Psalms 140:8
in Psalms 140Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Grant not, O Jehovah, the desires of the wicked; Further not his evil device, lest they exalt themselves. [Selah
KJV
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
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This verse in Psalms 140
Commentary
11 notes on this verseGrant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked,.... Of Doeg, as the Targum, and of other wicked men, who were desirous both of taking him, and of taking away his life: but the desires of such men are under the restraints of the Lord; nor can they fulfil them unless they have leave from him, which is here deprecated. The psalmist entreats he might not be delivered up to their will, or they have their will of him; see Psa 27:
This site's exposition
You are my God
on Psalms 140:6-8
The stanza opens with a confession, You are my God, and then asks to be heard. The head is covered in the day of battle, and the Hebrew word is nesheq, military equipment, so the day is the day of weapons. He asks God to deny the wicked their desires.
This site's exposition
Grant not, O LORD, the desires
The third Selah falls here, ending the stanza of confession and plea. The fear in the last clause is pride, that success would lift the wicked up. The proud of verse 5 would be exalted by success.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Who is so foolish that, when he hears what is sung in the psalm, "Do not give me up, O Lord, from my desire to the wicked," he says this person was praying that God should not be patient with him, as though, as you say, "God does not give a man up so that evils are done except to show his patient goodness"? Do we not ask daily, "Lead us not into temptation," lest we be given up to our lusts? "For everyone is tempted by being drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence." Therefore, should we not ask for God's mercy instead of asking him to show us his patient goodness? What sane person understands this; indeed, what maniac says this? Therefore, God gives people up to shameful lusts that they may do what is not fitting; but he gives them up fittingly, and these acts not only are sins, as well as punishments for past sins, but also they demand future punishments, just as he gave Ahab up to the lie of the false prophets and gave Rehoboam up to false advice.
"Deliver me not over, O Lord, by my own longing to the sinner" (ver. 8). Behold to what end Thy overshadowing shall avail for me, that I suffer not heat from myself. And what could that "sinner" do to me, rage as he would? For wicked men raged against the martyrs, dragged them away, bound them with chains, shut them up in prisons, slew them with the sword, exposed them to wild beasts, consumed them with fire: all this they did; yet did not God deliver them over to the sinners, because they were not delivered over by their own longing. This then pray with all thy might, that God "delivered thee not over by thine own longing to the sinner." For thou by thine own longing givest place to the devil. For lo, the devil hath set before thee gain, invited thee to dishonesty; thou canst not have the gain, unless thou commit the dishonesty: the gain is the bait, dishonesty the snare: do thou so look on the bait, that thou see the snare also; for thou canst not obtain the gain, unless thou commit the dishonesty; and if thou commit the dishonesty, thou wilt be caught. ...Hence is thine head overshadowed in the day of battle. For longing causeth heat, but the overshadowing of the Lord tempers longing, that we may be able to bridle that whereby we were being hurried away, that we be not so heated as to be drawn to the snare. "They have thought against me; leave me not, lest perchance they be exalted." Thou hast in another place, "They that oppress me will exult if I be moved." Such are they, because such is the devil also himself. ...
