Psalms 141

Prayer for Safekeeping from Wickedness

¹Lord , I cry out to You;

Make haste to me!

Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.

²Let my prayer be set before You as incense,[#1 Kin. 8:45; Ps. 9:4]

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

³Set a guard, O Lord , over my mouth;[#Ex. 29:39, 41; 1 Kin. 18:29, 36; Dan. 9:21]

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice wicked works

With men who work iniquity;

And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

⁵Let the righteous strike me;[#Prov. 23:6]

It shall be a kindness.

And let him rebuke me;

It shall be as excellent oil;

Let my head not refuse it.

For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked.

⁶Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the cliff,

And they hear my words, for they are sweet.

⁷Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave,

As when one plows and breaks up the earth.

⁸But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord;[#(Prov. 9:8; Eccl. 7:5; Gal. 6:1)]

In You I take refuge;

Do not leave my soul destitute.

⁹Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,[#2 Chr. 20:12; Ps. 25:15]

And from the traps of the workers of iniquity.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets,[#Ps. 119:110]

While I escape safely.