Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 141 (New International Version)

¹ O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.

² May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

³ Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴ Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

⁶ their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

⁷ They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave. ”

⁸ But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

⁹ Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
from the traps set by evildoers.

¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.

I was going to write about one verse in this Psalm, but instead felt compelled to list the entire Psalm here. David is asking the Lord for help. David wants to do what is right, i.e., he wants to be righteous, but oh the problems of a man living in a sinful world.

I will probably write about words in this Psalm a few times.

Today, notice verse 3:

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

What we say often leads to trouble and ruin. David asks the Lord to keep his mouth from ruining himself. “Guard my mouth,” asks David. I can see a large, burly security guard standing in front of me 24/7. He stares into my eyes, reads my expression; he knows what I am about to say. He lifts his fist and shakes it in front of me when he knows that I am about to say something hateful, harmful, terrible. That is what David asks of the Lord. Put that large, burly security guard in front of me and have that security guard keep my mouth shut at the right moments.

Yes Lord, set a guard over my mouth. Keep my mouth from harming others. Give me good  and uplifting words. Have those words flow from my lips daily.