Psalm 140: A Psalm of David.
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, 2 who plan evil things in their hearts; they continually gather together for war. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; they poison of asps is under their lips. Selah
There is slander and calumny in American politics today— “the making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to damage their reputation.” It is because the truth doesn’t matter, at least an intelligent discussion of it! How much more pronounced is it within the church, as any unorthodox view and those who hold them are denounced as heretics and put out or compelled to leave, “‘Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men.’ Slander and calumny must always precede and accompany persecution, because malice itself cannot excite people against a good man, as such; to do this, he must first be represented as a bad man.” (Bishop Horne) Your works may be in the church, but slander will be a serious charge on judgement day. Beware lest when you have preached to others, you youse, should be a castaway.” (1 Cor 9:27)
“‘Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, ’ (1). `Evil men' and `violent men' are singular forms in the Hebrew, but the plural verbs in Psalms 140:2,3 indicate that these singular forms are used in a collective sense.’” (Burton Coffman) “I cannot bring myself to restrict this Psalm to Doeg, as the great body of interpreters do, for the context will clearly show that it speaks of Saul, and of the counselors who ceased not to inflame the king — himself sufficiently incensed against the life of one who was a saint of God. Being as he was a figure of Christ, we need not wonder that the agents of the devil directed so much of their rage against him.” (Calvin) — “‘Which imagine mischiefs in their heart’ - Here the language is changed to the plural number in the Hebrew, implying that while there was one man who was eminent in his wickedness and his wrong-doing, there were many others associated with him, acting under his direction... ‘Continually are they gathered together for war’- They are organized for this purpose; they are constantly prepared for it. The word rendered ‘gathered together’ properly means to sojourn, to dwell for a time; and it has been proposed by some to render this, ‘All the day they dwell with wars;’ that is, they are constantly involved in them.” (Albert Barnes)
“‘They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; they poison of asps is under their lips.’ Paul's quotation of this as an evidence of human sinfulness (Rom 3:13) is, ‘The poison of asps is under their lips.’ The switch from ‘adders’ to ‘asps’ came because Paul quoted from the LXX. Both serpents were poisonous. As DeHoff commented on these verses, ‘God's children who have felt the sharp tongues of the servants of Satan have no difficulty understanding this verse and knowing how David felt.’” (Burton Coffman) “What can be said of those who are busied in this manner, but that they are a ‘generation of vipers,’ the brood of the old ‘Serpent,’ that grand accuser and calumniator of the brethren, having under their tongues a bag of ‘poison,’ conveying instant death to the reputation on which they fasten. Thus David was hunted as a rebel, Christ was crucified as a blasphemer, and the primitive Christians were tortured as guilty of incest and murder.” (George Horne) Selah
4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have purposed to make my steps stumble. 5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set traps for me. Selah
“”Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked’ etc: Hebrew, רשׁע, the wicked man.” (Joseph Benson) “‘Preserve me from violent men,’ that man man of sin, who has “purposed to make my steps stumble.” to overthrow my goings—To thrust me down as I go; to defeat my plans; to destroy me.— To prevent my accomplishing what I had designed to do.” (Albert Barnes) — “Let him not prevail to take away my life, my reputation, my interest, or my comfort, or to prevent my coming to the throne.” (Joseph Benson) “To take my feet from under me, to destroy the basis of belief, the power of advance in good works, that I may turn back from the way of salvation, or fall upon it,” (Neale and Littledale)
“‘The proud’— haughty; arrogant— ‘have hid a snare for me and cords’ - Strings; twine; as those do who lay a net to catch birds, and who design to spring it upon them unawares. ‘They have spread a net by the wayside - Where I may be expected to walk, and where it may be suddenly sprung upon me.” (Barnes) “‘They have set gins for me’ - The archaic word ‘ gin’ means a rather intricate trap.” (Coffman)— “such as are set for wild beasts.” (Albert Barnes) “The devices of the wicked enemies trying to destroy David appear in this strophe under three metaphors: (1) the trap; (2) the cords; and (3) the net. The trap was a snare as in KJV; the cords refer to a kind of noose hidden in the ground so as to catch the leg; and the net was used to catch birds or sea creatures.” (Burton Cofffman) Selah
6 I said to Yahweh : “You are my God; Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. 7 O God Yahweh, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle. 8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further his wicked scheme, lest they be exalted. Selah
