53377376 psalm-141-commentary

TARY
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
I quote many authors both old and new, and if any I quote do not want their wisdom shared in
this way they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com
I

1. Spurgeon, “A Psalm, Of David. Yes, David under suspicion, half afraid to speak lest he should
speak unadvisedly while trying to clear himself; David slandered and beset by enemies; David
censured even by saints, and taking it kindly; David deploring the condition of the godly party of
whom he was the acknowledged heard: David waiting upon God with confident expectation. The
Psalm is one of a group of four, and it bears a striking likeness to the other three. Its meaning lies
so deep as to be in places exceedingly obscure, yet even upon its surface it has dust of gold. In its
commencement the psalm is lighted up with the evening glow as the incense rises to heaven; then
comes a night of language whose meaning we cannot see; and this gives place to morning light in
which our eyes are unto the Lord.
Division. The Psalmist cries for acceptance in prayer (Psalms 141:1-2); Then he begs to be kept as
to his speech, preserved in heart and deed, and delivered from every sort of fellowship with the
ungodly. He prefers to be rebuked by the gracious rather than to be flattered by the wicked, and
consoles himself with the confident assurance that be will one day be understood by the godly
party, and made to be a comfort to them (Psalms 141:3-6). In the last verses the slandered saint
represents the condition of the persecuted church, looks away to God and pleads for rescue from
his cruel enemies, and for the punishment of his oppressors.
2. Treasury of David, “Whole Psalm. 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 other 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. --Joseph Addison Alexander.
Whole Psalm. Few psalms in so small a compass crowd together so many gems of precious and
holy truth. --Barton Bouchier.
Whole Psalm. Many commentators are strongly of opinion that this psalm was written as a
memorial of that very interesting scene in the life of David recorded in 1 Samuel 24:1-22 , relating
to his generous treatment of Saul. Though he had an opportunity of putting his cruel persecutor
to death in the cave of Engedi, yet he spared his life, only cutting off his skirt, and not suffering
his followers to touch him; and when Saul had gone out of the cave, David, going out after him,

remonstrated with him from some distance in the gentlest and most respectful language in regard
to the injustice of his conduct towards him. It is thought that the sixth verse contains so express a
reference to this very remarkable occurrence in David's history, as to leave little doubt that it was
the occasion on which the psalm was composed. --James Anderson's

ote to Calvin, in loc.
Whole Psalm. The imagery and allusions of the psalm are in keeping; viz., the oil which had
lately anointed him; and the watch before his mouth, etc., suggested by the watching at the
mouth of the cave, though ultimately referring to the tabernacle service. -- John Jebb.
3. Calvin, “Whatever may have been the immediate cause pressing David to pray in the manner
he does in this Psalm, it is plain that his desire is through divine grace to check and bridle his
spirit, under injuries of a causeless and unprovoked description, so as not to break out into
retaliation and revenge, and return evil for evil. Having attained to the exercise of forbearance,
he seeks that God would judge between him and his enemies.
4. “Many commentators are strongly of opinion, that this Psalm was written as a memorial of
that very interesting scene in the life of David, recorded in 1 Samuel 24, relating to his generous
treatment of Saul. Though he had an opportunity of putting that his cruel persecutor to death in
the cave of En-gedi, yet he spared his life, only cutting off his skirt, and not suffering his followers
to touch him; and when Saul had gone out of the cave, David going out after him, remonstrated
with him from some distance in the gentlest and most respectful language in regard to the
injustice of his conduct towards him. It is thought that the sixth verse contains so express a
reference to this very remarkable occurrence in David’s history, as to leave little doubt that it was
the occasion on which the Psalm was composed.” Editors of Calvin
A psalm of David.
1 I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me;
hear me when I call to you.
1. David needs to sense the presence of God for encouragement, for he does not feel encouraged
by what is going on in his life at this time. He is pleading for a quick response of God to meet his
need for the assurance that he has the support of God. He is coming to God to urge God to come
to him. It is an emergency situation for David. David knows that God is not always in a hurry,
and so he is pleading that in this situation that he move faster than usual. Patience is a virtue, but
in a crisis situation it is not a virtue to cling to. We want help now when we feel alone and
helpless, and that is how David is feeling.
1B. Barnes, “Lord, I cry unto thee - In view of my perils; in view of the suggestions of my friends;
in view of my temptation to do a wrong thing at their advice, and with the prospect of the

advantage which it might seem to be to me.
Make haste unto me - To save me from all this danger: the danger from my enemies; the
danger from the counsels of my friends. See the notes at Psa_22:19; compare Psa_40:13;
Psa_70:1, Psa_70:5; Psa_71:12. The meaning is, that there is need of immediate interposition.
There is danger that I shall be overcome; that I may be tempted to do a wrong thing; that I may
be ruined if there is any delay.
Give ear unto my voice ... - See the notes at Psa_5:1.
2. Clarke, “Lord, I cry unto thee - Many of David’s Psalms begin with complaints; but they are
not those of habitual plaint and peevishness. He was in frequent troubles and difficulties, and he
always sought help in God. He ever appears in earnest; at no time is there any evidence that the
devotion of David was formal. He prayed, meditated, supplicated, groaned, cried, and even
roared, as he tells us, for the disquietude of his soul. He had speedy answers; for he had much
faith, and was always in earnest.
3. Gill, “Lord, I cry unto thee,.... With great earnestness, importunity, and fervency, being in
distress; and knowing vain was the help of man, and that none could deliver him but the Lord,
and therefore continued crying unto him for help (w);
make haste unto me; which shows he was in a desperate condition; that he could not help himself,
nor could any creature, only the Lord; and he was at a distance from him, as it seemed to him,
and he delayed assistance; and therefore desires he would immediately draw nigh and be a
present help in his time of need, and work speedy deliverance for him, his case requiring haste;
give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee; a request the psalmist frequently makes, not
contenting himself with prayer, without desiring and looking for an answer to it.
4. Henry, “Mercy to accept what we do well, and grace to keep us from doing ill, are the two
things which we are here taught by David's example to pray to God for.
I. David loved prayer, and he begs of God that his prayers might be heard and answered,
Psa_141:1, Psa_141:2. David cried unto God. His crying denotes fervency in prayer; he prayed as
one in earnest. His crying to God denotes faith and fixedness in prayer. And what did he desire as
the success of his prayer? 1. That God would take cognizance of it: “Give ear to my voice; let me
have a gracious audience.” Those that cry in prayer may hope to be heard in prayer, not for their
loudness, but their liveliness. 2. That he would visit him upon it: Make haste unto me. Those that
know how to value God's gracious presence will be importunate for it and humbly impatient of
delays. He that believes does not make haste, but he that prays may be earnest with God to make
haste. 3. That he would be well pleased with him in it, well pleased with his praying and the lifting
up of his hands in prayer, which denotes both the elevation and enlargement of his desire and the
out-goings of his hope and expectation, the lifting up of the hand signifying the lifting up of the
heart, and being used instead of lifting up the sacrifices which were heaved and waved before the
Lord. Prayer is a spiritual sacrifice; it is the offering up of the soul, and its best affections, to
God.

ow he prays that this may be set forth and directed before God as the incense which was
daily burnt upon the golden altar, and as the evening sacrifice, which he mentions rather than the
morning sacrifice, perhaps because this was an evening prayer, or with an eye to Christ, who, in

the evening of the world and in the evening of the day, was to offer up himself a sacrifice of
atonement, and establish the spiritual sacrifices of acknowledgement, having abolished all the
carnal ordinances of the law. Those that pray in faith may expect it will please God better than an
ox or bullock. David was now banished from God's court, and could not attend the sacrifice and
incense, and therefore begs that his prayer might be instead of them.

