Psalms 141

General context

The speaker cries to the Lord and asks him to make haste and give ear to his voice. He asks that his prayer be set before the Lord as incense and the lifting of his hands as the evening sacrifice. He asks the Lord to set a watch before his mouth and keep the door of his lips, and not to incline his heart to any evil thing or to wicked works with men who work iniquity, and that he not eat of their dainties. He says that if the righteous smite him it will be a kindness, and that his reproof will be an excellent oil that will not break his head, for his prayer will still be in their calamities. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they will hear his words, for they are sweet. He says our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth like chopped wood. But his eyes are toward the Lord, in whom he trusts, and he asks that his soul not be left destitute, that he be kept from the snares and gins laid for him, and that the wicked fall into their own nets while he escapes.

Cited passages: Psalms 141:1, Psalms 141:2, Psalms 141:3, Psalms 141:4, Psalms 141:5, Psalms 141:6, Psalms 141:7, Psalms 141:8, Psalms 141:9, Psalms 141:10

Psalms 141 (KJV)

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Historical context

The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "Lord, I cry unto thee", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. The speaker is a single "I", except in verse 7 where "Our bones" is plural, and the text does not say who is included. No person or place is named; the opponents are "men that work iniquity", "the wicked" and "the workers of iniquity", and "their calamities" and "their judges" have no stated antecedent. Incense and the evening sacrifice are named as comparisons for prayer and lifted hands, not as acts the speaker performs. Verses 5-7 are hard to follow as printed: who "they" are who will hear the speaker's words, and whose bones are scattered, is not stated, and this guide does not resolve it. The snares, gins and nets are pictures of the opponents' plans. No Selah occurs.

Cited passages: Psalms 141:1, Psalms 141:7, Psalms 141:4, Psalms 141:9, Psalms 141:2, Psalms 141:6, Psalms 141:10

Literary context

The psalm's petitions move from the speaker's own mouth to his enemies' traps. Verses 1-2 ask to be heard, with prayer likened to incense and hands to a sacrifice. Verses 3-4 ask for restraint of the speaker's own mouth, lips and heart, with a door and a watch as the pictures, and end on refusing the wicked's food, "their dainties". Verse 5 accepts a blow and a reproof from the righteous as "a kindness" and "an excellent oil", setting the righteous man's smiting against the wicked's dainties. Verse 7 gives the one image of ruin, bones scattered like split wood, and verse 8 turns from it with "But mine eyes are unto thee". The closing pair reverses the trap: the speaker asks to be kept from snares and gins and then asks that the wicked fall into their own nets, with the speaker's escape as the last word. Mouth, lips, words and prayer recur, so the psalm about being heard is also a psalm about what the speaker himself will say.

Cited passages: Psalms 141:2, Psalms 141:3, Psalms 141:4, Psalms 141:5, Psalms 141:7, Psalms 141:8, Psalms 141:9, Psalms 141:10

Key moments

1. Cry for haste (Psalms 141:1). The speaker cries to the Lord and asks him to make haste and hear his voice.
2. Prayer as incense (Psalms 141:2). The speaker asks that his prayer be as incense and his lifted hands as the evening sacrifice.
3. A watch before the mouth (Psalms 141:3). The speaker asks the Lord to set a watch before his mouth and keep the door of his lips.
4. The righteous may smite (Psalms 141:5). The speaker calls a blow and reproof from the righteous a kindness and excellent oil.
5. Bones at the grave's mouth (Psalms 141:7). The speaker says our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth like split wood.
6. Eyes toward the Lord (Psalms 141:8). The speaker turns his eyes to the Lord and asks that his soul not be left destitute.
7. The wicked in their own nets (Psalms 141:10). The speaker asks that the wicked fall into their own nets while he escapes.

For reflection

The speaker asks the Lord to guard his mouth and to keep his heart from evil before he asks for rescue from the wicked. What does the order of these requests suggest about where the psalm locates the first danger?

People in this chapter

• David