Psalms 140

Deliver and preserve—from evil and violent men. The opening is urgent petition against persecution, not abstract worry.

Arminians welcome this honest cry. Seek the LORD’s rescue; violence is not met by self-help alone but by calling on the God who can preserve.

Deliver me, LORD, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men. Innocent persecution is laid before God as Judge and Helper.

Help is extended against violence and wickedness. Commend the cause to God rather than multiplying bare reproach.

Evil planned in the heart; wars stirred continually. Hostility is inward before it is outward.

Plotting in the heart should be taken seriously. Continual agitation is a moral course to refuse and to pray against—not a fate to admire.

Mischief imagined in the heart; wars gathered and stirred. Inward malignity drives the open campaign.

The more treacherous the assault, the nearer the promised aid of the Spirit who gave this form of prayer.

Tongue sharp as a serpent’s; venom of asps under the lips. Words wound like poison.

Wesley’s heirs hear a warning about speech. Calumny is not small talk; pray to be kept from both suffering and spreading such venom.

Serpent tongue and asp venom under the lips. Calumny is the weapon when open force cannot crush the innocent.

Unjust war is often lit by false report. The Spirit records the poison so the church may seek God against it.

Guard and preserve—from wicked hands and feet-tripping plans. The plea repeats with fresh urgency.

Keep asking for guarding grace. Planned trips are true; the hearer may still cast every scheme on the LORD who preserves.

Keep me from the hand of the wicked; preserve from violent men who plot to overthrow the unsuspecting.

Complaint turns again to prayer. God is sought as avenger and keeper when human hands close in.

Arrogant hunters hide trap, net, and snares beside the way. Pride invents ambush along ordinary paths.

Arminians urge watchful dependence. Walk the way, but pray against hidden cords; God can expose what arrogance conceals.

Proud men spread gins and snares; confident in power, they still devise stratagem.

Insolent pride and craft both drive the saint to God, who can repel the rage of the wicked.

I said to the LORD, You are my God—then plead for mercy’s ear. Confession and petition meet in this verse.

Own Him as your God and keep pleading. Mercy is sincerely sought; the voice of plea is welcome at His throne.

I said to Jehovah, You are my God. Listen to mercy’s pleas. Prayer rises from inward faith, not lip show.

Till there is persuasion of being saved through grace, there is no sincere prayer. Faith turns from man’s view to address God apart.

O LORD, my Lord—strength of salvation; You have covered my head in battle. Past covering fuels present trust.

Arminians hear experience teaching prayer. Remember covered days; let proven care encourage fresh dependence in new fights.

Strength of salvation; head covered in the day of battle. Past shield becomes fuel for present faith.

He comes not as a raw recruit but as one already protected. Recalled deliverance corroborates the plea.

Grant not wicked desires; do not further the evil plot, lest they be exalted. Prayer asks God to disappoint schemes.

When enemies will not turn, ask God to thwart the device. Exaltation of evil is not a good to accept passively.

Grant not—establish not—the desires of the wicked; frustrate aims so they are not lifted up in pride.

It is in God’s power, whenever He sees proper, to dash unprincipled designs. Security that overlooks providence is censured.

Let lip-mischief overwhelm the surrounding head. Designed harm rebounds on the designer.

Arminian interpreters hear poetic justice asked of God. Slanderers reap what they sow; leave the rebound to the Judge, not to private revenge.

Mischief of wicked speech falls on their own head. Imprecation seeks God’s just return of calumny.

The plea is not private spite but appeal that God settle the account of venomous lips.

Burning coals, fire, miry pits, from where they never rise. Severe judgment imagery against hardened persecutors.

Divine vengeance is no illusion. The prayer seeks God’s public justice against relentless violence, not a license for the saint’s cruelty.

Coals and fire recall Sodom; deep pits from which they never rise. David cuts off the reprobate from hope of pardon as beyond recovery.

God sometimes heals those He smites severely; here the prayer marks those judged past repentance. Had they been disposable to repentance, mercy would have inclined.

Let the slanderer not be established; let evil hunt the violent speedily. Land and haste mark public and prompt justice.

Pray against the rooted liar and the violent career. Establishment of slander is a social evil the church may ask God to uproot.

The man of virulent tongue shall not be established; mischief hunts the violent into ruin.

Whether by treachery or open force, God is the deliverer. The crafty cannot elude divine judgments.

I know—the LORD will maintain the afflicted’s cause and execute justice for the needy. Confidence seals the prayer.

Classical Arminians press this knowing as trust to keep. Afflicted saints may rely on God’s peculiar help; persecutors answer to the same God.

I have known that God will maintain the afflicted’s cause and judge the needy. Doubtful prayer is no prayer; providence undergirds the plea.

God may connive for a time, yet He does so advisedly to relieve and recover. It is His part to undertake the poor’s cause—do not despair in delay.

Surely the righteous give thanks; the upright dwell in Your presence. Deliverance ends in praise and nearness.

Expect thanksgiving and intimate fellowship. Support and deliverance lead to dwelling before God—not mere escape.

Surely—affirmatively—the righteous will thank His name; the upright dwell before His face, cherished by fatherly regards.

Though trouble silence praise for a time, what was taken will be restored. Struggle upward to persuasion that the Lord’s people will sing again.