ote, Prayer is of a sweet-smelling
savour to God, as incense, which yet has no savour without fire; nor has prayer without
the fire of holy love and fervor.
5. Warren Wiersbe, “One of the greatest privileges we have as children of God is prayer, yet so
often we take it for granted. As the gospel song goes, "O what peace we often forfeit, O what
needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!"
In Psalm 141 David pictures prayer in a beautiful way that will help us appreciate it more.
"Lord, I cry out to You; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You. Let my
prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (vv. 1,2).
The Jewish priest would go to the altar of incense in the holy place and offer a special incense
that no one was allowed to duplicate. As the smoke of the incense rose from the altar, it was as
though prayer were going up to God. David was not in the temple; he was a king, not a priest. He
may well have been out somewhere in the battlefield when he wrote this. But he says, "I am going
to lift up my hands to you as the evening sacrifice. My prayer is going to come to you as incense."
The incense at the altar was mixed together carefully; it was well prepared. Likewise, let's mix
our prayers carefully. Our prayers should contain adoration and confession to the Lord, petition,
thanksgiving and submission to Him. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to ignite the altar of our souls.
Do not pray from a cold heart. David goes on to say, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep
watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing" (vv. 3,4). After we pray
to the Lord, let's make sure that our lips and hearts do not sin.
* * *
Are your prayers a good mix rather than a series of petitions? When you pray from the heart,
you can't help but praise God and thank Him for His grace and generosity. Make your prayers
like fragrant incense that brings joy to the heart of God.
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6. Spurgeon, “Lord, I cry unto thee. This is my last resort: prayer never fails me. My prayer is
painful and feeble, and worthy only to be called a cry; but it is a cry unto Jehovah, and this
ennobles it. I have cried unto thee, I still cry to thee, and I always mean to cry to thee. To whom
else could I go? What else can I do? Others trust to themselves, but I cry unto thee. The weapon
of all prayer is one which the believer may always carry with him, and use in every time of need.
Make haste unto me. His case was urgent, and he pleaded that urgency. God's time is the best
time, but when we are sorely pressed we may with holy importunity quicken the movements of
mercy. In many cases, if help should come late, it would come too late; and we are permitted to
pray against such a calamity. Give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. See how a second
time he talks of crying: prayer had become his frequent, yea, his constant exercise: twice in a few
words he says, "I cry; I cry." How he longs to be heard, and to be heard at once! There is a voice
to the great Father in every cry, and groan, and tear of his children: he can understand what they
mean when they are quite unable to express it. It troubles the spirit of the saints when they fear

that no favourable car is turned to their doleful cries: they cannot rest unless their "unto thee" is
answered by an "unto me." When prayer is a man's only refuge, he is deeply distressed at the
bare idea of his failing therein.
"That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load."
7. Treasury of David, “Verse 1. LORD, I cry unto thee. Misbelief doth seek many ways for
delivery from trouble; but faith hath but one way, -- to go to God, to wit, by prayer, for
whatsoever is needful. -- David Dickson.
Verse 1. LORD, I cry unto thee.

o distress or danger, how great soever, shall stifle my faith or
stop my mouth, but it shall make me more earnest, and my prayers, like strong streams in
narrow straits, shall bear down all before them. --John Trapp.
Verse 1. Unto thee ... unto me. Our prayer and God's mercy are like two buckets in a well; while
the one ascends, the other descends. --Ezekiel Hopkins.
Verse 1. ote that the difference of tense, "I have cried" (Heb., 70., and Vulgate) followed by
"when I cry", signifies the earnest perseverance of the saint in prayer, never ceasing, so long as
trouble lasts. And trouble does last so long as we are in the world; wherefore the apostle teaches
us to "Pray without ceasing." --Augustine and Bruno, in

eale and Littledale.
Verse 1-5. That the Psalmist was now in some distress, whereof he was deeply sensible, is evident
from the vehemency of his spirit, which he expresses in the reiteration of his request or
supplication (Psalms 141:1); and by his desire that his "prayer might come before the Lord like
incense, and the lifting up of his hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psalms 141:2). The Jewish
expositors guess, not improbably, that in that allusion he had regard unto his present exclusion
from the holy services of the tabernacle, which in other places he deeply complains of.
For the matter of his prayer in the beginning of the psalm, it respecteth himself, and his
deportment under his present condition, which he desireth may be harmless and holy, becoming
himself, and useful to others. And whereas he was two ways liable to miscarry; first, by too high
an exasperation of spirit against his oppressors and persecutors; and, secondly, by a fraudulent
and pusillanimous compliance with them in their wicked courses; -- which are the two extremes
which men are apt sinfully to run into in such conditions: he prays earnestly to be delivered from
them both. The first he hath respect unto in Psalms 141:3, "Set a watch, O, LORD, before my
mouth; keep the door of my lips": namely, that he might not, under those great provocations
which were given him, break forth into an unseemly intemperance of speech against his unjust
oppressors, which sometimes fierce and unreasonable cruelties will wrest from the most sedate
and moderate spirits. But it was the desire of this holy Psalmist, as in like cases it should be ours,
that his heart might be always preserved in such a frame, under the conduct of the Spirit of God,
as not to be surprised into an expression of distempered passion in any of his words or sayings.
The other he regards in his earnest supplication to be delivered from it, Psalms 141:4: "Incline
not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me
not eat of their dainties." There are two parts of his request unto the purpose intended.
1. That by the power of God's grace influencing his mind and soul, his heart might not be
inclined unto any communion or society with his wicked adversaries in their wickedness.
2. That he might be preserved from a liking of, or a longing after those things, which are the
baits and allurements whereby men are apt to be drawn into societies and conspiracies

with the workers of iniquity; "And let me not eat of their dainties." See Proverbs 1:10-14.
For he here describeth the condition of men prospering for a season in a course of
wickedness; they first jointly give up themselves unto the practice of iniquity, and then
together solace themselves in those satisfactions of their lusts, with which their power and
interest in the world do furnish them.
These are the "dainties", for which an impotent longing and desire do betray the minds of
unstable persons unto a compliance with ways of sin and folly: for I look on these "dainties" as
comprising whatever the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life can afford. All
these David prays to be delivered from any inclination unto; especially when they are made the
allurements of a course of sin. In the enjoyment of these "dainties", it is the common practice of
wicked men to soothe up, and mutually encourage one another in the way and course wherein
they are engaged. And this completes that poor felicity which in this world so many aspire unto,
and whereof alone they are capable. The whole of it is but a society in perishing sensual
enjoyments, without control, and with mutual applause from one another. This the Psalmist had
a special regard unto when casting his eye towards another communion and society which he
longed after (Psalms 141:5). He saw there not dainties but rebukes: he discerned that which is
most opposite unto those mutual applause and rejoicing in one another, which is the salt and
cement of all evil societies, for he noticed rebukes and reproofs for the least miscarriages that
shall be observed.

