> [[psalm-140|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-142|Next →]] --- # Psalm 141 ## Prayer for Deliverance from the Wicked 1 A psalm of David. LORD, I call to you; hasten to me; listen to my plea when I call. 2 Let my prayer be incense before you; my uplifted hands an evening offering. 3 Set a guard, LORD, before my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips. 4 Do not let my heart incline to evil, to perform deeds in wickedness. On the delicacies of evildoers let me not feast. 5 Let a righteous person strike me; it is mercy if he reproves me. Do not withhold oil from my head while my prayer opposes their evil deeds. 6 May their leaders be cast over the cliff, so that they hear that my speeches are pleasing. 7 Like the plowing and breaking up of the earth, our bones are strewn at the mouth of Sheol. 8 For my eyes are upon you, O LORD, my Lord; in you I take refuge; do not take away my soul. 9 Guard me from the trap they have set for me, from the snares of evildoers. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while only I pass over them safely. \* (Psalm 141) A lament of an individual ([Ps 141:1] – [2]) who is keenly aware that only the righteous can worship God properly and who therefore prays to be protected from the doomed wicked ([Ps 141:3] – [10]). \* (141:2) Incense: lit., “smoke,” i.e., the fragrant fumes arising from the altar at the burning of sacrificial animals or of aromatic spices; also used in ([[revelation-05|Rv 5]]:8] as a symbol of prayer. My uplifted hands: the gesture of supplication, cf. ([[psalm-28|Ps 28]]:2]; [63:5]; [88:10]; [119:48]; [134:2]; [143:6]. \* (141:5] – [7) The Hebrew text is obscure. a. (141:2) [Ps 134:2]; [Ex 30:8]. b. (141:3) [[sirach-22|Sir 22]]:27. c. (141:5) [Prv 9:8]; [25:12]. d. (141:8) ([[psalm-25|Ps 25]]:15]; [123:1] – [2]. e. (141:9) [Ps 142:4]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[psalm-140|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-142|Next →]]