PSALMS LESSON 142
We will begin this lesson by giving the 140th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 140
Verse 1. "Jehovah, from the evil man, Do thou deliver me; And from
the man of violence, O keep me safe and free."
Verse 2. "They in their heart imagine wrong, And evil meditate; And
they for battle and for war From day to day are met."
Verse 3. "For like a serpent's piercing tongue Their tongues they
sharp do make; And underneath their lips there lies The
poison of a snake."
Verse 4. "Lord, keep me from the wicked's hands, From vi'lent men me
save; Who utterly to overthrow My going purposed have."
Verse 5. "The proud a snare and cords have laid, And they a secret
not Have by the way-side for me spread; they traps for me
have set."
Verse 6. "I to˙Jehovah said, Thou art My God; then to cry Of all my
supplications, Lord, Do thou thine ear apply."
Verse 7. "O God the Lord, who art the strength Of my salvation great;
A cov'ring in the day of war, Thou on my head hast set."
Verse 8. "Unto the wicked man, O Lord, His wishes do not grant; Nor
further thou his ill device lest they themselves should
vaunt."
Verse 9. "As for the head and chief of those About that compass me,
Ev'n by the mischief of their lips Let thou them covered
be."
Verse 10. "Let burning coals upon them fall, Them throw in fiery
flame, And in deep pit, that they no more May rise up from
the same."
Verse 11. "Let not a man of evil tongue On earth established be; Let
mischief hunt the violent, Till ruined utterly."
Verse 12. "I know God will th' afflicted save, The poor defend will
he; The just shall surely praise thy name, The upright dwell
with thee."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 140th Psalm.
Psalms 140:1 "{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} Deliver me, O
LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;"
This Psalm is certainly from David, crying out to the only help
he has. He was persecuted and even hunted down by Saul, but this goes
even further than that. David knew persecution and sorrow from his own
son, as well. The evil man mentioned, here, however, is probably Saul.
David does not specifically speak of an individual. This makes this
Psalm a prayer that any of us could pray to God. Satan is after all of
us who are trying to live for God. The name of the violent man may not
be the same in our case, but certainly there is a violent man in each
of our problems.
Psalms 140:2 "Which imagine mischiefs in [their] heart;
continually are they gathered together [for] war."
Evil men have evil hearts and their imaginations, which come from
this evil heart are, also, evil. Evil people have no peace. The only
way they think they can satisfy their evil heart, is to bring war to
those at peace. They feel, they can make themselves feel better, if
they can take something that does not belong to them. These people are
not peacemakers, they are warmongers.
Psalms 140:3 "They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent;
adders' poison [is] under their lips. Selah."
The most cutting weapon a person has is an evil tongue. Just as
poison is in the bite of the serpent, there is poison coming from the
tongue of this evil person. The tongue is the most evil part of the
body. The tongue can not only wound a person's body, but can literally
break his heart. This is why it is so important to give your tongue to
God. We all need to bridle our tongue.
Psalms 140:4 "Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my
goings."
To be in the hands of the wicked would be a terrible tragedy. The
Israelites in Egypt felt the tragedy of just such a thing happening to
them. This evil Pharaoh had made them work like animals. The World War
2 men, on the death march, could tell you how bad it is to fall into
the hands of the wicked. The wicked have no moral code, so they have
no feeling for anyone else. David was praying, whatever happened, God
please do not let him fall into wicked hands. These wicked men thought
of nothing night and day, but to overthrow David and take over
themselves.
Psalms 140:5 "The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they
have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah."
They may act proud, but this is a sneaky way to fight. They set
traps for him, instead of coming face to face with him. Gins, in the
verse above, means noose like they catch animals with. Selah is a time
to pause and think on these things.
Psalms 140:6 "I said unto the LORD, Thou [art] my God: hear the
voice of my supplications, O LORD."
There was never a question in David's mind that he belonged to
God. We must learn from David about this, also. Even though our
enemies seem to be surrounding us, we must never forget that the Lord
is our God. This is almost a desperate cry from David saying, You are
my only help, don't let me down.
Psalms 140:7 "O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou
hast covered my head in the day of battle."