ow whereas the dainties which some enjoy in a course of prosperous
wickedness, are that alone which seems to have anything in it amongst them that is desirable, and
on the other side rebukes and reproofs are those alone which seem to have any sharpness, or
matter of uneasiness and dislike in the society of the godly, David balances that which seemeth to
be sharpest in the one society, against that which seems to be sweetest in the other, and, without
respect unto other advantages, prefers the one above the other. Hence, some read the beginning
of the words, "Let the righteous rather smite me", meaning, "rather than that I should eat of the
dainties of the ungodly." --John Owen.
8. Calvin, “O Jehovah! I have cried unto thee. From such an exordium and manner of praying, it
is evident that David was laboring under no small trial, as he repeats his requests, and insists
upon receiving help. Without venturing to say anything definite upon the point, we would not
disapprove of the conjecture that this Psalm was written by David with reference to the
persecutions he suffered from Saul. He teaches us by his example to make application
immediately to God, and not be tempted, as wicked men are, to renounce prayer, and rely on
other resources. He says that he cried to God, not to heaven or earth, to men or to fortune, and
other vain objects, which are made mention of, in the first place at least, in such cases by the
ungodly. If they do address themselves to God, it is with murmurs and complaints, howling
rather than praying.
In the second verse the allusion is evidently to the legal ceremonies. 235 235 The allusion,
according to the opinion of most commentators, is to the morning and evening sacrifices, of
which see an account in Exodus 29:38-42. In the phraseology of the verse it is supposed that there
is a reference to the commencing and concluding acts of the daily public worship among the Jews.
Every morning and evening the priests offered incense upon the incense-altar which stood in the
holy place, while the people prayed without. But in the morning the incense was offered before
the sacrifice was laid upon the altar of burnt-offering; whereas in the evening (at the ninth hour)
it was offered after the sacrifice was laid upon the altar; and thus in the evening the sacrifice and
the incense were offered at the same time. See Lightfoot’s Temple Service, chapter 9: section 5.
Dr. Adam Clarke, however, thinks that David does not refer to any sacrifice; “for,” says he, “he
minchath, , מנחת ,zebach, which is almost universally used for a slaughtered animal , זבח uses not

which is generally taken for a gratitude offering, or an unbloody sacrifice.” He translates the last
two words “the evening oblation.” At that time the prayers of God’s people were according to his
own appointment sanctified through the offering up of incense and sacrifices, and David
depended upon this promise. 236 236 “Car pource que lors Dieu vouloit que les prieres des
fideles fussent sanctifiees par encensement et par sacrifices, David s’appuye sur ceste promesse.”
— Fr. As to the conjecture some have made, that he was at this time an exile, and cut off from the
privileges of the religious assembly, nothing certain can be said upon that point; their idea being
that there is a tacit antithesis in the verse — that though prevented from continuing with God’s
worshippers into the sanctuary, or using incense and sacrifice, he desired God would accept his
prayers notwithstanding. But as there seems no reason to adopt this restricted sense, it is enough
to understand the general truth, that as these symbols taught the Lord’s people to consider their
prayers equally acceptable to God with the sweetest incense, and most excellent sacrifice, David
derived confirmation to his faith from the circumstance. Although the view of the fathers was not
confined entirely to the external ceremonies, David was bound to avail himself of such helps. As
he considered, therefore, that it was not in vain the incense was burned daily on the altar by
God’s commandment, and the evening offering presented, he speaks of his prayers in connection
with this ceremonial worship. The lifting up of the hands, evidently means prayer, for those who
masath, a gift, obscure and pervert the meaning of the Psalmist. As the word, , משאת translate
nasa, means lifting up in the Hebrew, the natural inference is, that , נשא which is derived from
prayer is meant, in allusion to the outward action practiced in it. And we can easily suppose that
David here as elsewhere repeats the same thing twice. As to the reason which has led to the
universal practice amongst all nations of lifting up the hand in prayer, I have taken notice of it
.elsewhere
9. K&D, “The very beginning of Psa_141:1-10 is more after the manner of David than really
Davidic; for instead of haste thee to me, David always says, haste thee for my help, Psa_22:20;
38:23; Psa_40:14. The Y לָ that is added to בְּקָרְאִי (as in Psa_4:2) is to be explained, as in Psa_57:3 :
when I call to Thee, i.e., when I call Thee, who art now far from me, to me. The general cry for
help is followed in Psa_141:2 by a petition for the answering of his prayer. Luther has given an
excellent rendering: Let my prayer avail to Thee as an offering of incense; the lifting up of my
hands, as an evening sacrifice (Mein Gebet müsse fur dir tügen wie ein Reuchopffer, Meine Hende
auffheben, wie ein Abendopffer). תִּכּוֹן is the fut. iph. of כּוּ ן , and signifies properly to be set up, and
to be established, or reflexive: to place and arrange or prepare one's self, Amo_4:12; then to
continue, e.g., Psa_101:7; therefore, either let it place itself, let it appear, sistat se, or better: let it
stand, continue, i.e., let my prayer find acceptance, recognition with Thee קְטרֶֹת , and the lifting up
of my hands מִנְחַת־עָרֶב . Expositors say that this in both instances is the comparatio decurtata, as in
Psa_11:1 and elsewhere: as an incense-offering, as an evening mincha. But the poet purposely
omits the כּ of the comparison. He wishes that God may be pleased to regard his prayer as sweet-smelling
smoke or as incense, just as this was added to the azcara of the meal-offering, and gave
it, in its ascending perfume, the direction upward to God,
(

ote: It is not the priestly קְטרֶֹת תָּמִיד , i.e., the daily morning and evening incense-offering
upon the golden altar of the holy place, Exo_30:8, that is meant (since it is a non-priest who is
speaking, according to Hitzig, of course John Hyrcanus), but rather, as also in Isa_1:13, the
incense of the azcara of the meal-offering which the priest burnt ( הִקְטִיר ) upon the altar; the
incense (Isa_66:3) was entirely consumed, and not merely a handful taken from it.)
and that He may be pleased to regard the lifting up of his hands ( מַשְׂאַת , the construct with the
reduplication given up, from מַשְּׂאֵת , or even, after the form מַתְּנַת , from מַשָּׂאָה , here not oblatio, but

according to the phrase נָשָׂא כַפַּיִם יָדַיִם , elevatio, Jdg_20:38, Jdg_20:40, cf. Psa_28:2, and
frequently) as an evening mincha, just as it was added to the evening tamı̂d according to
Exo_29:38-42, and concluded the work of the service of the day.
(

ote: The reason of it is this, that the evening mincha is oftener mentioned than the
morning mincha (see, however, 2Ki_3:20). The whole burnt-offering of the morning and the
meat-offering of the evening (2Ki_16:15; 1Ki_18:29, 1Ki_18:36) are the beginning and close
of the daily principal service; whence, according to the example of the usus loquendi in
Dan_9:21; Ezr_9:4., later on mincha directly signifies the afternoon or evening.)
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening
sacrifice.
1. Incense was offered morning and evening in the holy place of the temple. There was a great
deal of odor because of all the animals and sacrifices, and this incense brought a sense of pleasing
aroma into the holy place. Smell produces a positive or negative attitude, and the incense gave the
holy place a sense of positive pleasure. It added to the sense of worship, and God too was pleased
with the beauty of the aroma. David is praying that his prayer might also rise to God like a
pleasant and appealing request pleasing to God, and, thus, more likely to be answered.
1B. Barnes, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee - Margin, “directed.” The Hebrew word
means to fit; to establish; to make firm. The psalmist desires that his prayer should not be like
that which is feeble, languishing, easily dissipated, but that it should be like that which is firm
and secure.
As incense - See the notes and illustrations at Luk_1:9-10. Let my prayer come before thee in
such a manner as incense does when it is offered in worship; in a manner of which the ascending
of incense is a suitable emblem. See the notes at Rev_5:8; notes at Rev_8:3.
And the lifting up of my hands - In prayer; a natural posture in that act of worship.
As the evening sacrifice - The sacrifice offered on the altar at evening. Let my prayer be as
acceptable as that is when it is offered in a proper manner.
2. Clarke, “As incense - Incense was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the
golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. Exo_29:39, and

um_28:4.
As the evening sacrifice - This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt. But it
does not appear that David refers to any sacrifice, for he uses not זבח zebach, which is almost
universally used for a slaughtered animal; but מנחה minchah, which is generally taken for a
gratitude-offering or unbloody sacrifice. The literal translation of the passage is, “Let my prayer
be established for incense before thy faces; and the lifting up of my hands for the evening
oblation.” The psalmist appears to have been at this time at a distance from the sanctuary, and
therefore could not perform the Divine worship in the way prescribed by the law. What could he
do? Why, as he could not worship according to the letter of the law, he will worship God

