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.