Psalms 141:1

The Bible says in Psalm 141:1-2, “ 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.” It is like the Psalmist is saying that he really needs help this time. He is in big trouble and he feels that he cannot wait. That is why he says, “make haste unto me.” It is true that we must learn to wait upon the Lord. Sometimes we are in a bigger hurry than He is, but sometimes our situation is desperate. The Lord knows. The Psalmist also expresses in verse two his hope that the Lord will like his prayer and that his prayer will be well-received. That we can be assured of. The Lord always loves to hear from us. He inclines His ear to us. God listens carefully to every word that we say. He absolutely loves every prayer that we send to Him. Prayer is talking to God through Jesus Christ. He talks to us by the Spirit through His Word. God tells us to pray about everything. That will take a lot of praying, and it means that He loves hearing from us. He loves it when our words are directed to Him with requests, and with thanksgiving, and with praise. That is one of the reasons that prayer changes things: He listens to our prayers and He does things based upon what we pray about.

The Bible says in Psalm 141:3-5, “They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.[4] Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.[5] The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.” Verse three talks about the terrible words that the wicked use, and the implication is that these are words that are used against believers. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Great damage can be done by words that are spoken. If you think evil thoughts, you will speak evil words, and you will do evil deeds. The evil deeds mentioned in verse four are acts of violence because the Psalmist speaks of “the violent man.” Verse five speaks of the deceitful plans that the wicked ones will enact to harm and to ruin believers. Notice in verse five that the wicked ones are called “The proud.” This is type of pride that keeps someone from admitting their sins and coming to Jesus. Jesus saves sinners, and so you must humble yourself and confess your sins to Him in order to be saved. A proud person will not do that because they are proud. They refuse to admit that they need the Lord, and so they continue on their path of a sinful life. Both James 4:6 and First Peter 5:5 quote from the book of Proverbs and say, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” It is important to notice once again that the Psalmist is trusting in the Lord to help him in the face of his persecutions. The Psalmist does not take matters into his own hands. The Lord has said to us all, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay.” Jesus added to that and made the standard even higher. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” They each have a soul. God loves them. Jesus died for them too. They can still be saved and become servants of the Lord and end up in heaven.

The Bible says in Psalm 141:6-10, “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.” There will come a day when the wicked are “overthrown.” That is another reason to have compassion on them, because the judgment is coming. Goodness and decency demand justice, look for justice, and hope for justice. In the judicial systems of the world sometimes you will not find justice, but justice is coming. One of the benefits of being a Christian is that we know how things are going to end: justice is coming. The Book of Revelation tells us about the Great White Throne Judgment when every lost soul will appear before God to be judged for the things that they have done. That is why there is a hell: so that justice can be given out. Some people deserve hell. Satan deserves hell. Hitler deserves hell. Actually, Jesus said that “many” will go to hell. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:[14] Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” That does not mean that they will all have the same punishments in hell, but they will not be in heaven. Turn to the Lord Jesus while you have time.

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