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(A psalm by David.)

A Prayer for the Lord's Protection

I pray to you, Lord!
Please listen when I pray
    and hurry to help me.
(A) Think of my prayer
    as sweet-smelling incense,
and think of my lifted hands
    as an evening sacrifice.

Help me to guard my words
    whenever I say something.
Don't let me want to do evil
or waste my time doing wrong
    with wicked people.
Don't let me even taste
    the good things they offer.

Let your faithful people
    correct and punish me.
My prayers condemn the deeds
    of those who do wrong,
so don't let me be friends
    with any of them.
Everyone will admit
    that I was right
when their rulers are thrown
    down a rocky cliff,
and their bones lie scattered
like crushed rocks
    on top of a grave.[a]

You are my Lord and God,
and I look to you for safety.
    Don't let me be harmed.
Protect me from the traps
    of those violent people,
10 and make them fall
into their own traps
    while you help me escape.

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Footnotes

  1. 141.5-7 Let … grave: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 5-7.

Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

I call to you, Lord, come quickly(A) to me;
    hear me(B) when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;(C)
    may the lifting up of my hands(D) be like the evening sacrifice.(E)

Set a guard over my mouth,(F) Lord;
    keep watch over the door of my lips.(G)
Do not let my heart(H) be drawn to what is evil
    so that I take part in wicked deeds(I)
along with those who are evildoers;
    do not let me eat their delicacies.(J)

Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me(K)—that is oil on my head.(L)
My head will not refuse it,
    for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,(M)
    and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
They will say, “As one plows(N) and breaks up the earth,(O)
    so our bones have been scattered at the mouth(P) of the grave.”

But my eyes are fixed(Q) on you, Sovereign Lord;
    in you I take refuge(R)—do not give me over to death.
Keep me safe(S) from the traps set by evildoers,(T)
    from the snares(U) they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall(V) into their own nets,
    while I pass by in safety.(W)

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