Psalms 140:4

Psa 140:4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

Ver. 4. Keep me] Who am thus sought and set for; but thou canst rescue me.

To overthrow my goings] Praecipitare, to hurl me down headlong.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 140:4-5. Keep me from the hands of the wicked — Hebrew, רשׁע, the wicked man. Let him not prevail to take away my life, my reputation, my interest, or my comfort, or to prevent my coming to the throne. Preserve me from the violent man — Hebrew, מאישׁ חמסים, (as also in Psa 140:1,) from the man of violences, injuries, or rapines; who hath purposed — Whose design and full resolution it is, if thou do not prevent it; to overthrow my goings — My feet, or footsteps; that is, to throw me down to the ground, to defeat all my hopes and counsels, and bring me to ruin. The proud — My insolent enemies, who despise me for my meanness, and exalt themselves against thee; have hid — Have secretly laid; a snare for me — That their designs, being undiscovered, might be the more likely to take effect, and I might fall into their hands ere I was aware. They have spread a net by the way — In which I used to walk. No hunter or fowler can be more industrious and cunning in spreading nets, or setting gins and traps for the beasts or birds which he wishes to insnare and catch, than they are to trace me in all my motions, (1Sa 23:23,) and to invent all manner of wiles and subtle arts to surprise me.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. (Psa 140:4) Keep me, Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked (man); from the man of violences thou wilt preserve me, who have thought to subvert my steps. A varied repetition of the prayer in ver. 1. With the last clause compare Psa 35:5; Psa 36:12; Psa 56:13; Psa 118:13.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

140:4-5 The psalmist asks for divine protection (see Ps 121), praying that the Lord will keep him safe from the many schemes of the wicked.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He declareth what is the remedy of the godly, when they are oppressed by the worldlings.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. Preserve me from the violent man] Saul again; who was as headstrong and violent in all his measures, as he was cruel, and inflexibly bent on the destruction of David.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Keep me, O Jehovah! To complaints and accusations he now again adds prayer, from which it appears more clearly, as I observed already, that it is God whom he seeks to be his avenger. It is the same sentiment repeated, with one or two words changed; for he had said deliver me, now he says keep me, and for the wicked man he substitutes the hand of the wicked. He had spoken of their conceiving mischief’s, now of their plotting how they might ruin a poor unsuspecting individual. What he had said of their fraud and deceit he repeats in figurative language, which does not want emphasis. He speaks of nets spread out on every side to circumvent him, unless God interposed for his help. Though at first sight the metaphors may seem more obscure than the prayer was in its simple unfigurative expression, they are far from darkening the previous declarations, and they add much to the strength of them. From the word גאים, geim, which signifies proud or lofty in the Hebrew, we learn that he does not speak of common men, but of men in power, who considered that they would have no difficulty in crushing an insignificant individual. When our enemies attack us in the insolence of pride, let us learn to resort to God, who can repel the rage of the wicked. Nor does he mean to say that they attacked him merely by bold and violent measures, for he complains of their spreading gins and snares; both methods are spoken of, namely, that while they were confident of the power which they possessed, they devised stratagems for his destruction.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) Overthrow my goings.—Literally, thrust aside my steps. The verse is a repetition, with variation, of Psa_140:1.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. to overthrow my goings] To trip me up and overthrow me. Cp. Psa_118:13. R.V. to thrust aside my steps.

4, 5. Repeated prayer for deliverance from their plots.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked,.... From falling into their hands, and the weight of them); and from their laying hands on him, being men of power and authority;

preserve me from the violent man: or men, everyone of them; See Gill on Psa 140:1;

who have purposed to overthrow my goings: to supplant him; to cause him to stumble and fall, to his disgrace and reproach; and that they might take an advantage of him, and an occasion against him. Arama interprets it, to drive me out of the land of Israel; see Sa1 26:1. So Christ's enemies thought to have supplanted him, and have found something against him, to accuse him of to Caesar, Mat 22:15.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked ... - See the notes at Psa 71:4. This is a repetition of the prayer in Psa 140:1.

