Psalms / Chapter 141

Psalms 141

10 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A psalm of David. An evening prayer in which the psalmist asks the LORD to accept his prayer like incense and his lifted hands like the evening grain offering. He pleads for God to guard his mouth, keep his heart from evil, and prevent him from sharing in the feasts of the wicked. He welcomes correction from the righteous as an act of faithful love. The psalm concludes with a declaration of trust in the LORD even as the psalmist faces danger — his eyes are fixed on God, and he asks not to be left defenseless while the wicked fall into their own traps.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The identification of prayer with incense and lifted hands with the evening offering (minchah) is one of the most theologically significant equations in the Psalter. It suggests that personal prayer can function as a substitute for temple sacrifice — an idea that became foundational for Jewish worship after the destruction of the Second Temple. The psalm moves from the mouth (v. 3) to the heart (v. 4) to the head (v. 5), tracing the anatomy of temptation from speech to desire to action. The request for the righteous to strike and correct him (v. 5) is remarkable for its willingness to receive painful truth from allies rather than pleasant company from the wicked.

Translation Friction

Verses 5-7 are among the most textually difficult in the Psalter. The Hebrew is compressed, allusive, and in several places the Masoretic Text appears corrupt or at least highly obscure. Verse 6 — about judges being thrown down by the sides of a rock — has generated widely divergent translations. The metaphor in verse 7 about bones scattered at the mouth of Sheol is violent and abrupt. Whether the psalmist is describing his own condition or the fate of the wicked is debated. The traditional ascription to David fits the tone of personal danger and the pattern of asking for protection against enemies who set traps.

Connections

The incense imagery connects to Exodus 30:7-8, where Aaron burns incense on the golden altar every morning and evening — a perpetual fragrance before the LORD. Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 pick up this image, identifying the prayers of the saints with golden bowls of incense. The request to guard the mouth echoes Psalm 39:1, where David resolves to muzzle his mouth in the presence of the wicked. The trap imagery in verse 9 is a standard wisdom motif: the wicked fall into the pit they dug (Psalm 7:15, Proverbs 26:27).

Psalms 141:1

מִזְמ֗וֹר לְדָ֫וִ֥ד יְהוָ֣ה קְ֭רָאתִיךָ ח֣וּשָׁה לִּ֑י הַאֲזִ֥ינָה ק֝וֹלִ֗י בְּקׇרְאִי־לָֽךְ׃

A psalm of David. LORD, I call to you — come quickly to me. Listen to my voice when I call to you.

KJV LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb chushah ('hurry, make haste') conveys urgency — this is not a contemplative meditation but a cry for immediate help. The doubled reference to calling (qeratikha... be-qori lakh) frames the verse as an insistent summons.
Psalms 141:2

תִּכּ֤וֹן תְּפִלָּתִ֣י קְטֹ֣רֶת לְפָנֶ֑יךָ מַֽשְׂאַ֥ת כַּ֝פַּ֗י מִנְחַת־עָֽרֶב׃

Let my prayer stand as incense before you, my lifted hands as the evening offering.

KJV Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

קְטֹרֶת qetoret
"incense" — incense, smoke of incense, fragrant offering burned on the golden altar

qetoret is the spiced incense compounded according to the recipe in Exodus 30:34-38 and burned exclusively on the golden altar inside the tabernacle. Its smoke ascending before God became one of the Hebrew Bible's most enduring metaphors for prayer rising to heaven.

מִנְחָה minchah
"evening offering" — grain offering, tribute, gift, present; the daily meal offering presented morning and evening

The minchah here specifically refers to the evening grain offering (minchat erev), one of the two daily tamid offerings in the temple. The psalmist's lifted hands at evening become a personal enactment of what the priests perform at the altar.

Translator Notes

  1. The minchah ('grain offering, tribute, present') is the evening sacrifice offered in the temple each day at twilight. The word can also mean 'gift' or 'tribute' in non-cultic contexts. By pairing incense with the evening offering, the psalmist places his prayer within the temple's daily rhythm — this is an evening psalm.
Psalms 141:3

שִׁ֘יתָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ שׇׁמְרָ֥ה לְפִ֑י נִ֝צְּרָ֗ה עַל־דַּ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽי׃

Set a guard over my mouth, LORD. Keep watch over the door of my lips.

KJV Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The word shomrah ('guard, watch') pictures a sentry stationed at the mouth. The dal ('door') of the lips extends the architectural metaphor — the mouth is a gate that needs guarding. The psalmist recognizes that his tongue is a point of vulnerability, especially in the company of the wicked (v. 4). This request moves from external danger to internal discipline.
Psalms 141:4

אַל־תַּט־לִבִּ֨י לְדָבָ֪ר ׀ רָ֡ע לְהִתְעוֹלֵ֤ל עֲלִל֨וֹת ׀ בְּרֶ֗שַׁע אֶת־אִישִׁ֥ים פֹּֽעֲלֵי־אָ֑וֶן וּבַל־אֶ֝לְחַ֗ם בְּמַנְעַמֵּיהֶֽם׃

