Commentary - Psalm 140:1-5

Bird's-eye view

In this raw and urgent plea, David cries out to Yahweh for deliverance from a particular kind of enemy. These are not foreign invaders with swords and shields, but insiders, malicious men whose primary weapon is their tongue. David portrays them as cunning hunters and venomous snakes, highlighting the deceptive and deadly nature of their attacks. The psalm is a model for the righteous when under assault from slander, conspiracy, and wicked scheming. David does not take matters into his own hands; rather, he entrusts his cause to God, his ultimate guardian and vindicator. He lays bare the character of the wicked, rooted in pride and expressed in poisonous words and treacherous plots, and in doing so, he appeals to the justice of a holy God to intervene on behalf of His servant. This is a prayer for preservation from the snares of the serpent's seed.

The structure is a straightforward appeal. David begins with a general cry for rescue (v. 1), then describes the nature of his enemies in detail, focusing on their malicious hearts (v. 2), their venomous words (v. 3), their treacherous intentions (v. 4), and their cunning methods (v. 5). The repeated pleas and the two uses of "Selah" invite the worshiper to pause and consider both the profound danger of such men and the profound security found only in God's protection. It is a prayer that finds its ultimate answer in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was beset by such violent and deceitful men, and who, through His own suffering, secured our ultimate rescue.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 140 is one of the Davidic psalms of lament, where the psalmist brings a desperate situation before the Lord. It shares themes with many other psalms where David is pursued by enemies, such as Saul or Absalom, but the emphasis here is less on military threat and more on character assassination, slander, and conspiracy. It fits within a category of psalms that contain imprecations, prayers for God to act decisively against the wicked. This psalm, like others, is not a personal vendetta. It is a righteous appeal to the covenant Lord to uphold His justice and defend His servant who is being attacked precisely because he is God's servant. It is a prayer rooted in the great antithesis between the righteous and the wicked, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, a conflict that runs from Genesis to Revelation. Paul quotes verse 3 in Romans 3:13 to demonstrate the universal depravity of man, showing that this specific problem David faced is a manifestation of a much deeper, universal human sinfulness.

Key Issues

The Serpent's Tongue

When we think of violence, we tend to think of fists and clubs and swords. But the Bible consistently teaches that the most dangerous and destructive weapon in the world is the human tongue. James tells us it is a fire, a world of iniquity, set on fire by hell itself. Here, David reaches back to the very beginning, to the garden, for his primary metaphor. His enemies are serpentine. Their words are not just mean or untrue; they are venomous. Poison kills from the inside, corrupting the whole system. This is what slander does. It poisons a reputation, it poisons relationships, it poisons a church or a community. And it is the native language of the seed of the serpent.

David is under attack from men who have inherited the spirit of the serpent in the garden. Their tactics are the same: subtle, deceptive, and deadly. They do not engage in honest debate; they whisper, they plot, they lay traps. David's response is therefore not to engage them on their own terms, not to trade poison for poison. His response is to cry out to the one who promised to crush the serpent's head. He appeals to Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, to be his rescuer. This psalm is a master class in how the righteous are to conduct themselves in the face of satanic opposition, which almost always comes packaged in the mouths of men.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Rescue me, O Yahweh, from evil men; Guard me from violent men

The prayer begins with a direct, urgent cry. David knows his only hope lies outside of himself. He appeals to Yahweh by name, invoking God's covenant relationship with him. He asks for two things that are closely related: rescue and protection. "Rescue me" implies he is already ensnared or in immediate danger. "Guard me" is a plea for future and ongoing protection. The enemy is described in two ways. They are "evil men," which speaks to their fundamental character, their moral nature. And they are "violent men," which speaks to their actions. The Hebrew word for violent, hamas, refers not just to physical brutality but also to ruthless, injurious injustice. Their violence is the natural fruit of their evil hearts.