David, in looking back, knows that God had protected him from
harm so many times before. In all of David's battles, God had covered
his head from harm. The covering that David had been blessed with was
the presence of the Lord. When David fought, he fought in the name of
the most high God. We can learn a lesson from this, too. When we fight
the battles in our life, do not try to fight them on your own. Fight
the in the name of Jesus. Stand against the devil in the name of the
Lord and he will flee from you. Our salvation is in our belief in the
name of Jesus.
Psalms 140:8 "Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked:
further not his wicked device; [lest] they exalt themselves. Selah."
David should be saying here, I know that you will not grant their
wicked desires. David knows, and we should know, that the wicked do
not even believe in God, so why would they pray to Him? We know that
all of humanity, good or bad, is dependent upon the workings of God,
whether they are aware of it, or not. God will not help further the
wicked against His own people. They would have to exalt themselves,
because God would not exalt them. We must pause a moment and think on
these things.
Psalms 140:9 "[As for] the head of those that compass me about,
let the mischief of their own lips cover them."
This is saying, let their own sin fall upon their head. They may
surround me with wickedness, but no harm will come unto me. This is
usually the very thing that does happen to those who say evil things
about others, these very evil things come home to rest upon their own
head.
Psalms 140:10 "Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast
into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again."
In the 25th chapter of Proverbs, we read about the enemies of
those who are living for God. It says that God will heap coals of fire
upon their head. David is saying, if these coals come from above, it
will leave no doubt that God is the one punishing them. We do know
that if they do not repent of their evil ways, there is a lake of fire
awaiting them.
Psalms 140:11 "Let not an evil speaker be established in the
earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow [him]."
An evil speaker would be full of lies. For an evil one to be
established in the land would do the same thing as one rotten apple in
a barrel. Pretty soon the whole land would be bad. The violent man has
sown the wrong kind of seed. The seed that he planted was violence.
The crop that he receives from his planting, will be violence, as
well.
If you live by violence, you shall die by violence.
Psalms 140:12 "I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of
the afflicted, [and] the right of the poor."
All through the Bible, God has been on the side of the oppressed
and the poor. The wealthy prominent person can take care of his own.
God helps those who actually need His help. Notice, the emphatic
statement of David here, I know. We can all take heart of the fact,
that the Lord cares for His own.
Psalms 140:13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy
name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
In the last verse, we saw an assurance of all the wonderful care
and protection God shows. Now in this verse we see the statement that
surely we would praise Him for it. Those who have been put in right
standing with God, {the righteous} should praise the Lord for the free
gift of salvation. We know that there will come a time when the
upright shall dwell in heaven near the throne of God with Jesus. This
is saying, that even now, we can be in the presence of God. We read in
these lessons that He is omnipresent. Even though He is heaven on the
throne, He is right here with us, as well. The upright, not only feel
His presence once in a while, but we are surrounded by His presence
all the time. His name is above all names. We can do no less than to
thank Him with everything within us.
Questions 142
1. Deliver me from the ______ ___.
2. Who is the violent man of verse 1, probably?
3. Where do these mischievous imaginings come from?
4. They are continually gathered together for ____.
5. They have sharpened their tongue like a _________.
6. What is under their tongue?
7. An evil tongue breaks not only bones, but can break your ______.
8. We all need to ________ our tongue.
9. Keep me, O Lord, from the _________ of the wicked.
10. Who could better tell us of how bad it is to be in the hands of
the wicked?
11. What did these wicked men have on their mind night and day?
12. What is gins, in verse 5?
13. There was never a question in David's mind about what?
14. Who is the strength of His salvation?
15. What had God done for David in battle?
16. What lesson can we learn from David fighting in the name of the
most high God?
17. Grant not the desires of the _______.
18. Why would the wicked have to exalt themselves?
19. In verse 9, David says to let what cover them?
20. In what chapter of Proverbs do we read about the coals of fire on
the head of the wicked?
21. Let not an _____ _________ be established in the earth.
22. The violent planted what kind of seed?
23. What will they produce?
24. Who will maintain the cause of the afflicted?
25. Surely the righteous shall give ______ unto thy name.
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