according to the spirit; then prayer is accepted in the place of incense; and the lifting up of his
hands, in gratitude and self-dedication to God, is accepted in the place of the evening minchah or
oblation. Who can deplore the necessity that obliged the psalmist to worship God in this way?
3. Gill, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense,.... Which was offered every morning
on the altar of incense, at which time the people were praying, Exo_30:1; and was an emblem of
it, even of pure, holy, and fervent prayer; which being offered on the altar Christ, which
sanctifies every gift, and by him the High Priest; through whom every sacrifice is acceptable unto
God; and through whose blood and righteousness, and the sweet incense of his mediation and
intercession, it becomes fragrant and a sweet odour to the Lord; and being directed to him, it
goes upwards, is regarded by him, and continues before him as sweet incense; which is what the
psalmist prays for; see Mal_1:11;
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice; the burnt sacrifice of the evening,
according to Ben Melech, the lamb slain every evening; or else the minchah, as the word is; the
meat, or rather the bread offering made of fine flour, with oil and frankincense on it, which went
along with the former, Exo_29:38; and so the Targum,
"as the sweet gift offered in the evening.''
This only is mentioned, as being put for both the morning and the evening sacrifice; or because
the incense was offered in the morning, from which it is distinguished: or it may be, as Kimchi
thinks, this psalm was composed in the evening; and so the inscription in the Syriac version is,
"a psalm of David, when he meditated the evening service.''
Or because this was the last sacrifice of the day; there was no other after it, as Aben Ezra
observes; and the most acceptable; to which may be added, that this was the hour for prayer,
Act_3:1. Wherefore "lifting up of the hands" was a prayer gesture, and a very ancient one both
among Jews and Gentiles (x); Aristotle (y) says, all men, when we pray, lift up our hands to
heaven; and it is put for that itself, 1Ti_2:8; and is desired to be, like that, acceptable unto God;
as it is when the heart is lifted up with the hands, and prayer is made in the name and faith of
Christ.
4. Spurgeon, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. As incense is carefully prepared,
kindled with holy fire, and devoutly presented unto God, so let my prayer be. We are not to look
upon prayer as easy work requiring no thought. It needs to be "set forth"; what is more, it must
be set forth "before the Lord," by a sense of his presence and a holy reverence for his name:
neither may we regard all supplication as certain of divine acceptance, it needs to be set forth
before the Lord "as incense," concerning the offering of which there were rules to be observed,
otherwise it would be rejected of God. And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Whatever form his prayer might take his one desire was that it might be accepted of God. Prayer
is sometimes presented without words by the very motions of our bodies: bent knees and lifted
hands are the tokens of earnest, expectant prayer. Certainly work, or the lifting up of the hands
in labour, is prayer if it be done in dependence upon God and for his glory: there is a hand prayer
as well as a heart prayer, and our desire is that tiffs may be sweet unto the Lord as the sacrifice of
eventide. Holy hope, the lifting up of hands that hang down, is also a kind of worship: may it ever

be acceptable with God. The Psalmist makes a bold request: he would have his humble cries and
prayers to be as much regarded of the Lord as the appointed morning and evening sacrifices of
the holy place. Yet the prayer is by no means too bold, for, after all, the spiritual is in the Lord's
esteem higher than the ceremonial, and the calves of the lips are a truer sacrifice than the calves
of the stall.
So far we have a prayer about prayer: we have a distinct supplication in the two following verses.
5. Treasury of David, “Verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee. Margin, directed. The
Hebrew word means to fit; to establish; to make firm. The Psalmist desires that his prayer should
not be like that which is feeble, languishing, easily dissipated; but that it should be like that which
is firm and secure. --Albert Barnes.
Verse 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. Literally, Let my prayer, incense, be set
in order before Thee, -- implying that prayer was in the reality what incense was in the symbol ...
Passing to

ew Testament Scripture, though still only to that portion which refers to Old
Testament times, we are told of the people without being engaged in player, while Zacharias was
offering incense within the Sanctuary (Luke 1:10); they were in spirit going along with the
priestly service. And in the book of Revelation the prayers of saints are once and again identified
with the offering of incense on the golden altar before the throne. Revelation 5:8 8:3-4. --Patrick
Fairbairn, in "The Typology of Scripture."
Verse 2. Set forth. Prayer is knowing work, believing work, thinking work, searching work,
humbling work, and nothing worth if heart and hand do not join in it. -- Thomas Adam, 1701-
1784.
Verse 2. Set forth before thee as incense, whose fragrant smoke still ascends upwards. But many
times in the very ascent, whilst it strives up higher and higher, infimo phantasmate verberatur,
saith Gregory, "it is beaten back again by earthly imaginations which intervene", and then is
extenuated by degrees, and vanisheth to nothing. Therefore the prophet prays ut diriyatur oratio,
"that his prayer may be set before God", ut stubiliatur; so some render it out of the Hebrew,
"that it may be established", that it may neither evaporate itself nor be whiffed about with the
wind of vain and contrary imaginations, which come ab extrinseco from without], and may
corrupt it. --Anthony Farindon.
Verse 2. As incense. That in general by incense prayer is signified, the Scripture expressly
testifieth. And there is a fourfold resemblance between them:
1. In that it was beaten and pounded before it was used. So doth acceptable prayer proceed
from a broken and contrite heart: Psalms 51:17.
2. It was of no use until fire was put under it, and that taken from the altar.

or is that
prayer of any virtue or efficacy which is no kindled by the fire from above, the Holy Spirit
of God, which we have from our altar, Christ Jesus.
3. It naturally ascended upwards towards heaven, as all offerings in the Hebrew are called
twl[, "ascensions", uprisings. And this is the design of prayer, to ascend unto the throne of
God: "I will direct unto thee, and will look up"; that is, pray: Psalms 5:3.
4. It yielded a sweet savour; which was one end of it in temple services, wherein there was so
much burning of flesh and blood. So doth prayer yield a sweet savour unto God; a savour
of rest, wherein he is well pleased. --John Owen.
Verse 2. As incense ... as the evening sacrifice. Though this address of mine must necessarily want
all that solemnity of preparation required in the service of thy holy Tabernacle, the cloud of
incense and perfume, etc., the "mincha" or oblation of fine flour, etc., yet let the purity and

fervour of my heart, and the innocency of my hands, now lifted up to thee in tiffs sad hour of my
distress, be accepted instead of all these, and prevail for deliverance and a safe retreat to me and
my companions. --Charles Peters (--1777), in "A Critical Dissertation on the Book of Job", 1751.
Verse 2. As the evening sacrifice. This should be our daily service, as a lamb was offered up
morning and evening for a sacrifice. But, alas! how dull and dead are our devotions! Like
Pharaoh's chariots, they drive on heavily. Some, like Balaam's ass, scarce ever open their mouths
twice. --Thomas Adams.
Verse 2. My hands. Spreading forth our hands in believing and fervent prayer is the only way of
grasping mercy. --F. E., in "The Saints of Ebenezer", 1667.
Verse 2. In the gorgeous ceremonial worship of the Hebrews, none of the senses were excluded
from taking part in the service ... The sense of smell occupied, perhaps, the most prominent
place; for the acceptance of the worship was always indicated by a symbol borrowed from this
sense: "The Lord smelled a sweet savour." The prayer of the people ascended as incense, and the
lifting up of their hands as the evening sacrifice. The offering of incense formed the essential part
of the religious service. The altar of incense occupied one of the most conspicuous and honoured
positions in the tabernacle and temple ... On this altar a censer full of incense poured forth its
fragrant clouds every morning and evening; and yearly, as the day of atonement came round,
when the high priest entered the holy of holies, he filled a censer with live coals from the sacred
fire on the altar of burnt offerings, and bore it into the sanctuary, where lie threw upon the
burning coals the "sweet incense beaten small", which lie had brought in his hand. Without this
smoking censer lie was forbidden, on pain of death, to enter into the awful shrine of Jehovah.

