Psalm 142 A Contemplation Of David. A Prayer When He Was in the Cave.

 ¹I cry out to the Lord with my voice;

With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.

²I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare before Him my trouble.

³When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

Then You knew my path.

In the way in which I walk

They have secretly set a snare for me.

⁴Look on my right hand and see,

For there is no one who acknowledges me;

Refuge has failed me;

No one cares for my soul.

⁵I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

⁶Attend to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are stronger than I.

⁷Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may praise Your name;

The righteous shall surround me,

For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

Preamble: David’s declaration here was born out of his hiding time, sometime during those long and unsettling years when Saul was still ruling as king, even though God had anointed David to take his place. And so David was forced to flee from Saul and everything he knew, and start living like a fugitive from Saul whose murderous desires towards him would only cease when his own demise came at the hands of the Philistines, as the Lord said of him. But unbeknown to David that would be years later. And so for now David lives hour by hour hoping and waiting on the Lord who will bring his deliverance. 

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹I cry out to the Lord with my voice;

With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.

²I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare before Him my trouble.

David’s declaration here is the testimony of a man who knew abandonment, who knew what it was like to be forsaken by family and friend (vs. 4). Who instead of giving into despair, now turns to the Lord. For the Lord alone is the only One who does not forsake us, even when everyone else has. Therefore, David in recalling what has happened to him now declares that his cry for help and justice is to the Lord, for it is to the Lord our God whom David makes his supplications and declares all of his troubles too, troubles which others have done to him and are orchestrating for him.

Vs. 3-4 ³When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

Then You knew my path.

In the way in which I walk

They have secretly set a snare for me.

⁴Look on my right hand and see,

For there is no one who acknowledges me;

Refuge has failed me;

No one cares for my soul.

David's reflection upon all that has happened to him now brings him to the place of knowing and acknowledging that the Lord observes all our paths, for the Lord knows the ways in which we walk, and He knows what others do not, especially when we are being wronged. Therefore, David asks Him who always upholds truth and justice to look and see what is being done to him, to look and see how there is none who now acknowledge him, for all his compatriots and “friends” that he made in the house of Saul while serving him, have chosen loyalty to Saul at the expense of him. Therefore, David is now faced with the cold reality that he has been abandoned by them all, by all who want to stay in good standing with the man who is seeking to kill him. And so, from being the revered leader of Israel’s forces, who risked his life time and again for them all, who vanquished the Philistines, and was praised for his killing tens of thousands of their enemies in their victory songs, to now fleeing for his life, and being treated like a complete stranger by them all. David now declares to our God that there is none who will acknowledge him, for they would rather enjoy the power and privileges of being loyal to king Saul then acknowledge him as God’s anointed, as a man who is being treated and persecuted very unjustly by him. For not one of them will take him into their care, indeed they all treat him like they never even knew him. For in their self-seeking shallowness they love the favor of Saul more than doing justly towards him or anyone. 

Vs. 5-7 ⁵I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

⁶Attend to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are stronger than I.

⁷Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may praise Your name;

The righteous shall surround me,

For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

Once again David’s cry goes out to the Lord, to the only One who is our refuge, who is our portion in the land of the living, (even when everyone else has forsaken us, the Lord is with us), therefore David asks the Lord to attend to his cry, for he has been brought very low by those who hate him, and are now hunting for his life, (for not being content with having driven him away, they now are seeking to remove his person and life from the earth), and as he says, “they are stronger than I,” indicates that David is alone at this time and they themselves and their numbers are far superior in strength then he  Therefore, David asks the Lord that He bring his soul out of the prison they have created for him, (this cave in which he must hide from them) so that he may praise the Lord’s Name. And in foreseeing this done for him, David now says that the righteous shall surround him when the Lord deals bountifully with him. And ultimately that is how the Lord dealt with him, for the Lord caused David to sit upon His throne and rule over His people just as He has said of him (consider 1 Chr. 17:7-15; Psalm 89:3-4; 19-37; Jeremiah 33:19-26; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-28 etc.). 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 141 A Psalm of David.

 ¹Lord, I cry out to You; Make haste to me!

Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.

²Let my prayer be set before You as incense,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

³Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Do 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.

