Psalms 141:1-6

Psalm 141 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

141:1 O Lord, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me!

Pay attention to me when I cry out to you!

141:2 May you accept my prayer like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering! ² 

141:3 O Lord, place a guard on my mouth!

Protect the opening ³  of my lips! ⁴ 

141:4 Do not let me have evil desires, ⁵ 

or participate in sinful activities

with men who behave wickedly. ⁶ 

I will not eat their delicacies. ⁷ 

141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!

May my head not refuse ⁸  choice oil! ⁹ 

Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. ¹⁰ 

141:6 They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. ¹¹ 

They ¹²  will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

[141:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 141. The psalmist asks God to protect him from sin and from sinful men.

[141:2]  ² tn Heb “may my prayer be established [like] incense before you, the uplifting of my hands [like] an evening offering.”

[141:3]  ³ tn Heb “door.” The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[141:3]  ⁴ sn My mouth…my lips. The psalmist asks God to protect him from speaking inappropriately or sinfully.

[141:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”

[141:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”

[141:4]  ⁷ sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.

[141:5]  ⁸ tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.

[141:5]  ⁹ sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.

[141:5]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.

[141:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they are thrown down by the hands of a cliff, their judges.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult and the meaning uncertain. The perfect verbal form is understood as rhetorical; the psalmist describes the anticipated downfall of the wicked as if it had already occurred. “Their judges” could be taken as the subject of the verb, but this makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes the judges are the agents and that the wicked, mentioned earlier in the psalm, are the subjects of the verb.

[141:6]  ¹² tn It is unclear how this statement relates to the preceding sentence. Perhaps the judges are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the verb “will listen,” and “my words” are the referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) of the phrase “are pleasant.” The psalmist may be affirming here his confidence that he will be vindicated when he presents his case before the judges, while the wicked will be punished.