PSALMS LESSON 143

     We will begin this lesson by giving the 141st Psalm in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                             Chapter 141

Verse 1.  "O Lord, my God, to thee I cry; Swift to my aid in mercy
          fly; And when to thee my cries ascend, In pity to my voice
          attend."
Verse 2.  "As fragrant incense on the air, So mount to heaven my early
          prayer; And let my hands uplifted be, As evening sacrifice
          to thee."
Verse 3.  "Set, Lord, a watch my mouth before, And of my lips keep
          thou the door; Nor leave my sinful heart to stray Where evil
          footsteps lead the way."
Verse 4.  "Let me not of the feast partake Which wicked men delight to
          make; Let righteous men in mercy smite, In their reproofs
          I'll take delight."
Verse 5.  "Let righteous lips my errors chide, Like healing oil the
          accents glide: If voice of faithful friend reprove, Such
          smiting comes to me in love."
Verse 6.  "For them, when they are in distress, To God I will my
          prayer address; Their judges cast on rocky ground, Then
          sweet to them my words shall sound."
Verse 7.  "Around the graves our bones are left, As branches by the
          woodman cleft: To thee, Lord God, I lift my eyes; On thee my
          helpless soul relies."
Verse 8.  "Preserve me from the secret net, The toils which impious
          hands have set; In their own snares let sinners fall, While
          I by grace escape them all."

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 141st Psalm.
Psalms 141:1 {A Psalm of David.} LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste
unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

     We see an urgency in this prayer of David. I love the fact that
even though things were bad with David, he never stopped praying. He
knew where his help would come from, when it came. He just wanted God
to hear and answer this prayer now. God loves this type prayer,
because He realizes David's sincerity in his belief that God will help
him. When we pray, we must know in our heart that the only true help
for us is in God.

     Psalms 141:2 "Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as]
incense; [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice."

     The smoke that rose to heaven from the burning incense in the
temple was symbolic of the prayers of the saints. This is something
that David would know, and that is what he is saying here. Praise is
the sacrifice that God really wants from us. Hebrews 13:15 "By him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name." As we
said, in a previous lesson, the praise that is accompanied by the
uplifting of the hands to the Lord, just emphasizes who we are
praising and how sincere the praise is. When you lift your hands to
God, you are humbling yourself before Him. You are saying, You are
higher than I am.

     Psalms 141:3 "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door
of my lips."

     The same mouth is capable of doing evil or good, as we read in
the next Scripture. James 3:10 "Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."
David is saying, in the verse above, I do not want this mouth that
praises you to say evil things. Lord, you guard what I say. Put a
bridle on my speech, Lord. Let only the things which will be pleasing
unto your ears come from this mouth.

     Psalms 141:4 "Incline not my heart to [any] evil thing, to
practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat
of their dainties."

     This is just a plea from David for God to remove all temptation
from him. Keep me from even associating with these evil people, Lord.
This is what I teach about the flesh and the spirit. The flesh is
tempted sometimes to work with evil people, if the pay is good. We
are, also, tempted to eat delicious things prepared by the evil, as
well.  The flesh is an enemy of the spirit. That is why it is so
important to make the spirit ruler in our life. Let the spirit rule
and then you will not be tempted by the flesh. The soul is the will of
man.  Perhaps, it is sometimes spoken of as our innermost being.  Make
the spirit the control over your will. The only way that we can do
this, is make Jesus Lord of our life. Let Him be in charge of our
spirit.

     Psalms 141:5 "Let the righteous smite me; [it shall be] a
kindness: and let him reprove me; [it shall be] an excellent oil,
[which] shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also [shall be] in
their calamities."

     When you are in the company of the righteous, they will help you.
If you have a weak moment, they will correct you before you sin. The
righteous should fellowship with others who are righteous, as well. We
help each other stay on the right path. This reproof, spoken of here,
could be from the Righteous One. This would be like a chastisement.
When He reproves us, it is in love like a father correcting a child.
It is not a harm to our head, but is a blessing like the oil of the
Holy Spirit which brings peace.

     Psalms 141:6 "When their judges are overthrown in stony places,
they shall hear my words; for they are sweet."

     These judges, in stony places, is speaking of the evil one being
overthrown, and then David will rise and speak. David's words will be
pleasing to the ears of the Lord.

     Psalms 141:7 "Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as
when one cutteth and cleaveth [wood] upon the earth."

     This reminds me of the dry bones in Ezekiel. Ezekiel 37:1 "The
hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the
LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of
bones," Ezekiel 37:2 "And caused me to pass by them round about: and,
behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they
were] very dry." Ezekiel 37:3 "And he said unto me, Son of man, can
these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest." Ezekiel
37:4 "Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto
them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD." Ezekiel 37:5 "Thus
saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and ye shall live:" The only way that the bones in
Ezekiel or the bones mentioned above here, can live is for God to put
back the life into them. Notice, in Ezekiel chapter 37 verse 4 above,
what is said to these dead bones: Hear the Word of the LORD. The life
in all of our bodies is the Spirit of God. It is His breath {Spirit}.
By the foolishness of preaching, those that believe are saved.

     Psalms 141:8 "But mine eyes [are] unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in
thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute."

     The psalmist, here, is saying, I believe in God the LORD. God
will give him new life, because he believes.

     Psalms 141:9 "Keep me from the snares [which] they have laid for
me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity."