⁵Let 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.

⁶Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff,

And they hear my words, for they are sweet.

⁷Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave,

As when one plows and breaks up the earth.

⁸But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord;

In You I take refuge;

Do not leave my soul destitute.

⁹Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

And from the traps of the workers of iniquity.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

While I escape safely.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Lord, I cry out to You; Make haste to me!

Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.”

The prayer of the godly is always done in earnest, David then as a man of God prays such a prayer crying out to the Lord to hear him, (for David does not assume upon Him), rather in a passionate plea he now asks Him to give ear to his voice when He cries out to Him.

Vs. 2 “Let my prayer be set before You as incense,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”

David’s request of the Lord now draws upon the most sacred; for he asks that his prayer be set before the Lord as incense; the holy incense which was offered morning and evening upon the altar of incense in the Tabernacle and then the Temple, which was also placed upon the sacrifices of the saints, and whose fragrance filled the sacred space of the Lord. Thus the holy aroma that was so well pleasing to the Lord, which was to be offered to Him alone, and to be used by (and created by) no one else except His priests, such then is David’s request of the Lord to regard his prayer to Him, to take note of the lifting of his hands to Him as the evening sacrifice.

Vs. 3-4 ³Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Do 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.

Having first looked heavenward, David now looks inward, looks at himself and sees the many vulnerabilities that exist in a man, that exist in him. Therefore, he now asks the Lord to set a guard over his mouth, to keep watch of the doors of his lips. For David’s deep concern was that he would not speak things unbecoming a man of God; that he would not be a partaker in foolish speaking, or be like those who give themselves over to brazenly speak whatever evil thoughts and desires come to their minds. For he wanted his person and life to reflect the Person and life of the Lord. And as for his heart, David knew that the heart was deceitful above all things, that it can lead you astray (Jer. 17:9-10; Matt. 15:16-20). Therefore, he prays that the Lord not incline his heart to any evil thing, (for what man can trust himself to direct his own life by his own heart and not fall into sin). And David did not want to end up practicing wicked works with men who work iniquity, with men (especially in power) who always seem to prosper through the same. For compromise and iniquity always starts out small but only grows worse in time. And David did not want to be lured by their delicacies, to start coveting what they had, and then become a partaker (more like a slave to them in it, consider Prov. 23:1-3). These then are important prayers to pray for anyone in, or looking to fulfilling leadership roles.

Vs. 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.

Therefore, David’s prayer is that the Lord direct the righteous to him, to make them be his Godly counselors. Indeed, he says let them strike me, that is strongly rebuked me when I go astray, and it shall be kindness to me, to receive their Godly rebukes rather than the flattering and deceitful words and “kisses” of wicked counselors (consider Prov. 27:6). David goes on calling it as excellent as the anointing oil on one’s head, therefore he says let my head not refuse it, because by it I am being and sanctified and purified, yes, receiving and heeding Godly rebukes always makes one stronger! For David’s prayer, his desire, (every righteous leader’s desire), is that the wicked be thwarted at every crooked turn that they take, for his (our prayer) is always against the deeds of the wicked, amen!

Vs. 6 “Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff,

And they hear my words, for they are sweet.”

And so, it is David being strengthened in righteousness now executes the judgment of the Lord on their crooked judges, and when the people hear his words, they are sweet to them, for by them they get truth and justice done for them.

Vs. 7 “Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave,

As when one plows and breaks up the earth.”

David now switches from his himself to including all the people of God, who have been made their victims; whose bones have been scattered on the ground (and not buried in the grave as they should have been), making an analogy then of the plow breaking up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave (i.e. Sheol), and are now lying in wait for their redemption.

Vs. 8 “But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord;

In You I take refuge;

Do not leave my soul destitute.”

Nonetheless, David’s focus is firmly on our God the Lord. The One in whom he (we) take refuge. For our soul’s redemption is in Him. Therefore he asks the Lord our God that he not leave his soul destitute, (that is leave He not leave him without redemption).

Vs. 9-10 “Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

And from the traps of the workers of iniquity.”

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

While I escape safely.

