PROTECT ME—FROM ME!
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Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, as I come to engage with you today, I come with thanksgiving and praise. I come with an open heart ready to receive from your Word and do what it leads me to do.
Read PSALM 141
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
A psalm of David.
1 I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;
hear me when I call to you.
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil
so that I take part in wicked deeds
along with those who are evildoers;
do not let me eat their delicacies.
5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.
6 Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
9 Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers,
from the snares they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus, / look full in his wonderful face, / and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, / in the light of his glory and grace.’1
As we saw in Psalm 140, the psalmist (probably David) prays for protection. Here, however, he does not plead for protection from enemies but protection from himself. ‘… if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’2 While alert to the wickedness around him, David recognizes his own inclination to evil. His prayer for protection is urgent—‘come quickly’ (v. 1)— and contains a three-pronged defense strategy involving self (vv. 3, 4), others (v. 5), and God (v. 8).
David seeks God’s help to set up safeguards to protect himself from himself! He begins with the mouth. James describes the tongue’s dangerous power and our own inability to control it: ‘We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths.’3 We need ‘a guard’ over our mouths (v. 3) lest our words ‘ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke, and go up in smoke with it!’4 David recognizes how swift the journey is from what the heart is ‘drawn to’ to what the hands decide to dabble in; so he pleads for protection for his heart (v. 4a) and strength to resist the tempting ‘delicacies’ before him (v. 4b).
To eat with someone signifies table fellowship, which is not just sharing a meal but implies belonging and shared beliefs. We can and must nurture friendships with unbelievers, but our mentors and influencers must be prayerfully chosen. David resisted the intimacy of table fellowship with evildoers and held himself accountable to the ‘righteous’ (v. 5). Secret sins exert a stranglehold on us; talking through our struggles with mature believers can help to loosen sin’s iron grip but, above all other safeguards and sources of help, David’s surest defense was to fix his gaze on God and seek refuge in him (v. 8).
Apply
Our Father in heaven, ‘Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil.’5
Closing prayer
I confess, Lord, there are times when I am drawn to things that are not of you. I ask for your forgiveness and for your help and strength to be faithful to you in all that I do.
1 ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’, Helen Lemmel,1922 2 1 Cor 10:12 3 James 3:2, The Message 4 James 3:5, 6, The Message 5 Matt 6:13, The Message
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