Psalm 141—A psalm by David. 1 Yahweh, I cry out to You; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You. 2 Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. 3 Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. 4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies. 5 Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked. 6 Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff, and they hear my words, for they are sweet. 7 Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave, as when one plows and breaks up the earth. 8 But my eyes are upon You, O Yahweh Adonay; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute. 9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, and from the traps of the workers of iniquity. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I escape safely.
“‘’A psalm of David’ when he meditated on the evening service.” (Kimchi) “This is an evening psalm. Acceptable prayer is as the smoke of incense rising in the still air, Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4. Each day we should ask to be delivered from lip sins, life sins, and like sins-especially the last, the dainties of appetite and desire, Psalm 141:4.” (F. B. Myers) —-> “When driven from the courts of the Lord, and the communion of his people, the Psalmist purposed to be as regular and constant at his devotions, as the priests were in burning incense, and offering the sacrifices morning and evening: and he prayed, that his fervent supplications might be accepted, even as if presented at the sanctuary; being offered with a believing reference to the typical expiation and intercession there made. (1 Kings 8:28-30.)...” (Thomas Scott)
“‘Yahweh, I cry out to You; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.’ Destroy Saul and the armies of Israel.—“His friends advised it. The ‘suggestion’ was a natural one; it would seem to many to be a justifiable measure. But he resisted the temptation.” (Albert Barnes) — “‘Let my prayer be set before You as incense,’ which “was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. Exodus 29:39, and Numbers 28:4.” (Adam Clarke)— at which time the people were praying, (Exodus 30:1; 30:7; 30:8 Luke 1:10); and was an emblem of it.” (John Gill)— the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.’ This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt.“ (Adam Clarke) at the end of the day. “As incense represents prayer, so the meat offering symbolizes good works, according to Hengstenberg.” (Jamieson, Faussett, Brown) “David well knew that the lifting up of his hands could be no worthy offering, void of faith in that one all sufficient atonement; neither could the incense of his prayers be otherwise than offensive, unless perfumed with the incense of the Redeemer's merits.” (Robert Hawker) Thus in effect, He begged “that the One might ascend to heaven fragrant and well-pleasing, as the cloud of incense, ...and prevail instead of the evening oblation, for the deliverance of himself and his companions.” (Bishop Horne)
“‘Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth.’- That I may not say anything rashly, unadvisedly, improperly.” (Albert Barnes) The image drawn from the guard set at city gates at night seems to indicate the evening as the time of composition of the psalm.” (C. J. Ellicott) “‘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.” (Albert Barnes) “‘Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.’ Their murdering morsels of iniquity; or their flatteries and baits, whereby Saul’s courtiers sought to ensnare him.” (John Trapp)
“‘Let the righteous smite me,’ etc.— In case I do offend in word or deed, let me never want a faithful reprover, who may smite me as with a hammer (so the word signifieth), reprove me sharply, Proverbs 23:35, Zechariah 13:5, Titus 1:13, cuttingly, as the apostle’s word importeth, yet mildly and lovingly, Galatians 6:1, Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 19:25; Proverbs 25:12, with soft words, but hard arguments, αποτομως. ‘It shall be a kindness’— David thought the better of Nathan for so roundly reproving him, 2 Samuel 12:7-12, and made him of his counsel, 1 Kings 1:32 Peter thought the better of Paul for dealing so plainly with him at Antioch, Galatians 2:11-16, and maketh honourable mention of him, and his writings, 2 Peter 3:15-16.” (John Trapp)—- “‘And let him rebuke me;’ reprove me; (it shall be) an excellent oil (literally, an oil for the head) (which) shall not break my head - Whereas 'the dainties' of the wicked (Psalms 141:4) would ultimately cause my head (the vital part which shall be bruised in the old serpent and his seed Genesis 3:15) to be fatally broken (Psalms 68:21; Psalms 110:6; Habakkuk 3:13).” (Jamieson, Faussett, Brown)— “‘ It shall be as excellent oil;’ Hebrews שׁמן ראשׁ, the oil of the head, that is, as the oil which is poured upon the head as the manner was in great feasts and solemnities, which shall not break my head — Nor hurt, but heal, and greatly refresh me.” (Joseph Benson)
“We owe a great deal to the care of fellow-believers. It may take more love to smite than to soothe. The breaking of the box of precious ointment over our heads may cause a momentary shock; but we must not refuse it, since the contents are so salutary; and we can return their well-meant kindness by praying for the righteous when their calamities are multiplied, Psalms 141:5.“ (F. B Myers).
“‘For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked. Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff, and they hear my words, for they are sweet.’ (6-7) 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.” (Joseph Addison Alexander) “‘Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave,’ That is to say, I and my company are in a dying condition, free among the dead; yea, if taken we should be put to most cruel deaths, hewn in pieces, or pulled limbmeal, and left unburied; and our dead bodies mangled by a barbarous inhumanity, as wood cleavers make the shivers fly hither and thither. This is the perilous case of me and my partisans.” (John Trapp)— “‘as when one plows and breaks up the earth,’ not for the sake of mangling its surface, but to make it fruitful and productive, (so) our bones are scattered at the heart of the earth as the necessary means of a glorious resurrection.” (Joseph Addison Alexander) “‘But my eyes are upon You, O Yahweh Adonay; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute.’ (8) Leave not my soul in Sheol. “‘Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, and from the traps of the workers of iniquity.’ Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I escape safely.’ (9-10) The word rendered ‘nets’ occurs only in this place, as the closely corresponding word in Psa 140:10, which is rendered ‘deep pits,’ occurs there only.” (Speaker's Commentary) They shall be raised unto condemnation!