In concluding this Psalm, David once again asks the Lord to keep him from the snares and traps that his enemies, God’s enemies, all the workers of iniquity who have set themselves against Him have laid for him. Indeed, let all the wicked fall into their own snares, while I escape safely.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

 

Psalm 140 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 ¹Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

Preserve me from violent men,

²Who plan evil things in their hearts;

They continually gather together for war.

³They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;

The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

⁴Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;  

Preserve me from violent men,

Who have purposed to make my steps stumble.

⁵The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords;

They have spread a net by the wayside;

They have set traps for me. Selah

⁶I said to the Lord: “You are my God;

Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.

⁷O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

You have covered my head in the day of battle.

⁸Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

Do not further his wicked scheme,

Lest they be exalted. Selah

⁹“As for the head of those who surround me,

Let the evil of their lips cover them;

¹⁰Let burning coals fall upon them;

Let them be cast into the fire,

Into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

¹¹Let not a slanderer be established in the earth;

Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

¹²I know that the Lord will maintain

The cause of the afflicted,

And justice for the poor.

¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name;

The upright shall dwell in Your presence.

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

Preserve me from violent men,

²Who plan evil things in their hearts;

They continually gather together for war.

³They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;

The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

Once again David is under attack from evil and violent men who have set themselves against him. (In this David is figurative of the nation and every believer who also has to endure the wrath of the ungodly). For it is they (not he) who plans evil things in their hearts, for it is they who continually gather together to make war against him, thus this is not a one-time occurrence, but is always ongoing, for they never grow weary of it, and they always find (or create) a justification for it. Even their tongues they sharpen like a serpent while the poison of asps is under their lips; that is the words of their mouth are extremely defamatory against him, and they poison people’s minds and opinions about him.

Vs. 4 ⁴Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

Preserve me from violent men,

Who have purposed to make my steps stumble.

⁵The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords;

They have spread a net by the wayside;

They have set traps for me. Selah

Therefore David makes his supplications to the Lord, asking Him to keep him from the wicked and to preserve him from violent men. For only the Lord can preserve us from everyone who uses their authority to accomplish their own evil desires against us, as Saul did to him, as well from all the violent men who are of the same spirit as they, whom they recruit to do their dirty deeds for them, for they have purposed to make David stumble, so that they can say to others, “ah, ha”, see are we not justified in doing so. For they are the proud who watch the righteous, who lay snares and traps all along the paths we take, who observe our ways then calculate how best to direct their troubles and troublers towards us, and in David's case this was for his death.

Vs. 6-7 ⁶I said to the Lord: “You are my God;

Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.

⁷O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

You have covered my head in the day of battle.

Even though they have all the power and privilege of this world, or at the upper hand as calculated out by them, we have the Lord our God who watches over us, and He hears the voice of our supplications when our cause is just. For He is GOD the Lord and He is the strength of our salvation, therefore He has covered our head, that is He is protecting us from their deadly desires, our souls then rest safely in His hands. Therefore, whether in life or death our confidence is in Him, (while theirs is only in their very temporary power), but in the end all their evil ways will not save them from His wrath when He repays them. For the wicked, the unjust, and the ungodly will all share the same fate at the resurrection of the just (see John 5:24-30), better then to repent and believe now while you can then to come to face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ unsanctified and unsealed at His Judgment Seat (Rev. 20:15). 

Vs. 8 “Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

Do not further his wicked scheme,

Lest they be exalted. Selah”

David’s prayer continues by his asking that the Lord not grant the desires of the wicked, to not let his wicked foes have any of their desires against him, lest they be exalted, and here not just against David, but the Lord Himself. For it is their hatred of the Lord that sets them against him and ultimately us all who believe in Him.

Vs. 9-11 ⁹“As for the head of those who surround me,

Let the evil of their lips cover them;

¹⁰Let burning coals fall upon them;

Let them be cast into the fire,

Into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

¹¹Let not a slanderer be established in the earth;

Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”

In asking for the Lord's protection, David now asks that the Lord our God to turn all of his adversaries’ evil ways on them. That the evil of their mouth’s devoir them, and that burning coals fall on them. Indeed, just like Sodom and Gomorrah’s judgment, so let the wrath of God find them, yes let them be cast into the fire, into deeps pits so that they never rise again. From asking for their specific judgment, to now a more generalized prayer, David also asks that the Lord not let a slanderer be established in the earth, and that evil now hunt the violent man to overthrow him (for he and his people Israel have been their victims). These then are prayers that will be answered in full on the Lord’s Day. For truth, peace, and justice will prevail!

