Introduction
Today’s psalm is another psalm of David. Psalms 138 to 145 are all psalms of David and I’ve said before that it’s possible that these final psalms of David were a reminder to God’s people after the Babylonian exile that God had not forgotten his promise to send his people a new king in the line of David to rule over them. Although they had returned from exile, a foreign king ruled over them. But God was going to raise up a new king for them. And when the time was right, God sent his Only Begotten Son into the world as his Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King to save his people from their sin and misery in this world and to give them everlasting life in the new and better world to come. And from his throne in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ is still building his kingdom on the earth, adding men and women and children to it through the reading and preaching of his word.
Verses 1 and 2
In today’s psalm, David calls on the Lord in prayer. So, in verse 1, he addresses the Lord, who is the covenant-keeping God who has bound himself to his people with a promise to care for them. And David calls on this God in prayer and appeals to him to hear him and to come quickly to him. And just as incense was burned in the temple and the aroma was said to go up to heaven, so may his prayers go up to God in heaven.
Asking the Lord to come quickly suggests that the psalmist is in some kind of danger. And the fact that he goes on to write about evildoers and those who have set snares and traps for him suggests that there are people who are plotting evil against him. Since he asks the Lord to keep him from death in verse 8, it seems that his life is in danger. And so, his prayer is urgent. He wants the Lord to give close attention to his cry and to come to his aid quickly. David is trusting in his God to save him.
Verses 3 and 4
However, before he asks for salvation, he asks the Lord in verse 4 to set a guard over his mouth and to keep watch over the door of his lips. By referring to his mouth and lips, he means his speech. He’s asking the Lord to keep him from saying anything he shouldn’t say. He wants the Lord’s help to keep him from sinning by the things he says.
And in verse 4 he asks the Lord to prevent his heart from being drawn to what is evil so that he will not take part in wicked deeds. Other people may see what the wicked are doing and are drawn to it. Their hearts are inclined to join evildoers in doing what is evil. But David asks the Lord to guard his heart so that he will not be inclined to do what is wrong. When he refers to their delicacies at the end of verse 4, he might mean that he doesn’t want to develop a taste for what evildoers like. So, evildoers like doing evil. They have a taste for causing trouble and David doesn’t want to develop a taste for that kind of thing. Or when he refers to delicacies, he may mean that they are tempting him. The evildoers are setting before his eyes all these pleasures he can enjoy if only he becomes like them. But he knows those pleasures are evil and he must resist them.
And so, he verses 3 and 4 he asks the Lord to keep him from sinning with his words and to prevent his heart from being inclined to evil. Even though evildoers are against him, and they’re threatening him, he wants to walk faithfully before his God and to do what is good and right in his sight. I’m reminded of how King Saul wanted to take David’s life and there was that occasion when David had the chance to murder Saul. And David’s men urged him to do it. But David refused and said, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.’ And so, he rebuked his men and made clear to them that he would not incline his heart to do evil. He wanted to keep his way pure and he would not repay evil for evil.
Verses 5 and 6
In the first line of verse 5 he says that he regards it as a kindness when a righteous man strikes him. And the second line clarifies what he means by being struck: he means when he is rebuked. When someone rebukes us, it’s as if they’re striking us. When we’re in error, or when we’re doing something wrong, the truth can be like a slap in the face. However, David regards a rebuke like that as an act of kindness.
He compares receiving a rebuke to having oil poured on your head. One commentator explains that in those days you welcomed someone into your home by offering to pour oil on their heads. And so, the psalmist is saying he welcomes a rebuke from a righteous person.
Of course, no one really likes to be rebuked, but if a loyal and faithful friend does it for our good, then it is indeed a kindness. Think of how the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to rebuke David after taking Uriah’s wife and life. It was a good thing for him to do, because David needed to be convicted so that he would turn from his sins in repentance and turn to the Lord for forgiveness. If Nathan had not confronted David, who knows what other sins he may have committed afterwards.
Of course, there’s a difference between rebuking someone when they have fallen into sin and error and complaining about someone who does something we just don’t like or agree with. The world — and the church — is full of complainers, who continually complain about what they don’t like. But what we really need are not complainers, but people who are able to help us to walk closely with the Lord.
David regards the rebuke of a righteous man as an act of kindness. And so, we can imagine him giving thanks to God for such people. On the other hand, David prays against the deeds of evildoers. That’s in verse 6. And when their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the wicked will learn that David’s words were well spoken. He means the ringleaders of the wicked will be hurled down and destroyed. They will get what they deserve, because David has prayed to God against them. And when the ringleaders get what they deserve, then those who were following them will think twice about what they’re doing to David. Instead of attacking David, they will listen to him. That seems to be what David means in verse 6.
Verses 7 and 8
The NIV has inserted the words ‘They will say’ at the beginning of verse 7 which are not in the original text. And the inserted words are unnecessary, because David is now thinking about death. So, he imagines a farmer ploughing the land and uncovering the bones of the dead. And the earth is full of the bones of dead men and women because we all die. Death is inevitable in this fallen world.
However, David says in verse 8 that his eyes are fixed on the Lord. He is looking to the Lord for refuge and he is hopeful that the Lord will deliver him from death. Perhaps, because of the wicked evildoers all around him, David’s life is in danger and there’s a real possibility that he will be killed and his bones will be buried like the bones of other people who have died. But he’s trusting in the Lord his God to rescue him.
Verses 9 and 10
And in the final two verses of the psalm, he asks the Lord to keep him from the snares and traps which the wicked have laid for him. Since he refers to snares and traps in the plural, then it’s likely that his opponents have been attacking him many times. But instead of taking matters in his own hands, he asks the Lord to let the wicked fall into their own traps. So, may they be paid back and get what they deserve for attacking David. And may he, David, pass by in safety.
Conclusion
David was once again writing as a prophet to foretell the life and work of Jesus Christ our King, who came into the world to save his people from our sin and misery in this life and to give us everlasting life in the new and better world to come.
While he was on the earth, he received the Holy Spirit without measure or limit to enable him to devote himself entirely to doing his Father’s will. And so, he kept a guard over his mouth and kept watch over the door of his lips. He never once sinned with his words, even when people were trying to get him to say something incriminating and even when he was being maligned and falsely accused. And his heart was not drawn to what is evil and he did not take part in the deeds of evildoers. Nor would he repay evil for evil or take revenge on those who did evil to him. This is because every inclination of his heart and soul and mind was devoted to doing his Father’s will.
And since that was the case, then of course he did not need anyone to rebuke him, because he never did anything wrong. And when people did strike him and rebuke him, it was not because of any evil he had done, but it was because they were evil and they were attacking him for no good reason.
And because an unbelieving world hated him, they put to him to death, nailing him to the cross so that he died and his body was buried in the ground. And yet, his eyes were fixed on God his Father. He trusted in his Father to vindicate him. And sure enough, his Father in heaven did not give him over to death, because God raised the Lord Jesus from death and the grave and raised him to new, resurrection life.
And God keeps him from the snares and traps of his enemies by raising him from the dead and by exalting him to the highest place, far above his enemies. And he sends his preachers into all the world to summon his enemies to repent and to believe the good news for salvation. And all who learn that his words are well spoken and who pay attention to the message of salvation will be saved. And all who believe in him can look forward to the resurrection of our bodies from the dead and to everlasting life in body and soul in the presence of God.
And when people attack us because of our faith in the Saviour, we too can look to our Heavenly Father for the help we need, because we have been reconciled to him and we have been adopted into his family through faith in Christ our Saviour who bore our sins in his body and who has made peace for us with God for ever.
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