Add parallel Print Page Options

Psalm 141

Guard My Lips and Heart

Heading
A psalm by David.

Accept My Prayer

Lord, I call to you. Hurry to me.
Turn your ear toward my voice when I call to you.
May my prayer linger before you like incense,
the lifting up of my hands like an evening offering.

Guard My Heart and Mouth

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord.
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not let my heart turn toward anything evil,
to take part in wicked deeds with men who do evil.
Let me not taste their delicacies.

Correct Me

Let a righteous man strike me—it is mercy.
Let him rebuke me—it is lotion[a] on my head.
My head will not refuse it.

Reject the Wicked

But my prayer is still against their evil deeds.
Their rulers will be thrown down by the sides of the cliff,
and they will hear that my words were pleasant.
They will say,[b] “As one splits and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”

Closing Plea

But my eyes look to you, Lord God.[c]
In you I take refuge. Do not take away my life.
Keep me from the snares they have set for me,
    from the traps of the evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 141:5 Literally oil
  2. Psalm 141:7 The words they will say are added to clarify who is speaking.
  3. Psalm 141:8 Yahweh Adonai, which the Jews read as if it was God the Lord