Vs. 12-13 ¹²I know that the Lord will maintain

The cause of the afflicted,

And justice for the poor.

¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name;

The upright shall dwell in Your presence.

Even though the wicked and evil men and women may prosper for a season, we know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor. Surely then the righteous shall give thanks to Your Name, for all the upright shall dwell in Your Presence. For in the Kingdom of heaven the wicked shall never be seen, nor found.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

 

Psalm 139 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 ¹O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

³You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

⁵You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

⁹If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

¹²Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!

Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.

²⁰For they speak against You wickedly;

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

²⁴And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Commentary

Vs. 1-4 ¹O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

³You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

Preamble: In this Psalm David finds great comfort in recalling and expounding the many and wonderful and merciful ways of our God towards us in His knowing us completely. 

There is nothing that the Lord our God, God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior does not know about us. For He has searched us all and He knows us all. This understanding David came to know by His own relationship with Him. For God who formed us in the womb is the only One who knows and understands us completely. From our sitting down to our rising up, He knows what we do and why we do what we do, indeed even our deepest thoughts, dreams, and desires, He knows and understands. And as for our lives He comprehends the paths that we take, (for by His granting us free will, we all get to choose the paths that we take), and yet even before we take step in whatever direction we choose to go, He knows and understands it fully, just as He fully knows and understands us. For God our Father is fully acquainted with all our ways, so much more than an earthly father is or could ever be with his children. Our God knows us, knows what moves and motivates us, knows what steps we will take and where we will go, even before we do so. Even the words that we speak, or desire to speak, before we speak them, He knows them altogether. There is nothing then about our person or our lives that the Lord our God does not know and understand altogether. For He alone has the true intimate knowledge of us, for God our Father is always watching over our person.

Vs. 5-6 ⁵You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

The Lord’s watching over us also means that He has set boundaries for us (like a loving parent does for their child). Thus He has hedged us in, but not as an imprisonment, but as protection, for He has given us boundaries in which we can live and grow in all aspects of life. For He has laid His hand upon us in His perfect knowledge our person so as to leads us to Himself where our satisfaction can only be found. David then in trying to comprehend even the mere edges of His way becomes completely breathless, and can now only say, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”

Vs. 7-8 ⁷Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

From God’s Omniscience to His Omnipresence, David now understands that there is no where God is not already there. For by His Spirit, He is everywhere, whether in heaven, or here on earth, or even in the hell, God’s Presence is everywhere. No then that where you are there is God, you don’t need to climb mountains to find Him, or pilgrimage to temples, or holy sites, or travel to ends of the earth, all you need to do is bow your head in prayer right where you are and ask Him to come into your life (Rev. 3:21).

Vs. 9-10 ⁹If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

David now expands this thought of God’s Omnipresence, saying that even if he could take the wings of morning; that is the beams of morning sunlight and travel upon them to uttermost parts of the sea; he could not out run the Omnipresence of God. For, 

“Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.”

Thus David rightly sees God's Presence with him as his guiding light, always showing him the way in which to walk safely, just as His right hand holds onto to him as a father does his child, so that he does not get lost or wander off into this evil and dark and debased world. 

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

¹²Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Because of God’s Omnipresence, David is assured that even if the darkness were to fall upon him, he would still be in God’s light. For not even the deepest darkness could hide us from the Omnipresence of God whose Presence and Person is always illuminating the way for us, for He is still there with us even in darkest places and times of our lives, for He still sees us. For darkness to God is the same as light, He loses no abilities to save and redeem us or anyone who believes in Him.

Vs. 13-14 ¹³For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

David now marvels and delights in how God formed him with all of the interstices of his human body, and personality, even from the very inception of his person in his mother’s womb. Therefore, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made”, and so are you. Therefore, as a redeemed man of God, David can now bodily say, God’s works are marvelous, and that my soul knows very well, and so can you if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you will God's Righteousness by faith imputed to you!

