Psalm 141:5-10 “Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds. Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock. They will hear my words, for they are well spoken. ‘As when one ploughs and breaks up the earth, our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.’ For my eyes are on you, LORD, the Lord. I take refuge in you. Don’t leave my soul destitute. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall together into their own nets while I pass by.”

David’s longing is to be righteous. He doesn’t want to be caught up in the plans of the wicked, because eventually they will be judged.

We’re reminded here that we don’t just need God’s help to live righteous lives, we also need the help of other believers.

Proverbs 27:5-6 “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.”

Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted.”

It’s a challenge to speak God’s truth to others. It’s even more of a challenge to speak gently and appropriately.

For additional worship: Under His Wings

Psalm 141:1-4 “A Psalm by David. LORD, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! Listen to my voice when I call to you. Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity. Don’t let me eat of their delicacies.”

We sometimes believe that our Christian walk is up to us. That’s only partly true. One of the best things we can do, rather than try to make it on our own, is to humbly submit ourselves to God, and ask Him for His help to live for Him.

Matthew 6:13 “Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 “seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

For additional worship: Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise

Psalm 140:9-13 “As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise. An evil speaker won’t be established in the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him. I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy. Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name. The upright will dwell in your presence.”

This is more than just a cry for vengeance. This is a request for God to allow the evildoers own evil to catch up with them. “Let the mischief of their own lips cover them.” “Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him.” This sometimes happens naturally, but David is asking God to make sure of it, because God cares for the afflicted, and brings justice for the needy!

There is another way that we can heap burning coals on our enemies:

Romans 12:20-21 “Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

For additional worship: When in the Hour of Deepest Need (Paul Eber)

When in the hour of utmost need
we know not where to look for aid,
when days and nights of anxious thought
no help or counsel yet have brought.

Then is our comfort this alone
that we may meet before your throne;
to you, O faithful God, we cry
for rescue from our misery.

For you have promised, Lord, to heed
your children’s cries in time of need
through him whose name alone is great,
our Savior and our advocate.

And so we come, O God, today
and all our woes before you lay;
be with us in our anguish still,
free us at last from ev’ry ill.

So that with all our hearts we may
to you our glad thanksgiving pay,
then walk obedient to your Word
and now and ever praise you, Lord.

Psalm 140:1-8 “For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Deliver me, LORD, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men: those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah. LORD, keep me from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet. The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah. I said to the LORD, ‘You are my God.’ Listen to the cry of my petitions, LORD. LORD, the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. LORD, don’t grant the desires of the wicked. Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah.”

Wicked and violent people don’t just desire to physically hurt God’s people. They lie and slander, and they set traps. Are these metaphorical or physical traps that David is referring to? For us, I think it’s a reminder that people will try to get us to blaspheme and sin against our Lord. “Why hasn’t He come back yet?” “Why are you suffering if God really cares?” “What good does it do to follow God?” Perhaps we should take to heart the example of Jesus in the Lord’s prayer:

Matthew 6:13 “Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Doesn’t David’s prayer seem like a longer version of that?!?!?

For additional worship: My Father Watches Over Me

Psalm 139:19-24 “If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men! For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

David understands (and is probably experiencing) the evil thoughts and actions of the wicked, so He asks God to judge them. They are bloodthirsty, they hate God, and they take His name in vain. David wants to be nothing like them, so he asks God to search him to prove that he isn’t! He hates the wicked because of their actions and asks God to guide him so that He’ll be nothing like them.

Sometimes we justify our evil thoughts and actions. That’s not the way we’re supposed to be! We are to embrace holiness and despise evil to the point that we have clear consciences before God.

John 3:20-21 “For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

For additional worship: O Thou to Whose All Searching Sight

Psalm139:13-18 “For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum! If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.”

God knew all about us from the time we were embryos in the womb. In fact, He designed us! He is with us when life begins (before we are born), He is with us when we wake up from sleep, and He is with us all the days of our lives (which He has ordained). His thoughts should be precious to us, since He is the only one who knows all about us and all about everything. He is the only one deserving of praise!

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past tracing out! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?’ ‘Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?’ For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.”

For additional worship: Untold

Psalm 139:7-12 “Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,’ even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.”

Yesterday, we saw that God is omniscient (He possesses complete knowledge). Today we see that God is omnipresent (He is everywhere at the same time). This doesn’t mean that he’s present the same way in a tree as He is in a believer! But it does mean that His spirit/presence is everywhere and we can’t get away from Him. Not in the heart of the sea, or in the heights of the heavens. In fact, even if we find ourselves in the darkness, He overcomes the darkness with light! Are you experiencing darkness in your life right now? Trust, praise, and pray to find the light.

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.”

For additional worship: Even the Darkness is Light to Him (Michael Card)

Psalm 139:1-6 “For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.”

Who knows us better than God? Scary, right? All the things we don’t want other people to know? All the thoughts that we think are our own? God knows them all, and He still cares for us! He watches over us and takes care of us. It’s humbling, amazing, and assuring. How can we even begin to understand it?

For additional worship: Psalm 139 (You are There) Mercy Me

Psalm 138:1-8 “By David. I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. I will bow down towards your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all. In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth. Yes, they will sing of the ways of the LORD, for the LORD’s glory is great! For though the LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but he knows the proud from afar. Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. The LORD will fulfil that which concerns me. Your loving kindness, LORD, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.”

Why should we give God thanks, even proclaiming His worth before the heavenly host? Because He is loving and kind. Because He answers prayer. Because He encourages us though the Spirit. Because He looks after the destitute, and rescues those who need help. Because He is faithful to do everything He said He would do! It’s because of all this that we come before Him to ask Him for help.

Hebrews 4:16 “Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need.”

Note too, that God’s Word has an important part to play in all this. God exalts His Word, and even the heathen nations praise when they hear it! God’s Word is our objective standard for truth. It reveals God and His ways to us, which is why it’s so important.

For additional worship: Angels From the Realms of Glory