2 Who think up evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars.

David now diagnoses the problem. The evil is not accidental; it is conceived, planned, and devised "in their hearts." All sin is an inside job before it becomes an outside job. These men are creative in their malice. Their minds are workshops of wickedness. And the result of this internal corruption is external strife. "They continually stir up wars." This does not necessarily mean formal military campaigns. It refers to a spirit of constant contention, agitation, and conflict. They are troublemakers. They thrive on division and chaos. Peace is anathema to them, because peace is a fruit of righteousness, and their hearts are full of evil.

3 They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of an asp is under their lips. Selah.

Here is the central charge. Their primary weapon is their mouth. The imagery is vivid and terrifying. They "sharpen their tongues," which means their slander is not a slip of the tongue; it is a deliberate, honed, and practiced craft. They are skilled artisans of defamation. The comparison to a serpent is a direct echo of Genesis 3. This is the hiss of the enemy of God. Their speech is not just false; it is poison. Like the venom of an asp, it is lethal and designed to kill. The Apostle Paul picks up this very line in Romans 3 to describe the universal sinfulness of all mankind. Our natural state is to have this poison under our lips. Then comes the first Selah. Pause here. Meditate on this. Consider the hellish power of the unbridled tongue and the deadly danger David is in. Consider the state of your own heart and tongue.

4 Keep me, O Yahweh, from the hands of the wicked; Guard me from violent men Who give thought to trip up my steps.

David repeats his plea from verse one, but with a more specific description of the enemy's intent. He asks to be kept from their "hands," from their power to carry out the evil they have conceived in their hearts and spoken with their lips. Their goal is "to trip up my steps." This is the language of snares and traps. They want to see him stumble and fall. They want to push him off the path of righteousness, to cause him to sin, or to bring about his ruin. This is not a fair fight; it is an ambush. They are not interested in truth or justice; they are interested in destruction. And notice again, this is a calculated affair. They "give thought" to it. They study his walk, looking for a place to cause a fall.

5 The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah.

Now David identifies the root sin that motivates these men: they are "the proud." Pride is the original sin, the engine of all rebellion against God and all malice against the righteous. Because they are proud, they cannot stand the presence of a humble man who walks with God. So they resort to the tactics of a hunter. The accumulation of terms, trap, cords, net, snares, emphasizes the comprehensive and cunning nature of their plot. They have set their traps everywhere. The path is mined with them. The danger is hidden, deceptive, and constant. This is a perfect description of the Christian's walk in a hostile world. The world system, under the sway of the evil one, is constantly setting snares for the believer. The second Selah invites another pause. Consider the subtle and pervasive dangers that surround you. Acknowledge your inability to detect every snare. This should drive us, as it drove David, to a radical dependence on our Divine Guardian.

Application

This psalm is intensely practical for every believer. First, it teaches us where to go when we are attacked, especially with slander and malicious gossip. We do not retaliate in kind. We do not dip our own tongues in the same poison. We take our case to the Lord. We lay out the situation before Him with brutal honesty, and we ask Him to rescue, guard, and keep us. Our vindication is His business, not ours.

Second, this psalm is a powerful mirror. Before we are too quick to identify ourselves with David, we must see ourselves in his enemies. Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 3 to prove that "all have sinned." By nature, our tongues are sharp, and the poison of asps is under our lips. Our hearts, apart from grace, are factories of evil thoughts. We must confess this and repent of the pride that fuels it. The gospel is the only antivenom. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God removes the poison and gives us a new heart, creating in us a tongue that blesses rather than curses.

Finally, we must see our champion, the Lord Jesus, as the ultimate fulfillment of this psalm. He was the truly righteous man, beset on all sides by proud and violent men. They devised evil in their hearts, they sharpened their tongues against Him with false accusations, and they set a final snare for Him at the cross. But in falling into their trap, He broke it, disarming them and making a public spectacle of them. Because He was rescued from the ultimate trap of death, we can have confidence that He will guard our steps and rescue us from every evil man, and bring us safely into His heavenly kingdom.