Vs. 15-16 ¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

David continues his contemplation of how God brought him into being. For before David was, God knew him, knew what he would look like and be. For God created us and give us whatever attributes and abilities we will have. There was no mystery then when God formed David in the womb, when He pieced together all the cells which would make up our persons. For God’s eyes saw our substance when we were yet to be formed. Indeed, all of David’s days, even before he was born, God had fashioned for him when as yet there were none.

Vs. 17-18 ¹⁷How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

As David's understanding of the Lord our God grows so does his love and appreciation for all His thoughts grow. For God's thoughts are more precious to us who believe in Him then anything, and if you added them all up the sum of their wisdom is innumerable. And yet what we know is so infinitesimally small compared to what He knows, and so in an effort to describe this David uses the metaphor of God’s thoughts being more in number than the all the grains of sand in all the world. Nonetheless our complete inability to know our God on His level does not cause Him to forsake us, nor us abandon Him. Instead as David says here, when we awake, we are still with Him. Do not then let your own inabilities to understand all the mysteries of God cause you to turn from Him. For God bows to our level of understanding to help us understand Him at His level. You can then know Him just as Jesus has revealed Him to us all! 

Vs. 19-22 “Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!

Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.

²⁰For they speak against You wickedly;

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.”

In knowing and understanding the Lord our God as He is, David has nothing but complete contempt for the wicked who push Him away, who do not want to know Him and follow His ways, but only want to follow their own evil hearts wicked and violent desires. Therefore David (like every righteous person wants to see the righteous judgment of God executed upon them), but until then he himself will have nothing to do with them, thus he says to them, depart from me you bloodthirsty men. For indeed they speak wickedly against the Lord our God, they even take our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s most precious Name and they vilely and brazenly blasphemy it. Therefore, I am in full agreement with David when he says, ²¹Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.” ^{Vs. 21-22}

That said, we ourselves are people of reconciliation, therefore if anyone repents and turns to the Lord in faith we also will turn to them and receive them, for this is the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For we do not pretend to have the authority of God to exercise His judgment on those who rise up against Him. For all vengeance is reserved for the Lord, He will repay His adversaries. 

Vs. 23-24 ²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

²⁴And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

In concluding this Psalm, David now prays a deep and self-searching prayer, a prayer which invites God to examine us, to know our hearts and try us, to even know our anxieties, (for these also affect our behavior), so as to reveal to us what needs to be changed in us, and what needs to be strengthened in us. It is then a God dependent prayer that is seeking to know oneself as God already knows us, and thus to have Him help us change. For in our having a desire to be righteous we do not want any wicked way in us, (any wicked way hidden deep in us), therefore we ask Him to see if there is any wicked way in us (and remove it from us) so that He can lead us in the way everlasting. This then is the prayer that every child of God needs to pray on their sanctification journey home.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 138 A Psalm of David.

 ¹I will praise You with my whole heart;

Before the gods I will sing praises to You.

²I will worship toward Your holy temple,

And praise Your name

For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

³In the day when I cried out,

You answered me,

And made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,

When they hear the words of Your mouth.

⁵Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

For great is the glory of the Lord.

⁶Though the Lord is on high,

Yet He regards the lowly;

But the proud He knows from afar.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

You will revive me;

You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will save me.

⁸The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;

Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “I will praise You with my whole heart;

Before the gods I will sing praises to You.”

 David’s desire to worship the Lord with his whole heart should be ours as well, For David will not be shy about his faith in the Lord, nor will he hold anything back, but he will (we will) worship the Lord our whole heart, even before the “gods”, which could mean the earth’s nobles and kings or their idols, it doesn't matter  he (we) will sing our praises to boldly to You!

Vs. 2 “I will worship toward Your holy temple,

And praise Your name

For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.”

