Slow to Anger and Great in Faithful Love – Psalms 140-145

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #192 and today we’ll read Psalms 140-145 together.   The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love.

Welcome

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2!  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me – from the beginning – simply reading God’s word together.  We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament.  But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New.  So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work.  I’m really glad you’re here!

Psalm 140

Prayer for Rescue

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

Rescue me, Lord, from evil men.

Keep me safe from violent men

who plan evil in their hearts.

They stir up wars all day long.

They make their tongues

as sharp as a snake’s bite;

viper’s venom is under their lips.

Selah

Protect me, Lord,

from the power of the wicked.

Keep me safe from violent men

who plan to make me stumble.

The proud hide a trap with ropes for me;

they spread a net along the path

and set snares for me.

Selah

I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”

Listen, Lord, to my cry for help.

Lord, my Lord, my strong Savior,

you shield my head on the day of battle.

Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;

do not let them achieve their goals.

Otherwise, they will become proud.

Selah

When those who surround me rise up,

may the trouble their lips cause overwhelm them.

Let hot coals fall on them.

Let them be thrown into the fire,

into the abyss, never again to rise.

Do not let a slanderer stay in the land.

Let evil relentlessly hunt down a violent man.

I know that the Lord upholds

the just cause of the poor,

justice for the needy.

Surely the righteous will praise your name;

the upright will live in your presence.

Psalm 141

Protection from Sin and Sinners

A psalm of David.

Lord, I call on you; hurry to help me.

Listen to my voice when I call on you.

May my prayer be set before you as incense,

the raising of my hands as the evening offering.

Lord, set up a guard for my mouth;

keep watch at the door of my lips.

Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing

or perform wicked acts with evildoers.

Do not let me feast on their delicacies.

Let the righteous one strike me —

it is an act of faithful love;

let him rebuke me —

it is oil for my head;

let me not refuse it.

Even now my prayer is against

the evil acts of the wicked.

When their rulers will be thrown off

the sides of a cliff,

the people will listen to my words,

for they are pleasing.

As when one plows and breaks up the soil,

turning up rocks,

so our bones have been scattered

at the mouth of Sheol.

But my eyes look to you, Lord, my Lord.

I seek refuge in you; do not let me die.

Protect me from the trap they have set for me,

and from the snares of evildoers.

Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by safely.

Psalm 142

A Cry of Distress

A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.

I cry aloud to the Lord;

I plead aloud to the Lord for mercy.

I pour out my complaint before him;

I reveal my trouble to him.

Although my spirit is weak within me,

you know my way.

Along this path I travel

they have hidden a trap for me.

Look to the right and see:

no one stands up for me;

there is no refuge for me;

no one cares about me.

I cry to you, Lord;

I say, “You are my shelter,

my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry,

for I am very weak.

Rescue me from those who pursue me,

for they are too strong for me.

Free me from prison

so that I can praise your name.

The righteous will gather around me

because you deal generously with me.

Psalm 143

A Cry for Help

A psalm of David.

Lord, hear my prayer.

In your faithfulness listen to my plea,

and in your righteousness answer me.

Do not bring your servant into judgment,

for no one alive is righteous in your sight.

For the enemy has pursued me,

crushing me to the ground,

making me live in darkness

like those long dead.

My spirit is weak within me;

my heart is overcome with dismay.

I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all you have done;

I reflect on the work of your hands.

I spread out my hands to you;

I am like parched land before you.

Selah

Answer me quickly, Lord;

my spirit fails.

Don’t hide your face from me,

or I will be like those

going down to the Pit.

Let me experience

your faithful love in the morning,

for I trust in you.

Reveal to me the way I should go

because I appeal to you.

Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;

I come to you for protection.

Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God.

May your gracious Spirit

lead me on level ground.

For your name’s sake, Lord,

let me live.

In your righteousness deliver me from trouble,

and in your faithful love destroy my enemies.

Wipe out all those who attack me,

for I am your servant.

Psalm 144

A King’s Prayer

Of David.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock

who trains my hands for battle

and my fingers for warfare.

He is my faithful love and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer.

He is my shield, and I take refuge in him;

he subdues my people under me.

Lord, what is a human that you care for him,

a son of man that you think of him?

A human is like a breath;

his days are like a passing shadow.

Lord, part your heavens and come down.

Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.

Flash your lightning and scatter the foe;

shoot your arrows and rout them.

Reach down from on high;

rescue me from deep water, and set me free

from the grasp of foreigners

whose mouths speak lies,

whose right hands are deceptive.

God, I will sing a new song to you;

I will play on a ten-stringed harp for you —

the one who gives victory to kings,

who frees his servant David

from the deadly sword.

Set me free and rescue me

from foreigners

whose mouths speak lies,

whose right hands are deceptive.

Then our sons will be like plants

nurtured in their youth,

our daughters, like corner pillars

that are carved in the palace style.

Our storehouses will be full,

supplying all kinds of produce;

our flocks will increase by thousands

and tens of thousands in our open fields.

Our cattle will be well fed.

There will be no breach in the walls,

no going into captivity,

and no cry of lament in our public squares.

Happy are the people with such blessings.

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Psalm 145

Praising God’s Greatness

A hymn of David.

I exalt you, my God the King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

I will bless you every day;

I will praise your name forever and ever.

The Lord is great and is highly praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation will declare your works to the next

and will proclaim your mighty acts.

I will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty

and your wondrous works.

They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts,

and I will declare your greatness.

They will give a testimony of your great goodness

and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and great in faithful love.

The Lord is good to everyone;

his compassion rests on all he has made.

All you have made will thank you, Lord;

the faithful will bless you.

They will speak of the glory of your kingdom

and will declare your might,

informing all people of your mighty acts

and of the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your rule is for all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words

and gracious in all his actions.

The Lord helps all who fall;

he raises up all who are oppressed.

Bless His Holy Name

All eyes look to you,

and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways

and faithful in all his acts.

The Lord is near all who call out to him,

all who call out to him with integrity.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

he hears their cry for help and saves them.

The Lord guards all those who love him,

but he destroys all the wicked.

My mouth will declare the Lord’s praise;

let every living thing

bless his holy name forever and ever.

Close

No one talks to God like David.  He has absolutely no doubts that God hears his every word.  Like we expect our earthly daddies to meet our needs, David has the same expectation for God.   He trusts it.  In 140, he boldly asks God to rescue him from his enemies.  David asks Him to protect him from violence.  He praises God for doing these things and strategizes more about these kinds of predicaments.  Then in 142, David asks for God to hurry and help him.  But just for a minute he includes himself as one of his own worst enemies and asks God to guard his lips and his mouth and his heart.

The next psalm is somewhat alarming.  David cries out to God and confesses he is weak.  I have felt that way before.  It’s all just too much.  David and I both need mercy…we all do.  Now it’s his spirit that is weak.  Is he being tempted?  Is he afraid of falling?  He has been there before.  He knows what succumbing to temptations looks like, how much trouble it causes and how separated he is from God when he gives sway to it.  He sees it coming and wants no part of it, but knows how fine the line is.  Don’t we all.  

Do you want to be like David?  Can you imagine yourself that intimate with God?  Share your thoughts with me at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

See You Tomorrow!

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed.  Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions.  And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there.  If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.