     David is fully aware of what temptation can do. He is asking the
Lord, here, to keep him from all temptation. Satan knows our
weaknesses, and he sets traps along the way that we might be caught in
our own temptation. David is saying to the Lord, you know I am weak.
You keep me from temptation.

     Psalms 141:10 "Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst
that I withal escape."

     The trap that the evil one has set for us would be a good trap
for him to fall into. If they live by the sword, let them die by the
sword is what David is saying.

     We will continue this lesson by giving the 142nd Psalm in metre.

                             Chapter 142

Verse 1.  "To God my earnest voice I raise: To God my voice imploring
          prays: Before his face I pour my tears, And tell my sorrow
          in his ears."
Verse 2.  "When griefs my fainting soul o'erflow, thou knowest, Lord,
          the way I go; And all the toils that foes do lay To snare
          thy servant in his way."


Verse 3.  "All unprotected, Lo, I stand; No friendly guardian at my
          hand; No place of fight or refuge near, And none to whom my
          soul is dear."
Verse 4.  "O Lord, my Saviour, now to thee, Without a hope besides, I
          flee; To thee, my shelter from the strife, My portion in the
          land of life."
Verse 5.  "Then hear and heed my fervent cry, For low with burning
          griefs I lie; Against my foes thy arm display, For I am
          weak, but strong are they."
Verse 6.  "Redeem me from the captive chains, That I may sing in
          grateful strains: Then shall the righteous round me press,
          For God shall me with favor bless."

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 142nd Psalm.
Psalms 142:1 "Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.} I
cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I
make my supplication."

     It seems that this was a time in David's life, when the only help
he could depend on was the Lord. Notice, the word "voice" is spoken
twice. This prayer was not a whisper, nor even a silent prayer. This
was a loud cry to the Lord.

     Psalms 142:2 "I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed
before him my trouble."

     David is not speaking this complaint against God, but against the
condition of his circumstances. Look, with me, at a Scripture where
Jesus was telling the disciples that God already knew what their needs
were, even before they asked. Matthew 6:8 "Be not ye therefore like
unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before
ye ask him." The Lord was already aware of the problem, before David
spoke, but sometimes it is good to pray and relate the problem to Him,
so that we can know for sure He is aware.

     Psalms 142:3 "When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou
knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a
snare for me."

     Sometimes the problems overwhelm us, and we get down in our
spirit. The Lord knew just exactly where he was. Even though the enemy
had set a trap, the Lord would keep him from being caught in that
trap.

     Psalms 142:4 "I looked on [my] right hand, and beheld, but [there
was] no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my
soul."

     This is true. When you are down and about out, no man does care
for your soul. God is the only one who cares many times, when things
are so bad. Even those we call our friends, are sometimes fair-weather
friends. In time of trouble, they are nowhere to be found. The right
hand, here, being the favored side, would be speaking of a friend. No
one wanted to take the chance of getting in trouble himself by hiding
David.

     Psalms 142:5 "I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou [art] my
refuge [and] my portion in the land of the living."

     When there is no help around, then it is time to call on God.
When David cried out to God, he immediately said, Thou art my refuge.
He suddenly realized that God would take care of him, even in this
terrible situation. To me, in the last part of the statement above, he
is saying, if You want me to live, O God, no one can take my life.  My
life is in You.  If God was his refuge, he did not need others to take
his part. He was a majority with God on his side.

     Psalms 142:6 "Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low:
deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I."

     Send me the Deliverer. We read how God heard the cry of Jacob's
children in Egypt, and sent Moses to deliver them. This is the very
same type of plea here. He is saying, I am so low, I cannot help
myself. I must depend entirely upon You. They were out to kill David.
David was aware the only One who could deliver him. was God. When we
get to the point that we cannot help ourself, it is time to call upon
God. This is when He comes to our rescue.

     Psalms 142:7 "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy
name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal
bountifully with me."

     David was in hiding, but it was a prison to him, because he could
not openly praise the Lord the way he wanted to. He was down in his
soul, because of the circumstances surrounding him.  When a person
receives deliverance for their soul, they do shout praises to their
Deliverer.  When someone is delivered from the depths of despair, true
believers gather around and rejoice with them. David knows that God
had blessed him in the past, and he knows that this will be no
different here. The last statement is a vote of confidence in God.

















                             Questions 143

1.  Quote chapter 141 verse 1 of Psalms.
2.  Even though things were bad for David, he never stopped ________.
3.  Why does God love this type of prayer?
4.  Let my prayer be set before thee as __________.
5.  What in the temple services symbolized the prayers of saints?
6.  Quote Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15.
7.  What does praise with the uplifting of the hands show?
8.  What did he ask for God to do to his mouth?
9.  Quote James chapter 3 verse 10.
10. What is verse 4 a plea for?
11. Why is it so important to make the spirit ruler in our life?
12. What is the soul?
13. How is the only way to get the spirit to rule over the flesh?
14. Let the ________ smite me.
15. What is this reproof like?
16. Who are the judges in stony places?
17. Our bones are scattered at the _________ mouth.
18. Where do we read in Ezekiel about the dry bones?
19. What makes the dry bones live?
20. By what foolishness are people saved?
21. Why will God give him new life?
22. David said, keep me from the _________.
23. Let the wicked fall into their _____ ___.
24. Chapter 142 verse 1 says, David was where?
25. What did David pour out before the Lord?
26. What had happened to David in verse 3?
27. Who is the one on the right hand in verse 4?
28. What did David call God in verse 5?
29. Who did David say, was stronger than he was?
30. Bring my soul out of _______.