression, at the same time. The transpositions of this clause are unusual, even in Hebrew— at the same time I until (or while) I pass, i.e. pass by uninjured or escape.