Who have purposed to overthrow my goings - To thrust me down as I go; to defeat my plans; to destroy me. They endeavor to prevent my accomplishing what I had designed to do.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whose design and full resolution it is, if thou dost not prevent it, to overthrow my goings, or my feet or footsteps, i.e. to throw me down to the ground, to defeat all my hopes and counsels, and bring me to ruin.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 4. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. To fall into their hands would be a calamity indeed. David in his most pitiable plight chose to fall into the hand of a chastising God rather than to be left in the power of men. No creature among the wild beasts of the wood is so terrible an enemy to man as man himself when guided by evil, and impelled by violence. The Lord by providence and grace can keep us out of the power of the wicked. He alone can do this, for neither our own watchfulness nor the faithfulness of friends can secure us against the serpentine assaults of the foe. We have need to be preserved from the smooth as well as the rough hands of the ungodly, for their flatteries may harm us as much as their calumnies. The hands of their example may pollute us, and so do us more harm than the hands of their oppression. Jehovah must be our keeper, or evil hands will do what evil hearts have imagined and evil lips have threatened. Preserve me from the violent man. His intense passion makes him terribly dangerous. He will strike anyhow, use any weapon, smite from any quarter: he is so furious that he is reckless of his own life if he may accomplish his detestable design. Lord, preserve us by thine omnipotence when men attack us with their violence. This prayer is a wise and suitable one. Who have purposed to overthrow my goings. They resolve to turn the good man from his resolve, they would defeat his designs, injure his integrity, and blast his character. Their own goings are wicked, and therefore they hate those of the righteous, seeing they are a standing rebuke to them. This is a forcible argument to use in prayer with God: he is the patron of holiness, and when the pure lives of his people are in danger of overthrow, he may be expected to interpose. Never let the pious forget to pray, for this is a weapon against which the most determined enemy cannot stand.

Ver. 4. Keep me, etc. From doing as they do, or as they would have me do, or as they promise themselves I will do. Matthew Henry.

Ver. 4. Preserve me from the violent man. The second clause of the first versicle of this verse is the same as the second versicle of Ps 140:1, which seems the burden of the song. "Speaker's Commentary."

Ver. 4. To overthrow my goings. To take my feet from under me, to destroy the basis of belief, the power of advance in good works, that we may turn back from the way of salvation, or fall upon it, or, at any rate, may go very slowly along it. Neale and Littledale.

Ver. 4. (first clause). A wise prayer. The wicked will slander, and oppress, or mislead, flatter and defile. No one can keep us but the Lord.

Psalms 140:5*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Keep me—A repetition of the prayer of Psa_140:1.

Goings—The word may mean either feet, or the steps of his feet.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man. A repetition of ver. 1 in a modified form. The fact of iteration indicates the extremity of the psalmist"s need. Who have purposed to overthrow my goings; i.e. to bring me to destruction. (comp. Psa_17:5)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The course of this second strophe is exactly parallel with the first. The perfects describe their conduct hitherto, as a comparison of Psa 140:3 with Psa 140:3 shows. פּעמים is poetically equivalent to רגלים, and signifies both the foot that steps (Psa 57:5; Psa 58:11) and the step that is made by the foot (Ps 85:14; Psa 119:133), and here the two senses are undistinguishable. They are called גּאים on account of the inordinate ambition that infatuates them. The metaphors taken from the life of the hunter (Psa 141:9; Psa 142:4) are here brought together as it were into a body of synonyms. The meaning of ליד־מעגּל becomes explicable from Psa 142:4; ליד, at hand, is equivalent to "immediately beside" (Ch1 18:17; Neh 11:24). Close by the path along which he has to pass, lie gins ready to spring together and ensnare him when he appears.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

the hands of the wicked

That is, the power of the wicked (See: Metaphor)

have set a trap ... have spread a net ... have set a snare

The exact kinds of traps are less important than the idea that wicked and proud people are planning to make trouble for the psalmist. If your readers do not know much about different ways of trapping, you may need to reduce this to one line. AT: "have set a trap to catch me" (See: Metaphor and Doublet)

translationWords

hand

evil

proud

selah

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

the venom of a spider Heb. חמתעכשוב. חמת is an expression of venom, as (Deut. 32:33): “the venom of (חמת) dragons is their wine,” for if you interpret it as an expression of wrath, does an expression of wrath fit with wine? Rather, it is an expression of venom, venimos in Old French. Similarly, here the term venom relates to “under the lips.”

a spider Heb. עכשוב, a spider, araignee in French.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.