I said to Yahweh... You are my El.... “The one safety for... people when assailed by the crafty arguments of heretics and infidels is not controversy, but prayer, a weapon their adversaries... cannot understand.” (Bruno of Aste, 1123) “O God the Lord. In the Hebrew, ‘Jehovah Adonai’... The strength of my salvation. The solid strength upon which I ground all my hopes of salvation (comp. Psalm 89:26).” (Pulpit Commentary) “‘You have covered my head in the day of battle.’ Literally, in the day of arms. David would not wear Saul’s armor against Goliath, “i.e., when he was arming for fight. God covered the warrior’s head, i.e., provided the ‘helmet of salvation’ (Isa 59:17). (Cp. also Psalm 60:9 : ‘Strength of my head.’)” (Ellicott's Commentary) “The name Adonai is translated in our Bibles by the word Lord in small letters, only the first of which is a capital. Used as a name of God, Adonai occurs probably some 300 times in the Old Testament... ‘Jehovah said unto my Adoni, Sit thou on, my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.’ The Lord Jesus in Matthew 22:41-45 (as also Peter, Acts 2:34, 35; and Heb 1:13; 10:12, 13) refers this striking passage to Himself.” (Nathan J. Stone)
“A captain or prince had always beside him in battle an armour bearer, whose duty it was ‘to cover his master's head’, that is, to ward off with the shield the blows aimed at his head, and which, in the heat of the fight, had escaped his own notice.” (Benjamin Weiss) David’s armor bearer in his time of trouble was Yeshua. “‘Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;’ which is to destroy me.” ( Matthew Poole) “Do not further his wicked scheme, lest they be exalted. Selah.” “Remember that in the OT God Himself is pictured as a warrior on behalf of His people. He is a warrior. He fights for us. He is a warrior who defends us and protects us, and in fact in the Book of Isaiah you’ll see some of this very same imagery – the helmet and the breastplate – applied to God.” (Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III)
9 As for the head of those who surround me, let the evil of their lips cover them; 10 Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise not up again. 11 Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him. 12 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor. 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence.
“As for the head of those who surround me, let the evil of their lips cover them.’ (9) God, he saith, had covered his head in the day of battle: now contrariwise he showeth what should cover the head of his enemies.’” (John Mayer) — “‘Let burning coals fall upon them;’ as on Sodom. For upon the wicked he shall rain snares of fire and brimstone... ‘Let them be cast into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise not up again.’ (10) The supplications here used for the destruction of hisenemies are, as in the seventh psalm, in the form of prophecies, that they shall be destroyed.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) “Such passages admit of translation in the future, and are rather predictions than imprecations.” (Ingram Cobbin, 1839) “An imprecation which is a prophecy; and one which, while it has had no fulfilment in the case of David's enemies, or any persecutors of the church in times past, brings again vividly before the mind the fiery judgment of the Lord's coming, and the awful sentence already pronounced against ‘the beast and false prophet.’”(William De Burgh)
“‘Let not a slanderer be established in the earth;’ in the new earth wherein dwells righteousness. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) "The Psalms repeatedly say that the wicked will go down to death, their memory will perish and they will be as though they had never been. The righteous on the other hand will be rescued by God from death and then will enjoy him forever (Ps 9; 21:4-10; 36:9-12; 49:8-20; 52:5-9; 59; 73; 92)..." (Edward Fudge)
“Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him. I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor..’” (11-12) Injustices occur in this world, but we shall see judgment and justice when the righteous King / Judge comes to bring justice to the earth. “Jehovah is the Judge who rights the weak and oppressed. Cp. Psalm 7:8-9; Psalm 9:4; &c.... The destiny of the righteous contrasted with the fate of the wicked.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)
“‘Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name.’ In my present state, I am so thankful for the name “Yeshua” which means “Yahweh saves” for the Good News it bears. In His name is His mission for the angel said, “His name shall be called Yeshua for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) How much more thankful shall I be when I inherit the place which He has prepared for me? Jesus promised, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2 JUB) I shall dwell in thy presence “as thy friends or guests or favoured servants. Perhaps it may mean sit (enthroned) before thee. Compare Mt 19:28. Some understand the sense to be shall dwell (in the land) before thee, i.e., under thy protection and inspection.”(Joseph Addison Alexander)