Do not let my heart turn toward anything evil, to engage in wicked deeds with those who practice wrongdoing. Let me not feast on their delicacies.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb al tat ('do not incline, do not turn') asks God to prevent the heart's drift — the psalmist knows the pull of evil is subtle. The phrase lehitolel alilot be-resha ('to busy oneself with deeds in wickedness') uses a reflexive verb suggesting complicity: getting involved, entangling oneself. The man'ammim ('delicacies, pleasant foods') of the wicked represent the seductive rewards of joining their company. The movement from mouth (v. 3) to heart (v. 4) traces temptation to its source.
Psalms 141:5

יֶהֶלְמֵֽנִי־צַדִּ֨יק ׀ חֶ֡סֶד וְֽיוֹכִיחֵ֗נִי שֶׁ֣מֶן רֹ֭אשׁ אַל־יָנִ֣י רֹאשִׁ֑י כִּי־ע֥וֹד וּ֝תְפִלָּתִ֗י בְּרָעוֹתֵיהֶֽם׃

Let the righteous strike me — it is faithful love. Let him correct me — it is oil for the head. Let my head not refuse it, for my prayer continues even against their evils.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

חֶסֶד chesed
"faithful love" — faithful love, loyal kindness, covenant devotion, steadfast love, mercy

Here chesed is not God's attribute but describes the act of a righteous person who cares enough to deliver a painful correction. The psalmist redefines faithful love: it is not flattery or comfort but the willingness to wound for the sake of truth.

Translator Notes

  1. This verse is notoriously difficult in Hebrew. The verb yehalemeni ('let him strike me') is from halam ('to strike, to hammer'). Reading the righteous person's correction as chesed rather than cruelty is a hallmark of wisdom thinking (Proverbs 27:6: 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend'). The second half of the verse is textually uncertain; our rendering follows the Masoretic accentuation while acknowledging that the Hebrew is compressed to the point of ambiguity.
Psalms 141:6

נִשְׁמְט֣וּ בִֽידֵי־סֶ֭לַע שֹׁפְטֵיהֶ֑ם וְשָׁמְע֥וּ אֲ֝מָרַ֗י כִּ֣י נָעֵֽמוּ׃

Their rulers will be thrown down along the rocky cliffs, and they will hear my words, for they are pleasant.

KJV When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb nishmetu ('they will be dropped, thrown down') is from shamat ('to release, to let fall'). The phrase bi-yede sela ('by the hands/sides of the rock/cliff') is obscure — it may refer to execution by being thrown from a cliff or to the collapse of authority. The second line shifts abruptly: when the wicked's leaders fall, the survivors will finally listen to the psalmist's words and find them pleasant (na'emu). The verse anticipates vindication: the psalmist's rejected counsel will eventually be recognized as true.
Psalms 141:7

כְּמ֤וֹ פֹלֵ֣חַ וּבֹקֵ֣עַ בָּאָ֑רֶץ נִפְזְר֥וּ עֲ֝צָמֵ֗ינוּ לְפִ֣י שְׁאֽוֹל׃

Like one who plows and splits open the earth, our bones lie scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

KJV Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The simile compares scattered bones to clods of earth turned up by plowing — the image is of violent disruption. The phrase lefi She'ol ('at the mouth of Sheol') places the psalmist and his companions at the very edge of death. Whether 'our bones' refers to the righteous community or is a dramatic way of describing the psalmist's own peril is uncertain. The verse is one of the darkest in this psalm, picturing the faithful as broken and exposed.
Psalms 141:8

כִּ֤י אֵלֶ֨יךָ ׀ יְהוִ֣ה אֲדֹנָ֣י עֵינָ֑י בְּכָ֥ה חָ֝סִ֗יתִי אַל־תְּעַ֥ר נַפְשִֽׁי׃

But my eyes are on you, LORD, my Lord. In you I take refuge. Do not pour out my life.

KJV But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The double address YHVH Adonai ('LORD, my Lord') intensifies the appeal. The verb chasiti ('I have taken refuge') is from chasah, a key Psalms verb for sheltering under God's protection. The phrase al te'ar nafshi ('do not empty/pour out my soul') uses a verb meaning to strip bare or make naked — do not leave me exposed, defenseless, emptied of life.
Psalms 141:9

שׇׁמְרֵ֗נִי מִ֣ידֵי פַ֭ח יָ֣קְשׁוּ לִ֑י וּ֝מֹקְשׁ֗וֹת פֹּ֣עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן׃

Guard me from the jaws of the trap they have set for me, and from the snares of those who do evil.

KJV Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The pach ('trap, snare') and moqeshot ('snares, lures') are hunting terms applied to human enemies — the psalmist is the prey, and the wicked are hunters. The verb yaqeshu ('they have laid') is from yaqosh ('to set a snare'). The psalm consistently pictures the wicked as those who trap rather than confront directly.
Psalms 141:10

יִפְּל֣וּ בְמַכְמֹרָ֣יו רְשָׁעִ֑ים יַ֥חַד אָ֝נֹכִ֗י עַד־אֶעֱבֽוֹר׃

Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.

KJV Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The makmorav ('his nets') uses the singular suffix — possibly referring to each wicked person's own trap, or to the collective trap that rebounds on its makers. The reversal of the trap is a recurring motif in the Psalter (Psalm 35:8, 57:6). The final word e'evor ('I pass by, I cross over') pictures the psalmist walking past the danger unharmed, a quiet image of deliverance.
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