Psalm 140
New International Version
Chapter overview
Psalm 140 asks rescue from violent schemers whose speech, traps, and plans endanger the vulnerable. The prayer trusts that malicious strategies will recoil and that justice will defend poor and needy people.
ProtectionViolenceJusticePoor
1Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent,
2who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.
3They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips.
4Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet.
5The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path.
6I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” Hear, Lord, my cry for mercy.
7Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.
8Do not grant the wicked their desires, Lord; do not let their plans succeed.
9Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.
11May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent.
12I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
13Surely the righteous will praise your name, and the upright will live in your presence.
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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Text unchanged, provided through API.Bible.