Psalm 141 Part 1

The psalm begins with David’s urgent need, but notice how he asked God to deal with his own sin and weakness (evil within) before addressing those who were fighting against him (evil without.) V’s5-7 are difficult and apparently hard to translate. They are a plea for survival amidst difficult times in the wilderness. He was away from the sanctuary and therefore he used the analogy of his prayers to be a representative of the incense burnt morning and evening in that place, and his uplifted arms as the smoke that ascended on high. Rev5:8 says the prayers of God’s people are like incense, and Hebrews13:15 describes praise as a sacrifice to God. Both are activated by fire. James5:16 speaks of effective fervent prayer. As a fugitive, prayer would replace the offering of incense and sacrifice that was offered every morning and evening before the Lord. A living sacrifice (Romans12:1). Raised hands are symbolic of dependence. 

Having prayed that, David (v’s3-4) didn’t want the same mouth that prayed “as the incense” to be used for any evil thing and therefore he asked God to “keep watch over the door of his lips.” The creaking hinges of complaining or criticism need to be oiled with joy and gladness. If nature has made our lips to be the door of our words, may the door be kept by grace. Having become a Christian at the age of 20, the words of my lips had not always been pure. Even now I know those words are within me and swirl around in my head on occasion, but by the grace of God, you won’t hear them on the outside. By analogy; I learned to ride a bike at an early age. If you were to suddenly show me a Bible verse that said that riding a bicycle was a sin, I could say I would never ride a bike again. But I would never forget how! At any time, I could jump on a bike and pedal off down the street. So it is with profanity. God’s grace is the door to my lips and the oil on my heart.