Protection From Sin And Sinners

INTRO

Since we have three psalms to cover today, we’ll focus on just one of them. Psalm 140 is a fascinating psalm. It is the last of the Imprecatory Psalms where the writer petitioned “God to carry out justice by bringing punishment or destruction upon evildoers, especially those who have mistreated him.”¹ Psalm 142 has the unique description of being written by David when he was in a cave. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Caves make good closets for prayer; their gloom and solitude are helpful to the exercise of devotion. Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon his later days.”² But today, let’s focus on Psalm 141, a prayer for protection from sin and sinners. When we come to the point where we don’t know what to pray, Psalm 141 gives us a framework to get us started.

TEACHING

John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople in the late A.D. 300s, said believers need to pray this prayer every evening. “The fathers singled out this psalm . . . prescribed its recital as a kind of saving medicine and cleansing of sins so that whatever stain we incur throughout the course of the day—abroad, at home, wherever we pass the time—we might on coming to the evening expunge through this spiritual air. It is, you see, a medicine that removes all these stains.”³

Psalm 141:1–2: The headings that will be used to describe this psalm were developed from a sermon on Psalm 141 from pastor Steve Shepherd.⁴ We begin by saying, “Lord, hear my prayer.” David called on Yahweh, the Lord, to hear him and hurry to help him. When we pray, it’s not just the words we use, but it’s the inflection in our tone. In Scripture, incense is often associated with prayer. In Revelation 5:8, John described the bowls full of incense—the prayers of God’s people. In the tabernacle and the temple, the prayers of the people ascended to God as the smoke of the incense rose in the sanctuary. In Exodus 30:34, God told Moses what to include in the makeup of the incense. According to www.templeinstitute.org, the incense included a special secret herb that caused the smoke to rise to heaven in a straight column. The altar of incense can also be seen as a picture of the intercession of Christ. Placed before the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant, the altar pictured our Advocate standing in the presence of God (Hebrews 7:25; 9:24).

David raised his hands in prayer. At least seven times in these psalms the psalmist lifted up his hands in prayer. In 2 Chronicles 6:12–13, when Solomon dedicated the Temple, he prayed with his hands spread out toward heaven. In 1 Timothy 2:8, Paul urged men to pray while “lifting up holy hands.” According to Sam Storms, praying with our hands lifted up can show several things about our soul/heart before God: We lift our hands in surrender to a higher authority; as an expression of vulnerability; as a sign of dependence; in expectation of receiving a gift; to shift attention away from self to the Savior; or as the beloved of God.⁵

Psalm 141:3: David prayed, “Set up a guard for my mouth.” What an incredible prayer! How often do we ask God to shut our mouths? James 3:5–6 points out the tongue is like a fire. We ask God to protect what comes out of our mouths because what we say reflects on Him.

Psalm 141:4: David prayed, “Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing.” Don’t let my heart be drawn to what is evil and don’t let anything evil come out of my life. In 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul said, “Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.”

Psalm 141:5a: David transitioned from rejecting the wicked to embracing the correction that comes from the righteous, praying, “rebuke me”. Spurgeon said, “Depend upon it, the man who will tell you your faults is your best friend. It may not be a pleasant thing for him to do it, and he knows that he is running the risk of losing your friendship; but he is a true and sincere friend, therefore thank him for his reproof and learn how you may improve by what he tells you.” Spurgeon added, “The oil of flattery is not excellent.”⁶ It’s important to allow God to discipline you and strengthen you. Ephesians 4:15 stresses the importance of “speaking the truth in love.” Hebrews 12:7–11 states that God disciplines us as His children so we can share in His holiness. This discipline will be painful, but it will yield peace and righteousness.

Psalm 141:5b-7: David next asked God to “expose evil.” The bottom line—let their wickedness be shown for what it is. This visual of being thrown off the sides of a cliff is poignant and powerful because there are some impressive cliffs in Israel. David prayed for severe judgment against the evildoers. When people see where evil will lead them, they will turn back to true and righteous words. In Matthew 7:4–5, Jesus told His followers to “take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Notice David first prayed for discipline and correction and then exposure of evil. David’s prayer led toward everything Jesus would preach.

Psalm 141:8–10: David’s prayer ended with, “My eyes look to You.” David asked for focus—to look to God for refuge and protection. Focus is another common theme in the psalms. The psalmist’s prayer is to fix his eyes on God, to seek God (Psalms 16:8; 25:15; 119:37). David prayed for his focus to remain completely on God so he could stand against the distractions. When we are distracted from God, we get into trouble. David prayed his enemies would “fall into their own nets” even as he would “pass by safely” (v. 10). David’s trust in God was repeatedly vindicated as those who sought to destroy him were themselves destroyed. Notice the similarity of these verses with Hebrews 12:1–3. We have to fix our eyes on the Lord.

CLOSING

Psalm 141 gives us an incredible outline for prayer: “Hear my prayer, Lord, as I position myself; as I cry out to You in my desperation because I need You, hear my prayer. Guard my mouth as I pray to You. Guard my mouth as I witness for You. Guard my mouth as I speak because it reflects on You. Also protect my heart—may it not be pulled aside or given to anything else. May it always be only for You. Lord, discipline me and refine me. In love, speak truth into my soul so I may be strong for You. Then, Lord, expose the evil around me. Because I’m focused on You, I can expose it and show it for what it is. Fix my eyes on You so I am able to walk through this incredible journey of life.”