otwithstanding the washing of his flesh, and the linen garments with which he was clothed, tie
dare not enter the holiest of all with the blood of atonement, unless he could personally shelter
himself under a cloud of incense.
It has been supposed by some writers that incense was invented for the purpose of concealing or
neutralizing the noxious effluvia caused by the number of beasts slaughtered every day in the
sanctuary. Other writers have attached a mystical import to it, and believed that it was a symbol
of the breath of the world arising in praise to the Creator, the four ingredients of which it was
composed representing the four elements. While a third class, looking upon the tabernacle as the
palace of God, the theocratic King of Israel, and the ark of the covenant as his throne, regarded
the incense as merely corresponding to the perfume so lavishly employed about the person and
appointments of an Oriental monarch. It may doubtless have been intended primarily to serve
these purposes and convey these meanings, but it derived its chief importance in connection with
the ceremonial observances of the Mosaic ritual from the fact of its being the great symbol of
prayer. It was offered at the time when the people were in the posture and act of devotion; and
their prayers were supposed to be presented to God by the priest, and to ascend to him in the
smoke and odour of that fragrant offering. Scripture is full of allusions to it, understood in this
beautiful symbolical sense. Acceptable, prevailing prayer was a sweet smelling savour to the
Lord; and prayer that was unlawful, or hypocritical, or unprofitable, was rejected with disgust
by the organ of smell.
Doubtless the Jews felt, when they saw the soft white clouds of fragrant smoke rising slowly from
the altar of incense, as if the voice of the priest were silently but eloquently pleading in that
expressive emblem in their behalf. The association of sound was lost in that of smell, and the two
senses were blended in one. And this symbolical mode of supplication, as Dr. George Wilson has
remarked, has this one advantage over spoken or written prayer, that it appealed to those who
were both blind and deaf, a class that are usually shut out from social worship by their affliction.
Those who could not hear the prayers of the priest could join in devotional exercises symbolized

by incense, through the medium of their sense of smell; and the hallowed impressions shut out by
one avenue were admitted to the mind and heart by another.
The altar of incense stood in the closest connection with the altar of burnt offerings. The blood of
the sin offering was sprinkled on the horns of both on the great day of annual atonement.
Morning and evening, as soon as the sacrifice was offered, the censer poured forth its fragrant
contents, so that the perpetual incense within ascended simultaneously with the perpetual burnt
offering outside. Without the live coals from off the sacrificial altar, the sacred incense could not
be kindled; and without the incense previously filling the holy place, the blood of atonement from
the altar of burnt offering could not be sprinkled on the mercy seat. Beautiful and expressive type
of the perfect sacrifice and the all prevailing intercession of Jesus -- of intercession founded upon
atonement, of atonement preceded and followed by intercession! Beautiful and expressive type,
too, of the prayers of believers kindled by the altar fire of Christ's sacrifice, and perfumed by his
merits! --Hugh Macmillan, in "The Ministry of

ature", 1871.
6. Alexander Maclaren, “THE I

SE OF PRAYER
‘Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice.’—PSALM cxli. 2.
The place which this psalm occupies in the Psalter, very near its end, makes it probable that it is
considerably later in date than the prior portions of the collection. But the Psalmist, who here
penetrates to the inmost meaning of the symbolic sacrificial worship of the Old Testament, was
not helped to his clear-sightedness by his date, but by his devotion. For throughout the Old
Testament you find side by side these two trends of thought—a scrupulous carefulness for the
observance of all the requirements of ritual worship, and a clear-eyed recognition that it was all
external and symbolical and prophetic. Who was it that said ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams’? Samuel, away back in the times when many scholars tell us
that the loftier conceptions of worship had not yet emerged. Similar utterances are scattered
throughout the Old Testament, and the prominence given to the more spiritual side depends not
on the speaker’s date but on his disposition and devotion. So here this Psalmist, because his soul
was filled with true longings after God, passes clear through the externals and says, ‘Here am I
with no incense, but I have brought my prayer. I am empty-handed, but because my hands are
empty, I lift them up to Thee; and Thou dost accept them, as if they were—yea, rather than if
they were—filled with the most elaborate and costly sacrifices.’
So here are two thoughts suggested, which sound mere commonplace, but if we realised them, in
our religious life, that life would be revolutionised; first, the incense of prayer; second, the
sacrifice of the empty-handed. Let us look at these two points.
I. The Incense of Prayer. ‘Let my prayer come before Thee as incense.’

ow, that symbol of incense is thus used in many places in Scripture. I need only remind you of
one or two instances. You remember how, when the father of John the Baptist went into the Holy
Place, as was his priestly duty at the time of the offering of the evening oblation, the whole
multitude were in the Outer Court praying; he in the Inner Court, presenting the symbolical
worship, and they, without, offering the real. Then, if we turn to the grand imagery of the Book
of the Revelation, where we find the heavenly temple opened up to our reverent gaze, we read
that the elders, the representatives of redeemed humanity, have ‘golden bowls full of odours,
which are the prayers of the saints.’ So there is no fancifulness in interpreting the incense of the
ancient ritual as meaning simply the prayers of devout hearts. Of course there has been a great
deal of nonsense talked about the symbolical signification of these Old Testament rites, and there

is need for sober sense to put the rein upon a vivid imagination in interpreting these; still clear
utterances of Scripture as well as this verse itself remove all need for hesitation to accept this
meaning of the symbol.

ow, let me remind you of the place which the Altar of Incense occupied. The Temple was divided
into three courts, the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holiest of All. The Altar of Incense
stood in the second of these, the Holy Place; the Altar of Burnt Offering stood in the court
without. It was not until that Altar, with its expiatory sacrifice, had been passed, that one could
enter into the Holy Place, where the Altar of Incense stood. There were three pieces of furniture
in that Place, the Altar of Incense, the Golden Candlestick, and the Table of the Shewbread. Of
these three, the Altar of Incense stood in the centre. Twice a day the incense was kindled upon it
by a priest, by means of live coals brought from the Altar of Burnt Offering in the Outer Court,
and, thus kindled, the wreaths of fragrant smoke ascended on high. All day long the incense
smouldered upon the altar; twice a day it was kindled into a bright flame.

ow, if we take these things with us, we can understand a little more of the depth and beauty of
this prayer, and see how much it tells us of what we, as the priests of the most High God—which
we are, if we are Christian people at all—ought to have in our censers.
I need not dwell upon the careful and sedulous preparation from pure spices which went to the
making of the incense. So we have to prepare ourselves by sedulous purity if there is to be any life
or power in our devotions. But I pass from that, and ask you to think of the lovely picture of true
devoutness given in that inflamed incense, wreathing in coils of fragrance up to the heavens.
Prayer is more than petition. It is the going up of the whole soul towards God. Brother! do you
know anything of that instinctive and spontaneous rising up of desire and aspiration and faith
and love, up and up and up, until they reach Him? Do you realise that just in the measure in
which we set our minds as well as our affections, and our affections as well as our minds, on the
things which are above, just to that extent, and not one hairsbreadth further, have we the right to
call ourselves Christians at all? I fear me that for the great mass of Christian professors the great
bulk of their lives creeps along the low levels like the mists in winter, that hug the marshes
instead of rising, swirling up like an incense cloud, impelled by nothing but the fire in the censer
up and up towards God. Let us each ask the question for himself, Is my prayer ‘directed’—as is
the true meaning of the Hebrew word—‘before Thee as incense’?
Remember, too, that the incense lay dead, unfragrant, and with no capacity of soaring, till it was
kindled; that is to say, unless there is a flame in my heart there will be no rising of my aspirations
to God. Cold prayers do not go up more than a foot or two above the ground; they have no power
to soar. There must be the inflaming before there can be the mounting of the aspiration. You
cannot get a balloon to go up unless the gas within it is warmer than the atmosphere round it. It
is because we are habitually such tepid Christians that we are so tongue-tied in prayer.
Where was the incense kindled from? From coals brought from the Altar of Burnt Offering in the
outer court; that is to say, light the fire in your heart with a coal brought from Christ’s sacrifice,
and then it will flame; and only then will love well upwards and desires be set on the things
above. The beginning of Christian fervour lies in the habitual realising as a fact of the great love
which ‘loved me and gave itself for me.’ There is no patent way of getting a vivid Christian
experience except the old way of clinging close to Jesus Christ the Saviour; and in order to do
that, we have to think about Him, as well as to feel about Him, a great deal more than I fear the
most of us do.
Further, does not this lovely symbol of my text suggest to us a glorious thought, the
acceptableness even of our poor prayers, if they come from hearts inflamed with love because of

