psalm · 141
Come Quickly
now playing · Come Quickly
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summary
The door of the lips has a Keeper — eyes on Him stay free of the snare.
lyrics
Lord, I cry unto You; Make haste unto me. Give ear unto my voice When I cry unto You. Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense, And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, To practice wicked works with men that work iniquity; And let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, Which shall not break my head; For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, They shall hear my words, for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, As when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth. But mine eyes are unto You, O God the Lord; In You is my trust; Leave not my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, And the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, Whilst that I withal escape.
go deeper
Psalm 141: Come Quickly
When you need to remember — that You're still my Shepherd.
What's Going On…
You can be in a stretch where what you really need from God is for Him to keep you from saying the wrong thing — not from doing something dramatic, just from a sentence at the dinner table, a reply on a thread, a comment to the coworker who keeps pushing your buttons. You feel the words rising and you know if they leave your mouth they will not come back clean.
You do not need a stronger filter. You need to ask Him to set a watch before your mouth and keep the door of your lips, because that work is too fast and too constant for you to do alone.
What It Means
He starts in urgency: "Lord, I cry unto You; make haste unto me... Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." That image is gentle — the slow rise of incense, the evening ritual — and he is asking that his words go up like that, even when his pulse is going faster.
Then the request that turns this prayer: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing... and let me not eat of their dainties." He is asking God to guard the gate from the inside, because he knows he will open it himself if no one is watching.
Then the line that sets him apart: "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." Most of us would call rebuke an attack. He calls it kindness. The middle gets dark — bones at the grave's mouth, snares laid — and then the close holds: "But mine eyes are unto You, O God the Lord; in You is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me." Eyes up. Trust up. Soul not abandoned.
Right Here, Right Now
• Right now, before the next conversation — say out loud: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."
• Write this down: "What 'dainty' am I about to eat — what tempting wrong word, wrong company, wrong response — that I need to ask Him to keep me from?"
• Repeat this line when correction stings and you want to push back: "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness."
Selah
Stop. Breathe. Let evening incense rising slowly settle into the place that has been wanting to fire off something fast, then tell Him exactly which door of your lips you need Him to keep tonight — out loud if you can.
Prayer
God, I cry unto You — make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice; let this prayer rise before You like incense, even when my pulse is racing.
Set a watch before my mouth; keep the door of my lips — I cannot guard that gate alone, and I know what I will let through if You do not.
Incline not my heart to any evil thing; do not let me sit at the table of the people whose words I should not be eating from.
When the righteous reprove me, let me take it as kindness and an excellent oil — not as an attack.
But mine eyes are unto You, O Lord; in You is my trust; leave not my soul destitute, and keep me from the snares laid for me.
You're still my Shepherd.
Stay Strong
The door of the lips has a Keeper — eyes on Him stay free of the snare.
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