29 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 140 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This psalm, A ben Ezra says, was composed by David before he was king; and Kimchi says, it is concerning Doeg and the Ziphites, who calumniated him to Saul; and, according to our English contents, it is a prayer of David to be delivered from Saul and Doeg. The Syriac inscription...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man,.... Either Saul; so Theodoret; or rather Doeg, according to R. Obadiah: but Jarchi interprets it of Esau; by whom he means Edom, or Rome, or rather the Christians in general. Were his sense confined to the Papists, he might be thought to be much in the right; for this is applicable enough to the man of sin,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This and the four following psalms are much of a piece, and the scope of them the same with many that we met with in the beginning and middle of the book of Psalms, though with but few of late. They were penned by David (as it should seem) when he was persecuted by Saul; one of them is said to be his "prayer when he was in the cave," and it is...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; He is wicked at heart, and violent in his temper. Whenever we meet with such an adversary, we have good reason to cry to God: “Deliver me: preserve me.” Yet, if we must have enemies, we prefer that they should be bad men; we do not wish to have a child of God against us; if...
Spurgeon - Treasury of David - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ver. 1. Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man. It reads like a clause of the Lord's prayer, "Deliver us from evil." David does not so much plead against an individual as against the species represented by him, namely, the being whose best description is—"the evil man." There are many such abroad; indeed we shall not find an unregenerate man who is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Which imagine mischiefs in [their] heart,.... This shows that not a single person barely is meant but more, as Saul's courtiers; who were secretly and continually meditating mischief against David, traducing him to Saul, and devising things to take away his life. Such were the Jews to Christ, who were always plotting to entangle him, or contriving...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Which imagine mischief’s in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war. It goes hard with a peace-loving man — a man of quiet spirit, — when he is beset by those whose very heart is set on mischief, and who cannot meet one another without conspiring to prepare for some fresh form of battle.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent,.... Which Kimchi says it does before it bites. Aristotle (i) observes, that the tip or extreme point of a serpent's tongue is as small as a hair, and so exceeding sharp and piercing. Arama interprets this of the sharpness and cunning of the serpent; and particularly the serpent that deceived Eve,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah. Before a serpent strikes any object, its tongue is in quick motion. If you ever see a cobra when he is angry, you will notice that his tongue darts to and fro, as if impatient to sting; and the psalmist here, writing of the tongue of the ungodly, remarks...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked,.... From falling into their hands, and the weight of them); and from their laying hands on him, being men of power and authority; preserve me from the violent man: or men, everyone of them; [See comments on Psalms 140:1]; who have purposed to overthrow my goings: to supplant him; to cause him to...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have planned to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me,- “They have put it where I cannot see it; I do not know where it is, nor what it is; but know that they want to lead me into such sin that they can afterwards turn round upon me, and accuse me...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords,.... These were the Ziphites, according to Arama; see Psalms 119:85; the character well agrees with the Scribes and Pharisees, who were proud boasters, and despised others, and often laid snares for Christ to take away his life; and with the enemies of the church and people of God; who, through their...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And cords; they have spread a net by the wayside;- “ Close to where I am walking, so that, if I go even an inch out of the way, I shall be caught in it. They seem to be tempting me in my usual course of life: ‘They have spread a net by the wayside;’” — Psa_140:5. They have set gins for me. Selah. As men try to ensnare poor birds in all kinds of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I said unto the Lord, thou [art] my God,.... He said this to the Lord himself; claimed his covenant interest in him, and expressed it in the strength of faith: and this he did when in the midst of trouble and distress; in danger of falling into the hands of evil and violent men; they imagined mischief against him; were bent on his ruin, and laid...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: Ah! that was the right thing to do, — to leave the ungodly and their traps, and go straight away to God: “I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God.”
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. “When the darts flew thick and fast, and when the battleaxe came down with a mighty crash, ‘ Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.’” This Psalm reminds me of that passage in the song of Deborah and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,.... Temporal and spiritual, which he was able to effect; the mighty God and mighty Saviour: and this encouraged David to believe he should have deliverance; and this secured, confirmed, and established it to him; and to which he was the more induced by what experience he had had of the divine goodness...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked,.... Of Doeg, as the Targum, and of other wicked men, who were desirous both of taking him, and of taking away his life: but the desires of such men are under the restraints of the Lord; nor can they fulfil them unless they have leave from him, which is here deprecated. The psalmist entreats he might...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah. If it seemed that God’s providence was helping them against the righteous, they would be too proud to be borne with; they would lift up their heads on high, and say, “See how God is with us, how he permits us to have our way.”
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[As for] the head of those that compass me about, let the, mischief of their own lips cover them. Meaning either their natural head, put for their whole persons; and the sense is, let the mischief they have contrived for others fall upon themselves; see Ezekiel 9:10 Psalms 7:16; or some principal person, the head and leader of them, as the word is...