Psalms 140:4
in Psalms 140Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Keep me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from the violent man: Who have purposed to thrust aside my steps.
KJV
Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.
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This verse in Psalms 140
Commentary
10 notes on this verseKeep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked,.... From falling into their hands, and the weight of them); and from their laying hands on him, being men of power and authority; preserve me from the violent man: or men, everyone of them; See Gill on Psa 140:1; who have purposed to overthrow my goings: to supplant him; to cause him to stumble and fall, to his disgrace and reproach; and that they might take an advantage of him, and an occasion against him. Arama interprets it, to drive me out of the land of Israel; see 1Sa 26:
This site's exposition
Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked
on Psalms 140:4-5
The plea of verse 1 returns here, with men of violence named again, and what they scheme at is a stumble. Verse 5 sets three traps along one path, a snare, the cords of a net, and lures. The trap is laid where he must walk.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Preserve me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner, from unrighteous men deliver me" [Psalm 140:4]. Here they wear their real colours, they are known; here we have no need to understand, but to act: we have need to pray, not to ask who they are. But how you should pray against such men, he explains in what follows. For many pray unskilfully against wicked men. "Who have imagined," says he, "to trip up my steps." Thus far it may be understood carnally. Every one has enemies, who seek to cheat him in trade, to rob him of money, where they are engaged together in business; every one has some neighbour his enemy, who devises how to bring mischief upon his family, to injure in some way his property and surely he devises this by deceit, by fraud, by devilish devices he endeavours to accomplish this: no one can doubt it. Yet not for these reasons are they to be guarded against, but lest they lay in wait for you and draw you to themselves, that is, separate you from the Body of Christ, and make you of their body. For as Christ is the Head of the good, so is the devil their head. What is, "to trip up my steps"? Not as though you should be deceived in the business you have with him, or he cheat you in a case which you have with him in the law courts. He has "tripped up your steps," if he have hindered you in the way of God; so that what you directed aright may stumble, or fall from the way, or fall in the way, or draw back from the way, or stop on the way, or go back to the place from whence it had come. Whatsoever has done this to you, has tripped you up, has deceived you. Against such snares as these pray thou, lest you lose your heavenly inheritance, lest you lose Christ your Joint-heir, for you are destined to live for ever with Him, who has made you an heir. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Symeon the New TheologianCommentary (church-history corpus) · Written before 1022.
proposed
Does He distinguish and separate anyone out, calling one to Himself as foreknown while sending the other away as not predestined? Never! Therefore, "you should not make excuses for your sins" (Psalm 140:4, LXX), nor should you want to make the Apostle's words an occasion …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), to draw him into sin and trouble, to ruin him by blasting his reputation, crushing his interest, and taking away his life. For this purpose they have, like mighty hunters, hidden a snare, and spread a net, and set gins (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Keep me from doing as they do, or as they would have me do, or as they promise themselves I shall do." Note, The more malice appears in our enemies against us the more earnest we should be in prayer to God to take us under his protection. In him believers may count upon a security, and may enjoy it and themselves with a holy serenity. Those are safe whom God preserves.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. To fall into their hands would be a calamity indeed. David in his most pitiable plight chose to fall into the hand of a chastising God rather than to be left in the power of men. No creature among the wild beasts of the wood is so terrible an enemy to man as man himself when guided by evil, and impelled by violence. The Lord by providence and grace can keep us out of the power of the wicked.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. To fall into their hands would be a calamity indeed. David in his most pitiable plight chose to fall into the hand of a chastising God rather than to be left in the power of men. No creature among the wild beasts of the wood is so terrible an enemy to man as man himself when guided by evil, and impelled by violence. The Lord by providence and grace can keep us out of the power of the wicked. He alone can do this, for neither our own watchfulness nor the faithfulness of friends can secure us against the serpentine assaults of the foe. We have need to be preserved from the smooth as well as the rough hands of the ungodly, for their flatteries may harm us as much as their calumnies. The hands of their example may pollute us, and so do us more harm than the hands of their oppression. Jehovah must be our keeper, or evil hands will do what evil hearts have imagined and evil lips have threatened. Preserve me from the violent man. His intense passion makes him terribly dangerous. He will strike anyhow, use any weapon, smite from any quarter: he is so furious that he is reckless of his own life if he may accomplish his detestable design. Lord, preserve us by thine omnipotence when men attack us with their violence. This prayer is a wise and suitable one. Who have purposed to overthrow my goings. They resolve to turn the good man from his resolve, they would defeat his designs, injure his integrity, and blast his character. Their own goings are wicked, and therefore they hate those of the righteous, seeing they are a standing rebuke to them. This is a forcible argument to use in prayer with God: he is the patron of holiness, and when the pure lives of his people are in danger of overthrow, he may be expected to interpose. Never let the pious forget to pray, for this is a weapon against which the most determined enemy cannot stand.
Preserve me from the violent man - Saul again; who was as headstrong and violent in all his measures, as he was cruel, and inflexibly bent on the destruction of David.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked ... - See the notes at Psa 71:4. This is a repetition of the prayer in Psa 140:1. Who have purposed to overthrow my goings - To thrust me down as I go; to defeat my plans; to destroy me. They endeavor to prevent my accomplishing what I had designed to do.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמְרֵ֤נִי | shamereni | keep me | H8104 → | 468 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה׀ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִ֘ידֵ֤י | midei | from [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| רָשָׁ֗ע | rasha' | [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| מֵאִ֣ישׁ | meish | from a man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| חֲמָסִ֣ים | chamasim | violence<s> | H2555 → | 60 times |
| תִּנְצְרֵ֑נִי | tintzereni | you will preserve me | H5341 → | 63 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | [those] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חָ֝שְׁב֗וּ | chashevu | they have planned | H2803 → | 124 times |
| לִדְח֥וֹת | lidchot | to trip up | H1760 → | 8 times |
| פְּעָמָֽי׃ | peamai | footsteps my | H6471 → | 118 times |
שָׁמְרֵ֤נִיkeep me
shamereniH8104 →468 times
יְהוָ֨ה׀O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִ֘ידֵ֤יfrom [the] hands of
mideiH3027 →1618 times
רָשָׁ֗ע[the] wicked
rasha'H7563 →263 times
מֵאִ֣ישׁfrom a man of
meishH376 →1663 times
חֲמָסִ֣יםviolence<s>
chamasimH2555 →60 times
תִּנְצְרֵ֑נִיyou will preserve me
tintzereniH5341 →63 times
אֲשֶׁ֥ר[those] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חָ֝שְׁב֗וּthey have planned
chashevuH2803 →124 times
לִדְח֥וֹתto trip up
lidchotH1760 →8 times
פְּעָמָֽי׃footsteps my
peamaiH6471 →118 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 17:5My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped.
it leads to
- Psalms 44:18
Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.
- Psalms 119:133
Order my steps in Your word; let no sin rule over me.
- 1 Samuel 2:9
He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- Psalms 121:3
He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.
- Psalms 38:16
For I said, “Let them not gloat over me— those who taunt me when my foot slips.”
- Psalms 44:18
Through
Psalms 36:11Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
it leads to
- Psalms 16:8
I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- Isaiah 51:23
I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to…
- Psalms 16:8
Through
Psalms 71:4Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.
it leads to
- Psalms 59:1–2
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise against me.
- Psalms 59:1–2
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 140; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Symeon the New Theologian, Commentary (church-history corpus).