Psalms 140

Rescue me, LORD, from the evil man. Keep me safe from the violent man.

1Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;

NoteLORD in capitals marks the personal name of Israel's God (the four Hebrew letters YHWH), which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud. Where the text instead has the ordinary Hebrew word for "master," English versions print "Lord" in normal type.

2They plan harmful things in their hearts. Every day they stir up fights.

2Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.

3They have made their tongues sharp like a snake's. Snake venom is on their lips. Selah.

3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.

Note"Selah" is a Hebrew term that appears only in the Psalms and a few poetic passages. Its meaning is genuinely unknown; it is usually taken as a direction to the musicians or the congregation, perhaps a pause, an instrumental break, or a lifting of the voices. Translators leave it untranslated because no one can be sure. The picture of venom "on their lips" is about speech, not biting: the poison sits at the mouth, ready to go out with the words. Ancient readers did not distinguish sharply between a snake's tongue and its fangs.

4Guard me, LORD, from the power of wicked people. Keep me safe from the violent man. They have made plans to trip me up as I walk.

4Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

5Proud men have hidden a trap for me, and ropes too. They have spread out a net beside the road. They have set snares for me. Selah.

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.

NoteThese are the tools of a bird- and animal-catcher: a hidden trip-trap, the cords that pull a net shut, the net itself laid flat beside a path where prey walks, and smaller spring-traps. "Gins" in the King James is an old English word for exactly that kind of snare, unrelated to the drink. The whole verse is one image, the speaker is being hunted like game.

6I said to the LORD, "You are my God." LORD, listen to me as I beg for help.

6I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.

7LORD God, you are the strength that saves me. You have shielded my head on the day of battle.

7O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

NoteThe King James "O GOD the Lord" reflects two different Hebrew names stacked together in the original, a doubled and emphatic form of address. "Covered my head in the day of battle" is armor language: the head is the part a soldier most needs shielded, so this describes protection at the moment of greatest danger, not a general blessing.

8LORD, do not give wicked people what they want. Do not let their evil plan succeed, or they will think highly of themselves. Selah.

8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.

9As for the leaders of those who surround me, let the harm their own words planned come down on their heads.

9As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

NoteThe Hebrew repeats the word "cover" from verse 7 and plays on "head": the God who covered the speaker's head in battle is asked to let his enemies' own words settle over their heads instead. The verse is also ambiguous in Hebrew about whether "head" means the leaders of the surrounding group or the heads of all of them; translations differ.

10Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, and into deep pits, so that they never get up again.

10Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

NoteBurning coals falling from the sky was a stock image of disaster sent from above. The last phrase is uncertain in Hebrew: the word may mean deep watery pits, floods, or miry pits, a place from which someone thrown in cannot climb out. Older versions guess differently from newer ones.

11Do not let a man who spreads lies about others get a settled place in the land. Let disaster hunt down the violent man and bring him down.

11Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

NoteThe Hebrew is literally "a man of tongue", a slanderer or false accuser. This was not merely rude speech: in a legal system that ran on the testimony of witnesses, a false accusation could take a person's property or life, which is why the psalm treats it alongside violence.

12I know that the LORD will take up the case of people who suffer, and will see that poor people get justice.

12I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.

Note"Maintain the cause" and "the right of the poor" are courtroom words. The claim is that God acts as the judge who takes up the legal case of people who have no one else to argue for them, a standard duty of a king in the ancient Near East.

13Surely those who do what is right will thank you and praise your name. Honest people will live in your presence.

13Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

NoteThe Hebrew reads "shall dwell before your face." Being allowed to stand in someone's presence was the language of access to a king, and here also of belonging at the temple, where God was understood to be present.