David now declares that he will direct his worship towards the Lord’s holy temple, that is the place which the Lord assigned to Israel to worship and serve Him there. For it is the Lord’s Name, the Name that is above all Names, that is to be praised by us all who believe in Him (Acts 4:12). David’s praising the Lord’s Name then is born out of his believing in Him, in having received His lovingkindnesses and His truth; grace and truth as we who know the Gospel now have and receive by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” ^{John 1:17} David then makes a very profound statement that the Lord has magnified His Word above all His name. Why is this so important? because believing in the Lord Jesus Christ through His Word is the only way to know and obey God. For knowing the Lord’s Name apart from His Word will not profit you nor anyone. Again, the Lord Jesus Christ has exalted His Word above all of His Name so that His Word is the foundation upon which one’s faith in Him must be built if it is to remain.

Vs. 3 “In the day when I cried out,  

You answered me,

And made me bold with strength in my soul.”

In our weakness, in our distresses, in our deepest need, the Lord Jesus Christ hears us and He makes us bold in our souls when we turn to Him. This testimony of everyone who has received by God's grace His salvation (see Psalm 107).  From weakness to boldness, this is the Lord’s specialty in delivering and empowering us His people for His witness and works.

Vs. 4-5 ⁴All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,

When they hear the words of Your mouth.

⁵Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

For great is the glory of the Lord.

David’s prophetic words now see the Lord Jesus Christ exalted, hallowed, and honored above all. For it is His Word that will cause all the kings of the earth to praise Him when they hear the Words of His mouth. Indeed, not only will they praise Him, but they themselves will sing to Him, for great is the glory of the Lord!

 Vs. 6 “Though the Lord is on high,

Yet He regards the lowly;

But the proud He knows from afar.”

Even though the Lord is on high; higher and more powerful than anyone or anything; yet He does not rule like the kings of earth who live self indulgent and privileged lives, who seek out and regard the same. No the Lord regards the lowly, (all those they esteem least), whether individuals or nations, these are the ones the Lord Jesus Christ seeks out, for His eyes are on these, the meek of the earth (Isaiah 11:4; Matt. 5:3), but the proud He knows from afar (Consider Psalm 119:21; James 4:4-6, 10; 5:1-6; antithesis Psalm 131:1-3).

Vs. 7 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

You will revive me;

You will stretch out Your hand

Against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will save me.”

David’s confidence grows, for He knows that the Lord is with Him and He is for him. And so even though He walks in the midst of trouble, (not seeking trouble, and or testing the Lord to see if He will deliver Him), but as he lives and walks in this very troubled world, a world which hates him and his people, (which also hates us all who believe in Christ, John 15:18-25), nonetheless he knows  Lord’s  proven faithfulness and He will revive him (and us). For it will be the Lord Himself who will stretch out His hand against the wrath of our enemies, and it will be His right hand that will save both you and me (Isaiah 8:9-10, 11-20).

Vs. 8 “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;

Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

David’s statement here that the Lord will perfect that which concerns him is so much more now complete for us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Phil. 1:6). For the Lord’s mercy does indeed endure forever, the Lord Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of that fact, therefore we know that He will never forsake us the works of His hands (Deut. 31:6; John 14:18; Heb. 13:5).

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 137

¹By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down, yea, we wept

When we remembered Zion.

²We hung our harps

Upon the willows in the midst of it.

³For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,

And those who plundered us requested mirth,

Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴How shall we sing the Lord’s song

In a foreign land?

⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget its skill!

⁶If I do not remember you,

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—

If I do not exalt Jerusalem

Above my chief joy.

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom

The day of Jerusalem,

Who said, “Raze it, raze it,

To its very foundation!”

⁸O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed,

Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!

⁹Happy the one who takes and dashes

Your little ones against the rock!

Preamble: One of the few captivity psalms, psalm 137 reflects upon the strong feelings and desires of the captives.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down, yea, we wept

When we remembered Zion.”

The Psalm opens with the captives recalling how they collectively wept by the rivers of Babylon. For it was there they had a chance to reflect upon all that had happened to their beloved Zion.

Vs. 2-3 ²We hung our harps

Upon the willows in the midst of it.

