Psalms 140:1

Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; Psalms 140:1 -Prayer to Yahweh; wickedness of the foe from whom David prays deliverance (Psalms 140:1); the distress laid before Yahweh (Psalms 140:6); doom of the evil-speaking foe (Psalms 140:9); confidence that Yahweh will deliver and give cause for thanks-giving to the righteous (Psalms 140:12). As in Psalms 138:1 David set before his seed God's promise a...

_To the chief Musician, _etc. I cannot bring myself to restrict this Psalm to Doeg, as the great body of interpreters do, for the context will clearly show that it speaks of Saul, and of the counselors who ceased not to inflame the king — himself sufficiently incensed against the life of one who was a saint of God. Being as he was a figure of Christ, we need not wonder that the agents of the devil directed so much of their rage against him. And this is the reason why he animadverts so sharply upon their rancor and treachery. The terms _wicked _and _violent _men denote their unwarranted attempts at his destruction without provocation given. He therefore commends his cause to God, as having studied peace with them, as never having injured them, but being the innocent object of their unjust persecution. The same rule must be observed by us all, as it is against violence and wickedness that...

1-7 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? We should especially watch and pray, that the Lord would hold up our goings in his ways, that our footsteps slip not. God is as able to keep his people from secret fraud as from open force; and the experience we have had of his power and care, in dangers of one kind, may encourage us to depend upon him in other dangers....

PSALM CXL _The psalmist prays against his enemies_, 1-6; _returns thanks for help_, 7; _describes his enemies, and prays farther against them_, 8-11. _His confidence in God_, 12, 13. NOTES ON PSALM CXL The _Hebrew_, and all the _Versions_, attribute this Psalm to _David_; and it is supposed to contain his complaint when persecuted by Saul. The _Syriac_ determines it to the time when Saul endeavoured to transfix David with his spear. Verse Psalms 140:1. _FROM THE EVIL MAN_] Saul, who was full of envy, jealousy, and cruelty against David

DELIVER ME, O LORD, FROM THE EVIL MAN - That is, evidently from some particular man who was endeavoring to injure him; some personal enemy. All the circumstances mentioned agree well with the supposition that Saul is intended. PRESERVE ME FROM THE VIOLENT MAN - Margin, as in Hebrew, “man of violences.” That is, one who has committed violence so often, who has so frequently done wrong, that this may be considered a characteristic of the man. This would apply well to the repeated acts of Saul in persecuting David, and endeavoring to do him injury....

EXPOSITION MAINLY a psalm of supplication. David is in great straits, threatened by violent and malignant enemies (Psalms 140:1), against whom he prays to God for aid (Psalms 140:1, Psalms 140:4, Psalms 140:6, Psalms 140:8). At the same time, he praises God for his protection in past dangers (Psalms 140:7), and expresses his confidence that judgment will overtake the wicked ...

DELIVER ME, O LORD, FROM THE EVIL MAN,.... Either Saul; so Theodoret; or rather Doeg, according to R. Obadiah: but Jarchi interprets it of Esau; by whom he means Edom, or Rome, or rather the Christians in general. Were his sense confined to the Papists, he might be thought to be much in the right; for this is applicable enough to the man of sin, and his followers: for it may be understood collectively of a body of evil men; all men are evil by nature, their hearts, thoughts, words, works, and ways. David's enemies were evil men; and so were Christ's; as Herod, Judas in particular, and the Jews in general: and such are the enemies of God's people; the world, profane sinners, persecutors, and false teachers; and to be delivered from such is desirable, and to be prayed for, and an happiness when enjoyed; see 2 Thessalonians 3:2; PRESERVE ME FROM THE VIOLENT MAN:

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David. Very likely this Psalm was written by David while he was being hunted about by Saul, and while all manner of falsehoods were being spoken against him. He therefore comforts himself in his God. He writes this Psalm, and he means to have it sung, and sung well; so he dedicates it «to the chief Musician.» There are some parts of our life which are so crowded with urgent necessity, and so full of divine mercy that we feel that, if we ever get through them, we will make a song about our deliverance, and dedicate that song unto God through «the chief Musician.» Psalms 140:1. _Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;_ He is wicked at heart, and violent in his temper. Whenever we meet with such an adversary, we have good reason to cry to God: «Deliver me: preserve me.» Yet, if we must have enemies, we pr

PSALM 140-142 These three Psalms are Psalms of David. The third one in this series, 142 is another Maschil, the last Maschil Psalm, being a prayer when David was in the cave. In these Psalms the distress of Israel, the godly remnant of Israel, is again remembered. In Psalms 140:1 we see prophetically the evil and violent man, that man of sin of the last days. And therefore have we one more imprecatory prayer for the destruction of the wicked (verse 10). The last verses look forward to the overthrow of the wicked and the exaltation of the righteous. In Psalms 141:1 the righteous are seen in separation from the wicked, and the prayer for preservation. Psalms 142:1 contains continued prayer for deliverance

CXL. THE PRAYER OF A MAN HARD BESET BY TREACHEROUS FOES. It seems clear that the foes of whom the author complains are Jews, not foreign assailants. Slander and violence are their weapons, and the war which they stir up is party strife, not actual battle. Note further that the Psalmist characterises his enemies (Psalms 140:5) as the proud a very natural term for the poor and pious Pharisee to use of the rich and aristocratic Sadducee. We have no certain indication of the date at which the Ps. was written. We can only say that it is natural to regard it as a Pharisee Ps. and to compare Psalms 56-59, 82, 94. PSALMS 140:1. The Ps. begins with a double introduction, or rather with two variants of the same introduction,...