Psalm 140
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
2Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.
4Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.
5The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
6I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.
7O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
9As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
10Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
11Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
12I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
13Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Chapter 140
Matthew Henry comments on the first few verses by stating the following: "The more danger appears, the more earnest we should be in prayer to God. All are safe whom the Lord protects. If he be for us, who can be against us?" Although I haven't dealt with an evil or violent man in my flesh (v. 1), in a way I did during my darkest moment. The enemy acted evil towards me by trying to cut me off from God, but He delivered me from that. Verse 2 relates because I suppose the enemy imgaine mischief or made an evil plan in his heart, which was when he tried to pull me away from God. He sharpened his tongue like a serpent (v. 3) by trying to get me to believe his lies, but that didn't work out because God helped to figure out that he was lying to me. The enemy's tongue is one of deceit and nothing I can trust because doing so will only cause perversion and destruction, kind of like how a snake treats its prey. When an animal is eaten by a snake, the animal loses and the snake wins, which would've happened to me if I gave into the enemy's lies. I would've lost and he would've won and I'm glad he didn't. One I cried out to Him, He did keep me from the hands of the wicked (v. 4) and I'm glad He did.The enemy tried to overthrow me and trip me up by telling me lies, but God protected me from him and I was reminded who I should trust in. I'm don't remember if proud men set a snare for me in real life (v. 5), but the enemy is proud and arrogant and he set a snare for me when he tried to get me to believe his lies. That didn't stop me from crying out to God (v. 6), though, and asking Him to help me out. I must've reminded myself and acknowledged to Him that He is my God when I cried out to Him. I think by doing that, I showed to Him that I was humbling myself and needed Him to help me out. He covered my head (v. 7) by protecting me from the enemy, which I don't really have a lot to say about. I do remember, though, that when He protected me, the enemy didn't seem to bother me, which illustrated to me that I can trust in the Lord for protection from the enemy for another time if I face another situation in which I need to. I also think by trusting in Him, the enemy was not able to act upon his desire of attacking me (v. 8), assuming he had any. To me, that illustrated that there is no protection like the Lord's and also that nothing can (metaphorically) break or pierce it. How verse 8 ties into that is that when I trusted in the Lord, the enemy was not able to attack me, assuming that's what he had in mind. I'm not sure how I'd relate to verses 9-11, but I will say that God will take care of those who have oppressed His people in due timing. I figure the enemy is behind that and he's gonna get paid his due as well. The way I see it, God's justice will displayed during that time, which is what I get out of the "I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afficted" in verse 12. Up to that point, I'd say every one of God's people will have dealt will affliction from the enemy and God will maintain justice by aving vengeance upon the cause of the afflictions that His people dealt with. It will be interesting to see all of God's people on that day as well as His acts of vengeance upon the enemy. God is a just God, which is something I'm thankful for and I would imagine it's something His people will praise Him for when justice is given in the last days (v. 13). I do consider myself to be upright and I look forward to dwelling in His presence when the time comes.
Source used:
Henry, Matthew. "Concise Commentary on Psalms 140". "Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
on the Whole Bible". <http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-con/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=140>.
No comments:
Post a Comment