³For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,

And those who plundered us requested mirth,

Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

And so, it is was while they sat by the willows that grew on the banks of river Babylon that they hung up their harps upon them, literally yes, but also symbolically, for by doing so they gave expression to their deep melancholy state. And yet while they were there in their deeply saddened and defeated state that their captives asked a song of them, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” As if to rub salt into their wounds. God’s people though would be host for their captors delight and joy. For they had seen the destruction of their beloved Jerusalem, and they had endured much suffering, hunger, and misery before the city was taken (see the Book of Lamentations), and when it was taken the temple was destroyed, their homes were looted, their wives were ravished, even their small children and infants were brutally slain before their eyes, and the older children who survived were made to bear such weighty burdens that their legs gave out beneath them. Nothing then of what they once loved remained, they had their lives and not much else, and so when their captors ask them for “mirth”, that is to delight them with one of their joyful songs the captives lost all heart to play the songs of Zion.

Vs. 4 “How shall we sing the Lord’s song

In a foreign land?”

And so instead of speaking out, their captors request is internalized, and they ask themselves the question, 

“How shall we sing the Lord’s song 

In a foreign land?”

Indeed how shall they (or any of us) sing the Lord’s praises to a people who have destroyed His? No, silence is the only response when faced with such cruelty.

Vs. 5-6 ⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget its skill!

⁶If I do not remember you,

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—

If I do not exalt Jerusalem

Above my chief joy.

Turning away then from their captors request, the captives now make a vow to never forget Jerusalem, to always hold it as their most dearest desire. For Jerusalem is the city of the Lord, it is where Zion is, it is where the Temple, it is where the Lord is... and so to forget it, and use their God given musical talents for anything other then its (and thus His) exaltation, would be tantamount to treason against Him. 

Therefore even though they were going away to a foreign land, a land where they will spend the next 70 years in captivity as God said they would (Jer. 25:11-12). Nonetheless at the end of their captivity God would return them to their own (Jer. 29:10). Therefore, their hearts are steadfast that they will remember Jerusalem, that they will always exalt it above their chief joy (for that is where the songs of Zion are to be sung, always for and before the Lord our God and Savior). Jerusalem then is the place where they will return and the Lord God will be worshipped by them once again (Isaiah 43:21). Therefore, they now make it their chief aim in surviving their captivity to remember Jerusalem above all else and return there, (to never then find their delight in a foreign land and “god”), so much so that they invoke a curse upon themselves if they do not keep Jerusalem as their chief desire and goal above all else. Their skill that Lord has given them to make such wonderful music will be sanctified and set apart by them for the Lord alone. Now this will be later seen when the captives return, when wall and temple is rebuilt, and they set up their singers upon it once again to worship the Lord God alone (Nehemiah 12:27-43, 44-47).

Vs. 7 “Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom

The day of Jerusalem,

Who said, “Raze it, raze it,

To its very foundation!””

The captive’s introspection and prayer now brings out their request that the Lord remember what was done to them on the day of their downfall, to remember how the sons of Edom spurned on their captors as they destroyed Jerusalem and ravished God’s People. Now we know Lord our God's response to their cruelty towards His people, and from these selected passages here, (there are much more but these should suffice to make the point), that the Lord our God does not look kindly upon those who rejoice in His peoples hurt or harm. The sons of Edom then would be destroyed forever (see Isaiah 34:1-17; Ezekiel 35:1-15, 36:2-5; Obadiah 1-16, vs. 12-14 etc.). 

Vs. 8-9 ⁸O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed,

Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!

⁹Happy the one who takes and dashes

Your little ones against the rock!

The closing of this Psalm is in bitterness, as the captives recall how the Babylonians took their infant children and for sport smashed them upon the rocks. Therefore, knowing that after God was done dealing with them His people for their sins against Him, that He would then turn His focus and wrath on their cruel tormentors they can say such things as a kind of bitter consolation for what was done to them. For the Babylonians was to be destroyed, for just as God raised them up to exercise judgment on His people, so with His seeing what they did so cruelly to His people, He would repay them accordingly, by raising up the Medes and Persians to destroy them forever (Isaiah 13:1-22; 14:1-11, 22-23; 21:1-10; 43:14-15;47:1-15; 48:1-22; Jeremiah 50:1-51:38 etc.). That is what is being stated here, and again should serve as a warning to anyone (any nation) who is now raised up and thinks that the violence and cruelty and injustice of their hands will not be repaid by Him.  

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.