September 1st
Psalm 141
A Psalm of David
A
Prayer for preservation
1:
LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice,
when I cry unto thee. 2:
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up
of my hands as the evening sacrifice. 3:
Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 4:
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. 5:
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. 6:
When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my
words; for they are sweet. 7:
Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and
cleaveth wood upon the earth. 8:
But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust;
leave not my soul destitute. 9:
Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of
the workers of iniquity. 10:
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
Psalm 142
Maschil of David a prayer when he was in the cave
In
time of trouble
1:
I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did
I make my supplication. 2:
I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
3:
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.
In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 4:
I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that
would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 5:
I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion
in the land of the living. 6:
Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my
persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 7:
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the
righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully
with me.
Today
we are reading Psalm 141 & 142. Psalm 141 is a Psalm of David a
hymn of praise and prayer. The Psalm has two verses the first
beginning with ‘Lord I cry to you’ and the second ‘Lord I look
to you’. The first is a cry of distress and the second a prayer of
hope in Gods deliverance. Then in each case David prays, a Shamar It
is a prayer of protection. The word was first used of Adam who was
the Shamar – keep the Garden of Eden. Then of Cain who said Am I my
brothers Shamar – keeper. So David prays here, keep the door of my
lips etc and later, keep me from snares. Then he speaks, ‘yet I’
and he describes his determination to keep the Law and latter, ‘yet
I’, will escape the punishment of the wicked. It can best be
described as follows…
A.
I cry to you – help me. v1-2
B.
Prayer to be kept Shamar
v3-5
C.
Yet I v5
D.
Punishment of the wicked v6
E.
Bones scattered v7
E.
Like wood cleaved v7
A.
I look to you – help me. v8
B.
Prayer to ne kept Shamar
v9
D.
Punishment of the wicked v10
C.
Yet I v10
David
says, LORD I cry to you come quickly and listen to my prayer. May my
prayer be a sweet smell and the lifting up of hands to you, as at the
evening sacrifice. David asks that the LORD will set a guard over his
mouth to look after the door of his lips. This is, so that he will
not sin in his speaking. He says do not allow my mind to think bad
things or to let me do anything that evil men do and may I not eat of
their food (having fellowship with them) Then David says something
very interesting. He says let the righteous smite me because that
will be an act of kindness and when they rebuke me, it will be like
very pure oil which heals and will not smash my head in. I will
continue to pray even when judgment comes on my enemies. When the
judges of the enemy are finally executed they will hear my words
because they will be sweet to me. Their1
bones will be scattered at the opening of their graves. It will
appear to be like the scattering of wood blocks that are being cut in
two and strewn on the ground. What David is describing is what
happens when wild animals take dead bodies and eat them scattering
the skeleton around the opening of the grave. This would be the final
desecration of the wicked. David says, but my eyes are on you and I
am trusting in you, do not leave me destitute. Preserve my life from
the snares which have been set to catch me. May the wicked fall into
their own nets while I escape. Psalm 142 is a teaching Psalm which
was written when David was in the cave of Adullam. These great
limestone caves were David’s place of safety from Saul. This Psalm
is also a double verse hymn.
A.
I cried unto the LORD v1-2
B.
Trouble – Comfort in v3
C.
Enemies v3
D.
Friends – desertion of v4
A.
I cried unto the LORD v5
B.
Trouble – Deliverance from v6
C.
Enemies v6
D.
Friends – surrounded by v7
So
David begins saying, I cried unto the LORD with my voice. It seems
that in the scriptures there was no such thing as silent prayer.
(apart from Hannah’s prayer) Prayer was spoken out loud in Bible
times. David does not seek to escape from facing up to his troubles,
rather he faces up to them and brings them all before the LORD, who
is able to do something about them. David pours out his complaint to
the LORD. He shows the Lord all his troubles. At times David was
completely overcome by it all. But it was at those times that the
Lord knew his path which was surrounded by snares to catch him. His
friends deserted him when he first escaped from Saul. This was a
serious wake up call for David, as he began to find out who his real
friends were. None of his friend – ‘so called’, gave him
hospitality or gave him food. So David cried to the LORD the covenant
God. He said, you are my refuge and my portion in the land of the
living. He says listen to me because I am brought very low. Deliver
me from those who persecute me because they are stronger than me. He
says deliver me from the prison so that I will praise your name.
Later he says, the righteous have surrounded me and you have given me
so much. Often in times of spiritual struggle we change all our
friends from those who are not really friends to those who will give
their lives for us, as David’s mighty men did. David took a rabble
of the discontent and turned them into the most formidable fighting
force the world had ever seen.
- What is David asking for in the first Psalm?
- What sort of salvation is he asking for?
- What does David do in time of trouble?
1
‘Their’
rather than ‘Our’. Vatican B and Alex A. The Syr, Arab, and
Ethio read ‘their bones’.
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