Christ’s great redeeming love? The Psalmist, thinking humbly of himself and of the worth of
anything that he can bring, says, ‘Let my prayer come before Thee as incense,’ an ‘odour of a
sweet smell, acceptable to God’; yes, even our prayers will be sweet to Him if they are prayers of
true aspiration and mounting faith, leaping from a kindled heart, kindled at the great flame of
Christ’s love.
Were you ever in a Roman Catholic cathedral? Did you ever see there the little boys that carry
the censers, swinging them backwards and forwards every now and then, and by means of the
silver chains lifting the covers? What is that for? Because the incense would go out unless the air
was let into it. So a constant effort is needed in order to keep the incense of our prayers alight.
We have to swing the censer to get rid of the things that make our hearts cold; we have to stir the
fire, and only so shall we keep up our devotion. Remember the incense burned all day long on the
altar; though perhaps but smouldering, like the banked-up fires in the furnaces of a steamer that
lies at anchor, still the glow was there; and twice a day there came the priest with his pan full of
fresh glowing coals from the altar in the Outer Court, and kindled it up into a flame once more.
Which things are thus far an allegory that our devotion is to be diffused throughout our lives in a
lambent glow, and if it is, it will have to be fed by special acts of worship day by day.
You hear people talk of not caring about times and seasons of prayer, and of the beauty of
making all life a prayer. Amen! I say so too. But depend upon it that there will never be devotion
diffused through life unless there is devotion concentrated at points in the life. There must be
reservoirs as well as pipes in order to supply the water through the whole city. So the incense is
perpetually to be heaped on the Altar of Incense, but also it is to be stirred to a fragrant blaze and
fed, morning and evening, by fresh coals from the altar.
II.

ow let me say a word about the other thought here—the sacrifice of the empty-handed.
‘The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.’ In accordance with the genius of Hebrew
poetry the same general idea is repeated in the second member of the parallelism, but with
modifications. What is implied in likening the uplifted empty hands to the evening sacrifice?
First, it is a confession of impotent emptiness, a lifting up of expectant hands to be filled with the
gift from God. And, says this Psalmist, ‘Because I bring nothing in my hand, Thou dost accept
me, as if I came laden with offerings.’ That is just a picturesque way of putting a familiar,
threadbare truth, which, threadbare as it is, needs to be laid to heart a great deal more by us, that
our true worship and truest honour of God lies not in giving but in taking. ‘He is not worshipped
with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, seeing that He giveth to all life, and breath, and
all things.’ That one truth, Paul felt on Mars Hill, was sure enough to make all the temples and
statues by which he was surrounded crumble into nothingness. But it does not merely destroy
idolatry. It cuts up by the root much of what we call Christian worship. How many people
worship because they think they ought? How many people talk about Christian worship as being
a duty—‘Our duty we have now performed’? How many have never had a glimpse of this
thought, that God wills us to draw near to Him, not because it pleases Him but because it blesses
us, and that we are to worship, not in order that we may bring anything, either the sacrifices of
bulls and goats, or the more refined ones that we bring nowadays, but in order that, bringing our
emptiness into touch with His infinite fulness, as much of that fulness as we need to make us full,
and as much of that blessedness as we need to make us blessed, may pass into our lives. Oh! if we
understand ‘the giving God,’ as James calls Him in his letter; and if we had learned the old lesson
of that fiftieth Psalm, ‘If I were hungry I would not tell thee. . . . Will I eat the flesh of bulls and
drink the blood of goats? He that offereth praise glorifieth Me, and to him that ordereth his
conversation aright will I show the salvation of God’—if we had learned that, and laid it to heart,
and applied it to our own worship and our lives, mountains of misconception would be lifted

away from many hearts. In our service we do not need to bring any merit of our own. This great
principle destroys not only the gross externalities of heathen sacrifice, and the notion that
worship is a duty, but it destroys the other notion of our having to bring anything to deserve
God’s gifts. And so it is an encouragement to us when we feel ourselves to be what we are, and
what we should always feel ourselves to be, empty-handed, coming to Him not only with hearts
that aspire like incense, but with petitions that confess our need, and cast ourselves upon His
grace. See that you desire what God wishes to give; see that you go to Him for what He does give.
See that you give to Him the only thing that He does wish, or that it lies in your power to give,
and that is yourself.

othing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy Cross I cling.
‘Let the lifting of my hands be as the evening sacrifice’; as the Psalmist has it in another place,
‘What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits?’—it is not a question of rendering, but ‘I
will the cup of salvation.’ Taking is our truest worship, and the lifting up of empty, expectant
hands is, in God’s sight, as the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
1. In Psalm 140 it was the tongues of others that he feared, but here he feared his own tongue
might say tings in his anger that would be displeasing to the Lord. David was aware of his
weakness when he was angry. This is the key to controlling that weakness. He admits he is a
victim of his own words at times, and he wants to avoid being his own worst enemy. He pleads
with God to help him hold back the flaming tongue that will put him in the category of the fool,
and an enemy of God. He feels like cursing, but he wants not to, and seeks God's help in keeping
those evil words locked up inside where they will never be heard. God knows they are in there,
but if they are never said, they will never need forgiving, and they will never hurt another person.
We often have to repent of speaking evil, but never for being silent when we feel like speaking
evil.
1B. Barnes, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth - That I may not say anything rashly,
unadvisedly, improperly. Compare Psa_39:1. The prayer here is, that God would guard him from
the temptation to say something wrong. To this he seems to have been prompted by the
circumstances of the case, and by the advice of those who were with him. See introduction to the
psalm. Compare the notes at Psa_11:1.
Keep the door of my lips - That my lips or mouth may not open except when it is proper and
right; when something good and true is to be said.

othing can be more proper than “this”
prayer; nothing more desirable than that God should keep us from saying what we ought not to
say.
2. Clarke, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth - While there are so many spies on my actions

and words, I have need to be doubly guarded, that my enemies may have no advantage against
me. Some think the prayer is against impatience; but if he were now going to Gath, it is more
natural to suppose that he was praying to be preserved from dishonoring the truth, and from
making sinful concessions in a heathen land; and at a court where, from his circumstances, it was
natural to suppose he might be tempted to apostasy by the heathen party. The following verse
seems to support this opinion.
3. Gill, “ Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth,.... While praying, as Jarchi and Kimchi; that he
might not utter any rash, unguarded, and unbecoming word; but take and use the words which
God gives, even the taught words of the Holy Ghost; or lest, being under affliction and
oppression, he should speak unadvisedly with his lips, and utter any impatient murmuring and
repining word against God; or express any fretfulness at the prosperity of the wicked, or speak
evil of them; especially of Saul, the Lord's anointed, for the ill usage of him;
keep the door of my lips; which are as a door that opens and shuts: this he desires might be kept
as with a bridle, especially while the wicked were before him; lest he should say anything they
would use against him, and to the reproach of religion; and that no corrupt communication, or
any foolish and filthy talk, or idle and unprofitable words, might proceed from them. The phrase
signifies the same as the other; he was sensible of his own inability to keep a proper watch and
guard over his words, as was necessary, and therefore prays the Lord to do it; see Psa_39:1.
4. Henry, “ David was in fear of sin, and he begs of God that he might be kept from sin, knowing
that his prayers would not be accepted unless he took care to watch against sin. We must be as
earnest for God's grace in us as for his favour towards us. 1. He prays that he might not be
surprised into any sinful words (Psa_141:3): “Set a watch, O Lord! before my mouth, and, nature
having made my lips to be a door to my words, let grace keep that door, that no word may be
suffered to go out which may in any way tend to the dishonour of God or the hurt of others.”
Good men know the evil of tongue-sins, and how prone they are to them (when enemies are
provoking we are in danger of carrying our resentment too far, and of speaking unadvisedly, as
Moses did, though the meekest of men), and therefore they are earnest with God to prevent their
speaking amiss, as knowing that no watchfulness or resolution of their own is sufficient for the
governing of their tongues, much less of their hearts, without the special grace of God. We must
keep our mouths as with a bridle; but that will not serve: we must pray to God to keep them.

