Psalm 140:1-5 - Deliver Me, Preserve Me, Keep Me

1 Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, 2 Who plan evil things in their hearts; They continually gather together for war. 3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah 4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to make my steps stumble. 5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set traps for me. Selah The title of Psalm 140 informs us that David is the writer of this psalm which was given to the choir leader to be sung by God’s people. For sure, songs are a reflection of our personal stories that let people know what we experienced in life and how we responded to it. Songs also reflect our culture and our history. David lived around 1,000 years before Christ, which means he wrote this psalm over 3,000 years ago and it still exist today to give a glimpse of how he trusted the LORD in the midst of his troubles. It is obvious in these first five verses that David is dealing with difficult circumstances at this time in his life. He cries out to the LORD to deliver him, to preserve him, to keep him and again in verse 4, to preserve him from violent men. It seems likely that the circumstances behind this psalm occurred during David's years as a member of King Saul's official staff, when Saul's envy and paranoia were developing. In their attempt to please the king, some of Saul's officers spread lies about young David and even tried to set traps to make him look bad. They can just as easily relate to circumstances surrounding David in the tragic days of the Absalom rebellion. In this psalm it is evident that David was being slandered and that violence was lurking in the background, waiting to strike once slander had done its poisonous work. Some believe that it is possible that King Hezekiah had an old copy of David’s psalms and possibly put this collection of eight psalms together. He might have picked this particular one up and used it to pray when Rabshakeh's glib tongue was seeking to subvert the Jerusalem garrison (2 Kings 18). Or perhaps it was picked up and used by the restored captives when they returned and were surrounded by enemy forces as they attempted to rebuild the temple and walls of Jerusalem. God's people face similar situations today, for Satan is a murderer (John 8:44), a slanderer and accuser (Rev. 12:10), and a deceiver (2 Cor. 11:3). He is determined to discourage us, make us despondent and drive us into depression where we lose any hope that God cares about us and can help us. There are several lessons that we can learn from this psalm that encourage us to trust God and be faithful when Satan's servants oppose us. In verse 1-5, we must see that David's presence among Saul's leaders was like light in darkness (Eph. 5:8) and health in a hospital. When confronted by a godly man like David, Saul and his leaders either had to change their ways or get rid of him, and they chose the latter course. They were evil men (v. 1) who planned evil (v. 2), spoke evil (v. 3), and practiced evil (vv. 4-5). Note that verse 3b is quoted in Romans 3:13 as part of the evidence Paul assembled that proves the depravity of the human heart. The phrase "the evil man" (v. 1) is collective, for the pronouns in the psalm are plural (vv. 2-4, 6, 8). What David needed from the Lord was wisdom to avoid their traps and protection from their violent plans. You meet the "hunting metaphor" in Psalms 9:16, 31:4, 119:110, 141:9, and 142:3, and the "sharp tongue" image is found in Psalms 52:2, 55:21, 57:4, 59:7, and 64:3. As God's people in an evil world, we must expect the opposition of the enemy and trust the Lord to enable us to overcome (John 16:33). That is also why we should pray the model prayer every day in Matthew 6:9-13 asking God to “deliver us from the evil one”. God bless!