Do not hand me over, O Lord, from my desire to the sinner. Scripture says that 'if anyone looks upon a woman to lust after her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' So this is what the prophet is saying: Because of my concupiscence, do not hand me over to the devil; rather, it is well for me to be judged in the deed, and not in the thought.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Proud men, when they prosper, are made prouder, grow more impudent against God and insolent against his people, and therefore, "Lord, do not prosper them." 2. This he prays for (as we read it); but some choose to read it rather as a prophecy, and the original will bear it. If we take it as a prayer, that proceeds from a spirit of prophecy, which comes all to one.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked. Even they are dependent upon thee they can do no more than thou dost permit. Thou dost restrain them; not a dog of them can move his tongue without thy leave and license. Therefore I entreat thee not to let them have their way. Even though they dare to pray to their, do not hear their prayers against innocent men. Assuredly the Lord Jehovah will be no accomplice with the malevolent; their desires shall never be his desires; if they thirst for blood he will not gratify their cruelty.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked. Even they are dependent upon thee they can do no more than thou dost permit. Thou dost restrain them; not a dog of them can move his tongue without thy leave and license. Therefore I entreat thee not to let them have their way. Even though they dare to pray to their, do not hear their prayers against innocent men. Assuredly the Lord Jehovah will be no accomplice with the malevolent; their desires shall never be his desires; if they thirst for blood he will not gratify their cruelty. Further not his wicked devices They are so united as to be like one man in their wishes; but do rot hear their prayers. Though hand join in hand, and they desire and design as one man, yet do not thou lend them the aid of thy providence. Do not permit their malicious schemes to succeed. The Lord may allow success to attend the policy of the wicked for a time for wise reasons unknown to us, but we are permitted to pray that it be not so. The petition "Deliver us from evil" includes and allows such supplication. Lest they exalt themselves. If successful, the wicked are sure to grow proud, and insult the righteous over whom they have triumphed, and this is so great an evil, and so dishonouring to God, that the Psalmist uses it in his pleading as an argument against their being allowed to prosper. The glory of the wicked is opposed to the glory of God. If God seems to favour them they grow too high for this world, and their heads strike against the heavens. Let us hope that the Lord will not suffer this to be. Selah. Here let us exalt our thoughts and praises high over the heads of self exalting sinners. The more they rise in conceit the higher let us rise in confidence.
Further not his wicked device - He knew his enemies still desired his death, and were plotting to accomplish it; and here he prays that God may disappoint and confound them. The Chaldee understands this of Doeg.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked - That is, in the matter under consideration. Let them not accomplish their desire in my destruction. Let them not succeed in their designs against me. The prayer, however, “may” be used more generally. It is proper to pray that the desires of the wicked, as wicked people, may not be granted to them; that they may “not” be successful in their purposes. Success in such desires would be only an injury to themselves and to the world. It is proper to pray that the purposes of the wicked may be defeated, and that they may be led to abandon their designs and to seek better ends. For this, in fact, we always pray when we pray for their conversion. Further not his wicked device - His purpose against me. Lest they exalt themselves - Lest they attribute it to their own skill, wisdom, or valor, and lest they pride themselves on their success. To succeed in a righteous cause makes a man humble and grateful; in a bad cause, proud, and forgetful of God. The margin here is, “Let them not be exalted.” The meaning is, that success would at the same time elate them in their own estimation, and increase their bad influence in the world. It is, on every account, a benevolent prayer that wicked people may “not” be successful in their plans of iniquity.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּתֵּ֣ן | titen | you grant | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מַאֲוַיֵּ֣י | maavaiyei | [the] desires of | H3970 → | |
| רָשָׁ֑ע | rasha' | [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| זְמָמ֥וֹ | zemamo | plot his | H2162 → | |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּ֝פֵ֗ק | tafek | you promote | H6329 → | |
| יָר֥וּמוּ | yarumu | they will arise | H7311 → | 190 times |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּתֵּ֣ןyou grant
titenH5414 →2011 times
יְ֭הוָהO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מַאֲוַיֵּ֣י[the] desires of
maavaiyeiH3970 →
רָשָׁ֑ע[the] wicked
rasha'H7563 →263 times
זְמָמ֥וֹplot his
zemamoH2162 →
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תָּ֝פֵ֗קyou promote
tafekH6329 →
יָר֥וּמוּthey will arise
yarumuH7311 →190 times
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 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
2 Samuel 15:31Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 17:14
Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in…
- 2 Samuel 17:23
When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he…
- Psalms 41:9
Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
- James 3:15
Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
- Job 5:12
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- 2 Samuel 17:14
Through
Psalms 27:12Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:59–60
Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
- Psalms 31:8
You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.
- Psalms 41:11
By this I know that You delight in me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.
- Matthew 26:59–60
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 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, AGAINST JULIAN 5:4.15; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 140; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Jerome, Homily 50, on Psalm 139; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.