ehemiah prayed to the Lord when he set a watch, and so must we, for without him the
watchman walketh but in vain.
5. Spurgeon, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth. That mouth had been used in prayer, it
would be a pity it should ever be defiled with untruth, or pride, or wrath; yet so it will become
unless carefully watched, for these intruders are ever lurking about the door. David feels that
with all his own watchfulness he may be surprised into sin, and so he begs the Lord himself to
keep him. When Jehovah sets the watch the city is well guarded: when the Lord becomes the
guard of our mouth the whole man is well garrisoned. Keep the door of my lips. God has made
our lips the door of the mouth, but we cannot keep that door of ourselves, therefore do we entreat
the Lord to take the rule of it. O that the Lord would both open and shut our lips, for we can do
neither the one nor the other aright if left to ourselves. In times of persecution by ungodly men
we are peculiarly liable to speak hastily, or evasively, and therefore we should be specially

anxious to be preserved in that direction from every form of sin. How condescending is the Lord!
We are ennobled by being door keepers for him, and yet he deigns to be a door keeper for us.
Incline not my heart to any evil thing. It is equivalent to the petition, "Lead us not into
temptation." O that nothing may arise in providence which would excite our desires in a wrong
direction. The Psalmist is here careful of his heart. He who holds the heart is lord of the man: but
if the tongue and the heart are under God's care all is safe. Let us pray that he may never leave
us to our own inclinations, or we shall soon decline from the right.
To practise wicked works with men that work iniquity. The way the heart inclines the life soon
tends: evil things desired bring forth wicked things practised. Unless the fountain of life is kept
pure the streams of life will soon be polluted. Alas, there is great power in company: even good
men are apt to be swayed by association; hence the fear that we may practise wicked works when
we are with wicked workers. We must endeavour not to be with them lest we sin with them. It is
bad when the heart goes the wrong way alone, worse when the life runs in the evil road alone; but
it is apt to increase unto a high degree of ungodliness when the backslider runs the downward
path with a whole horde of sinners around him. Our practice will be our perdition if it be evil: it
is an aggravation of sin rather than an excuse for it to say that it is our custom and our habit. It is
God's practice to punish all who make a practice of iniquity. Good men are horrified at the
thought of sinning as others do; the fear of it drives them to their knees. Iniquity, which, being
interpreted, is a want of equity, is a thing to be shunned as we would avoid an infectious disease.
And let me not eat of their dainties. If we work with them we shall soon eat with them. They will
bring out their sweet morsels, and delicate dishes, in the hope of binding us to their service by the
means of our palates. The trap is baited with delicious meats that we may be captured and
become meat for their malice. If we would not sin with men we had better not sit with them, and
if we would not share their wickedness we must not share their wantonness.
6. Treasury of David, “Verse 3. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth, etc.
1. A man would never use this language without a conviction of the importance of the subject
... Everything is transacted by speech, in natural, civil, and religious concerns: how much,
therefore, depends on the good or evil management of the tongue! What an ardour of holy
love and friendship, or of anger and malice, may a few words fan into a flame! The tongue
is the principal instrument in the cause of God; and it is the chief engine of the devil; give
him this, and lie asks no more -- there is no mischief or misery he will not accomplish by it.
The use, the influence of it, therefore, is inexpressible; and words are never to be
considered only as effects, but as causes, the operation of which can never be fully
imagined. Let us suppose a case, a case, I fear, but too common. You drop, in the
thoughtlessness of conversation, or for the sake of argument or wit, some irreligious,
sceptical, expression -- it lodges in the memory of a child, or a servant -- it takes root in a
soil favourable to such seed -- it gradually springs up, and brings forth fruit, in the
profanation of the Sabbath; the neglect of the means of grace; in the reading of improper
books; in the choice of dangerous companions; -- who can tell where it will end? But there
is a Being who knows where it began. It will be acknowledged that some have it in their
power, by reason of their office, talents, and influence, to do much more injury than
others; but none are so insignificant as to be harmless.
1. A man would never use this language without a conviction that he is in danger of
transgression. And if David was conscious of a liableness to err, shall we ever presume on
our safety? Our danger arises from the depravity of our nature. "The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked"; and "who can bring a clean thing out of an

unclean?" Our danger arises from the contagion of example. There is nothing in which
mankind are more universally culpable than in the disorders of speech. Yet with these we
are constantly surrounded; and to these we have been accustomed from our impressible
infancy. We are in danger from the frequency of speech. "In the multitude of words there
wanteth not sin." We must of necessity speak often; but we often speak without necessity.
Duty calls us to intermingle much with our fellow creatures; but we are too little in the
closet, and too much in the crowd -- and when we are in company we forget the
admonition, "Let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak."
2. A man would never use this language without a conviction of inability to preserve himself.
The Bible teaches us this truth, not only doctrinally, but historically. The examples of good
men, and men eminent in godliness, confirm it in the very article before us. Moses, the
meekest man in the earth, "spake unadvisedly with his lips." You have heard of the
patience of Job, but he "cursed the day of his birth"; and Jeremiah, the prophet of the
Lord, did the same. Peter said, "Though all men should be offended because of thee, I will
never be offended; though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." But how did he
use his tongue a few hours after? Then "began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know
not the man!"
3. A man would never use this language without a conviction of the wisdom of applying to
God for the assistance he needs. Prayer is the effect of our weakness, and the expression of
our dependence. It confesses the agency of God.
a. In the first place -- God is equal to our preservation.
b. His succours are not to be obtained without prayer.
c. Prayer always brings the assistance it implores. -- Condensed from W. Jay's
Sermon on "The Regulation of the Tongue."
Verse 3. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth, etc. Watching and prayer are often joined
together. We are best kept when recommended into God's hand. I do observe here, First, That
unadvised and passionate speeches do easily drop from us in our troubles, especially in our
persecution. Secondly, That a godly, conscientious man is very tender of these, as of all evil. He
that would live in communion with God for the present, and hope to appear with comfort before
him hereafter, is sensible of the least thing that tends to God's displeasure, and God's dishonour:
this is the true spirit of one that will be owned by Christ at the last day. Thirdly, There is no way
to prevent being provoked to impatience and rashness of speech, or any evil, but by keeping a
watch, and renewing our obligations to God. Fourthly, Whoever would keep a watch must call in
the aid and assistance of God's grace; "Lord, set a watch before my mouth." --Thomas Manton.
Verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, etc. Thus holy men have kept the sessions at
home, and made their hearts the foremen of the jury, and examined themselves as we examine
others. The fear of the Lord stood at the door of their souls, to examine every thought before it
went in, and at the door of their lips, to examine every word before it went out, whereby they
escaped a thousand sins which we commit, as though we had no other work. --Henry Smith.
Verse 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth.

