Psalms 141
1 A psalm of David. Yahweh, I am crying out to you; come quickly to me. Listen to me when I call to you.
Yahweh, I call out to you; [please] help me quickly! Listen to me when I am calling to you.
2 May my prayer be like incense before you; may my lifted hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Accept my prayer as though it were incense [being burned as an offering] [SIM] to you. And accept me while I lift up my hands [to pray] to you like you accept sacrifices [that I offer to you each] evening [SIM].
3 Yahweh, place a guard over my mouth; guard the door of my lips.
Yahweh, do not allow me to say [MTY] things that are wrong; guard my lips.
4 Do not let my heart desire any evil thing or participate in sinful activities with men who behave wickedly. May I not eat any of their delicacies.
Prevent me from wanting to do anything that is wrong, and from joining with wicked men when they want to do evil deeds [DOU]. Do not [even] allow me to share in eating delightful food with them!
5 Let a righteous man hit me; it will be a kindness to me. Let him correct me; it will be like oil on my head; may my head not refuse to accept it. But my prayer is always against their wicked deeds.
It is all right if righteous people strike/hit me or rebuke me because they are trying to act kindly toward me [to teach me to do what is right], but I do not want wicked [people] to [honor me by] anointing my head with [olive] oil; I am always praying [that you will punish them because of] the wicked deeds [that they do].
6 Their leaders will be thrown down from the top of cliffs; they will hear that my own words are pleasant.
When their rulers are thrown down from the top of rocky cliffs, people will know that what you, Yahweh, said [about them] is true.
7 They will have to say, “As when one plows and breaks up the ground, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.” (Sheol h7585)
Like a log that is split and cut into small pieces [SIM], their shattered bones will be scattered [on the ground] near [other] graves. (Sheol h7585)
8 Surely my eyes are on you, Yahweh, Lord; in you I take refuge; do not leave my soul defenseless.
But Yahweh God, I [continue to] ask you [to help me]. I ask you to protect me; do not allow me to (die/be killed) [now]!
9 Protect me from the snares that they have laid for me, from the traps of evildoers.
[It is as though] people have set traps for me; protect me from falling into those traps, [It is as though] they have spread nets to catch me; keep me from being caught in those nets.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets while I escape.
I desire that wicked [people] will fall into the traps they have set [to catch me] while I escape [from them].
