For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psa 140

1 Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;
    protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
    and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
    the poison of vipers is on their lips.

4 Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    protect me from the violent,
    who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
    they have spread out the cords of their net
    and have set traps for me along my path.

6 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God.’
    Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.
7 Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
    you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord;
    do not let their plans succeed.

9 Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;
    may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10 May burning coals fall on them;
    may they be thrown into the fire,
    into miry pits, never to rise.
11 May slanderers not be established in the land;
    may disaster hunt down the violent.

12 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
    and upholds the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name,
    and the upright will live in your presence.

A. Find Out

1. David was asking protection against whom and what? v.1-3
2. From what further did he ask protection? v.4,5
3. What did he ask the Lord to do? v.6
4. How did he describe the Lord, what did he ask and why? v.6-8
5. What did he want to happen to his enemies? v.9-11
6. What did he know of the Lord and with what result? v.12,13

B. Think:

1. What was the danger that David was crying against?
2. What did he ask the Lord to do about it?

C. Comment:

                David cries to the Lord to have mercy on him (v.6) and act into his situation. There were clearly evil men, men of violence (v.1) who made plans to cause dissension (v.2) and whose words were violent and harsh (v.3).

                But it went beyond that; it was personal for they planned David’s downfall (v.4), planning and scheming to trap him (v.5). In response to all this, David cried to the Lord (v.6) who was his Lord, the one he knew to be his deliverer from past experience (v.7) and asked Him to thwart the desires of the wicked (v.8).

                Yet he wanted more than mere deliverance on his own behalf, he also wanted the Lord to deal with those people who were around him causing this trouble (v.9), judgment upon them to completely remove them  (v.10). Even more he wanted people who speak wrongly against others  and those who are violent to be completely removed from the land (v.11).

                Whatever the outcome he knows that the Lord does work on behalf of the poor and needy, bringing justice for them (v.12) and that the outcome will be that those who are righteous and upright will be able to praise the Lord and be at peace before Him (v.13). Within the psalm there is therefore, an identification of the wrongs being spoken or done around him and a call for the Lord to deal with it and remove it.

D. Application:

1. Be careful of your words, be careful of your acts.
2. In trouble? Ask the Lord for help.