ature having made my lips to be a door to my
words, let grace keep that door, that no word may be suffered to go out which may any way tend
to the dishonour of God, or the hurt of others. --Matthew Henry.
Verse 3. Set a watch, etc. Let a seal for words not to be spoken lie on the tongue. A watch over
words is better than over wealth. --Lucian.
Verse 3. Keep the door of my lips. That it move not creaking and complaining, as on rusty hinges,
for want of the oil of joy and gladness. David had somewhat to do with his tongue, as we see
(Psalms 39:1,3); and when he had carted the ark, how untowardly he spake, as if the fault were

more in God than himself, that there was such a breach made in Uzzah (1Ch 13:12). It was but
need thus to pray. --John Trapp.
7. Calvin, “Set a watch, O Jehovah! upon my mouth. As David was liable to be hurt at the
unbridled and unprincipled rage of his enemies, so as to be tempted to act in a manner that might
not be justifiable, he prays for divine direction, and not that he might be kept back from manual
violence merely, but that his tongue might be restrained from venting reproach, or words of
complaint. Even persons of the most self-possessed temper, if unwarrantably injured, will some
— times proceed to make retaliation, through their resenting the unbecoming conduct of their
enemies. David prays accordingly that his tongue might be restrained by the Lord from uttering
any word which was out of joint.

ext he seeks that his heart be kept back from every
mischievous device that might issue in revenge. The words added — that I may not eat of their
delicacies, are to be understood figuratively, as a petition that he might not be tempted by the
prosperity which they enjoyed in sin to imitate their conduct. The three things mentioned in the
context are to be connected; and it may be advisable to consider each of them more particularly.

othing being more difficult than for the victims of unjust persecution to bridle their speech, and
submit silently and without complaint to injuries, David needed to pray that his mouth might be
closed and guarded — that the door of his mouth might be kept shut by God, as one who keeps
the gate watches the ingress and egress — נצרה , nitsrah, being the imperative of the verb, rather
than a noun. He next subjoins that God would not incline his heart to an evil thing; for דבר , dabar,
is here, as in many other places, used to signify a thing. Immediately after he explains himself to
mean, that he would not desire to strive with them in wickedness, and thus make himself like his
enemies. Had that monk of whom Eusebius makes mention duly reflected upon this resolution of
David, he would not have fallen into the silly fallacy of imagining that he had shown himself the
perfect scholar by observing silence for a whole term of seven years. Hearing that the regulation
of the tongue was a rare virtue, he betook himself to a distant solitude, from which he did not
return to his master for seven years; and being asked the cause of his long absence, replied that
he had been meditating upon what he had learned from this verse. It would have been proper to
have asked him at the same time, whether during the interim he had thought none, as well as
spoken none. For the two things stand connected the being silent, and the being free from the
charge of evil thoughts. It is very possible that although he observed silence, he had many
ungodly thoughts, and these are worse than vain words. We have simply alluded in passing to this
foolish notion, as what may convince the reader of the possibility of persons running away with a
word torn from its connection, and overlooking the scope of the writer. In committing himself to
the guidance of God, both as to thoughts and words, David acknowledges the need of the
influence of the Spirit for the regulation of his tongue and of his mind, particularly when tempted
to be exasperated by the insolence of opposition. If, on the one hand, the tongue be liable to slip
and too fast of utterance, unless continually watched and guarded by God; on the other, there are
disorderly affections of an inward kind which require to be restrained. What a busy workshop is
the heart of man, and what a host of devices is there manufactured every moment! If God do not
watch over our heart and tongue, there will confessedly be no bounds to words and thoughts of a
sinful kind, — so rare a gift of the Spirit is moderation in language, while Satan is ever making
suggestions which will be readily and easily complied with, unless God prevent. It need not seem
absurd to speak of God inclining our hearts to evil, since these are in his hand, to turn them
whithersoever he willeth at his pleasure.

ot that he himself prompts them to evil desires, but as
according to his secret judgments he surrenders and effectually gives over the wicked to Satan’s
tyranny, he is properly said to blind and harden them. The blame of their sins rests with men

themselves, and the lust which is in them; and, as they are carried out to good or evil by a natural
desire, it is not from any external impulse that they incline to what is evil, but spontaneously and
of their own corruption. I have read — to work the works of iniquity; others read — to think the
thoughts of iniquity. The meaning is the same, and it is needless to insist upon the preference to be
given. By מנעמים , manammim, translated delicacies, is meant the satisfaction felt by the ungodly
when their sins are connived at through the divine forbearance. While their insolence in such a
case becomes more presumptuous, even the Lord’s people are in danger of being deceived by the
prosperity they see enjoying, and to take liberties themselves. David had reason therefore to pray
for the secret restraints of the Holy Spirit, that he might be kept from feasting on their delicacies;
that is, being intoxicated into license or sinful pleasure through anything debasing, flattering, or
agreeable in outward circumstances
8. K&D, “The prayer now begins to be particularized, and that in the first instance as a petition
fore the grace of silence, calling to mind old Davidic passages like Psa_39:2; Psa_34:14. The
situation of David, the betrayed one, requires caution in speaking; and the consciousness of
having sinned, not indeed against the rebels, but against God, who would not visit him thus
without his deserving it, stood in the way of any outspoken self-vindication. In pone custodiam ori
meo שָֽׁמְרָה is ἅπ. λεγ., after the infinitive form דָּבְקָה , עָזְבָ ה, עָצְמָה . In Psa_141:3 דַּל is ἅπ. λεγ. for ;דֶּלֶת
cf. “doors of the mouth” in Mic_7:5, and πύλαι στόματος in Euripides. נִצְּרָה might be imper. Kal:
keep I pray, with Dag. dirimens as in Pro_4:13. But נָצַר עַל is not in use; and also as the parallel
word to שָֽׁמְרָה , which likewise has the appearance of being imperative, נִצְּרָה is explicable as
regards its pointing by a comparison of יִקְּהָה in Gen_49:10, דַּבְּרָה in Deu_33:3, and קִרְבָה in
Psa_73:28. The prayer for the grace of silence is followed in Psa_141:4 by a prayer for the
breaking off of all fellowship with the existing rulers. By a flight of irony they are called ,אִישִׁי ם
lords, in the sense of בְּנֵי אִישׁ , Psa_4:3 (cf. the Spanish hidalgos = hijos d'algo, sons of somebody).
The evil thing ( רָע | דָּבָר , with Pasek between the two ר, as in

um_7:13; Deu_7:1 between the two
מ, and in 1Ch_22:3 between the two ) ל, to which Jahve may be pleased never to incline his heart (
תַּט , fut. apoc. Hiph. as in Psa_27:9), is forthwith more particularly designated: perpetrare facinora
maligne cum dominis, etc. ות ‘ עֲלִ of great achievements in the sense of infamous deeds, also occurs
in Psa_14:1; Psa_99:8. Here, however, we have the Hithpo. הִתְעלֵֹ ל , which, with the accusative of
the object עללות , signifies: wilfully to make such actions the object of one's acting (cf. Arab.
ta‛allala b-'l-š', to meddle with any matter, to amuse, entertain one's self with a thing). The
expression is made to express disgust as strongly as possible; this poet is fond of glaring colouring
in his language. In the dependent passage neve eorum vescar cupediis, לָחַם is used poetically for
אָכַ ל , and בְּ is the partitive Beth, as in Job_21:25. מַנְעַמִּים is another hapaxlegomenon, but as being a
designation of dainties (from נָעַם , to be mild, tender, pleasant), it may not have been an unusual
word. It is a well-known thing that usurpers revel in the cuisine and cellars of those whom they
have driven away.
9. Tanya Dennis, “Psalm 141 isn’t about deliverance from armies of enemies. It’s not about
being saved from starvation or physical death.

53377376 psalm-141-commentary

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