Psalms 140:4

Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. KEEP ME, O LORD, FROM THE HANDS OF THE WICKED; PRESERVE ME FROM THE VIOLENT MAN - (cf. .) The "Selah" at the end of last verse marks that the second division of the first strophe begins here. This second division begins with much the same prayer as the first (). WHO HAVE PURPOSED TO OVERTHROW MY GOINGS - (; also 56:13.)...

4._Keep me, O Jehovah! _To complaints and accusations he now again adds prayer, from which it appears more clearly, as I observed already, that it is God whom he seeks to be his avenger. It is the same sentiment repeated, with one or two words changed; for he had said _deliver me_, now he says _keep me_, and for _the wicked man _he substitutes the _hand of the wicked_. He had spoken of their conceiving mischief’s, now of their plotting how they might ruin a poor unsuspecting individual. What he had said of their fraud and deceit he repeats in figurative language, which does not want emphasis. He speaks of nets spread out on every side to circumvent him, unless God interposed for his help. Though at first sight the metaphors may seem more obscure than the prayer was in its simple unfigurative expression, they are far from darkening the previous declarations, and they add much to the stren...

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....

Verse Psalms 140:4. _PRESERVE ME FROM THE VIOLENT MAN_] Saul again; who was as headstrong and violent in all his measures, as he was cruel, and inflexibly bent on the destruction of David....

KEEP ME, O LORD, FROM THE HANDS OF THE WICKED ... - See the notes at Psalms 71:4. This is a repetition of the prayer in Psalms 140:1. WHO HAVE PURPOSED TO OVERTHROW MY GOINGS - To thrust me down as I go; to defeat my plans; to destroy me. They endeavor to prevent my accomplishing what I had designed to do....

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 ...

KEEP ME, O LORD, FROM THE HANDS OF THE WICKED,.... From falling into their hands, and the weight of them; and from their laying hands on him, being men of power and authority; PRESERVE ME FROM THE VIOLENT MAN: or men, everyone of them; Psalms 140:1; WHO HAVE PURPOSED TO OVERTHROW MY GOINGS: to supplant him; to cause him to stumble and fall, to his disgrace and reproach; and that they might take an advantage of him, and an occasion against him. Arama interprets it, to drive me out of the land of Israel; see 1 Samuel 26:1. So Christ's enemies thought to have supplanted him, and have found something against him, to accuse him of to Caesar, Matthew 22:15....

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,...