Psalm 140
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Speaks with:Psalms 18×2Psalms 36×2Psalms 142×2Psalms 16×2Proverbs 18×2Psalms 11×2
Summary
Chapter summary
'Deliver me, O Jehovah, from the evil man', tongues sharpened like a serpent, adders' poison under their lips (Romans 3:13), the proud hiding snares and cords by the wayside. 'I said unto Jehovah, Thou art my God… O Jehovah the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.' Let not the wicked's desire be granted. 'I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.'
Context
Poetry · David, Asaph, Sons of Korah, others — Psalms overview
The world behind this chapter
Psalms 140The history
The enemies here are described first as snakes. Their tongues are sharpened and there is viper's venom behind their lips — a real and common danger in that country, where a person working a stone terrace could be struck without warning.
Then they become trappers. The equipment is listed in order: a hidden cord, a spread net at the roadside, a snare, and a pit. That was the standard kit of a hunter of small game and birds, and it depended entirely on the animal not seeing it coming.
The prayer for protection uses armor. Covering the head in the day of battle is a helmet, and the word for a shield is the large one carried in the line rather than the small round buckler.
The judgments asked for are fitted to the crimes. Burning coals, a pit, and being hunted down mirror exactly what the violent men were arranging, and the request that their own talk fall back on their heads is the oldest form of justice in the book.
What it meant to them
The first hearers knew what it was to be targeted by men with more power than they had and no interest in a fair fight.
The psalm's confidence is not in a counter-plot. It ends with two ordinary people God is said to defend by policy — the afflicted and the needy — and with the upright dwelling in his presence.
Sources cited
- Walton, Matthews and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament , Psalms
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Psalms 140. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.