141:3James wrote that “the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body” (James 3:6). On the average, a person opens his or her mouth approximately 700 times a day to speak. David wisely asked God to keep him from speaking evil—even as he underwent persecution. Jesus himself was silent before his accusers (Matthew 26:63). Knowing the power of the tongue, we would do well to ask God to guard what we say so that our words will bring honor to his name.
Life Application Study BiblePsalmsChapter 141
Psalm 141
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 991, 992
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
141Psalm 141
Author: David
1141 A psalm of David.O LORD, I am calling to you. Please hurry!Listen when I cry to you for help!
2Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
3Take control of what I say, O LORD,and guard my lips.
4Don't let me drift toward evilor take part in acts of wickedness.Don’t let me share in the delicaciesof those who do wrong.
5Let the godly strike me!It will be a kindness!If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.Don't let me refuse it.But I pray constantlyagainst the wicked and their deeds.
6When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.
7Like rocks brought up by a plow,the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.*
8J look to you for help, O Sovereign LORD.You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.
9Keep me from the traps they have set for me,from the snares of those who do wrong.
10Let the wicked fail into their own nets,but let me escape.
Theme: A prayer when overwhelmed and desperate. When we feel cornered by ourenemies, only God can keep us safe.Author: David14 2 A psalm* of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.1 T cry out to the LORD;
Textual footnotes
- 141:7 Hebrew scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Life Application Notes 3 notes
141:4Evil acts begin with evil desires. It isn’t enough to ask God to keep you away from temptation, make you stronger, or change your circumstances. You must ask him to change you on the inside-—at the level of your desires.
141:5David says that being rebuked by a godly person is a kindness. Nobody really likes criticism, but everybody can benefit from it when it is given wisely and taken humbly. David suggested how to accept criticism: (1) Don’t refuse it, (2) consider it a kindness, and (3) keep quiet (don’t fight back). Putting these suggestions into practice will help you control how you react to criticism; making it productive rather than destructive, no matter how it was originally intended. (1 Samuel 24). These may have seemed like prisons to him because of the confinement.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 992
‘prayers should fit
Study feature · page 992
Interlude
142:6 Have you ever felt that no one cared what happened to you? David had good reason to feel that way, and he wrote, “Hear my cry, for I am very low.” Through prayer we can pull out of our tailspin and be reminded that God cares for us deeply. 142:7 This psalm was written when David was hiding from Saul in caves like the ones at Adullam (1 Samuei 22) or En-gedi