Deliver Me From the Violent Man
1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Deliver me, Yahweh, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men: 2 those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war. 3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah. 4 Yahweh, keep me from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet. 5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah. 6 I said to Yahweh, “You are my God.” Listen to the cry of my petitions, Yahweh. 7 Yahweh, the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. 8 Yahweh, don’t grant the desires of the wicked. Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah. 9 As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. 10 Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise. 11 An evil speaker won’t be established on the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him. 12 I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy. 13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name. The upright will dwell in your presence.
Tongues sharpened like a serpent's, and a psalmist who asks only that the plans not succeed.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Deliver me, Yahweh, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men:
The last cluster of David's psalms, and they return to the subject the first book spent most of its time on.
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah.
Paul quotes this line in the chain of passages establishing universal guilt Romans 3:13. What is described is not loud abuse but something concealed and delivered in small quantities — poison under the lip, which is where a snake carries it.
The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.
The trap imagery of the whole collection, and it is always the same: something laid where a man is already walking, by people who studied his route.
Yahweh, the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.
The one thing remembered from past deliverance is a helmet — the head covered, which is the difference between a survivor and a casualty.
Yahweh, don’t grant the desires of the wicked. Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah.
The request is unusually modest for an imprecation. Not that they be destroyed — that the scheme fail, and the reason given is what success would do to them. He is asking that they be spared the confirmation.
As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
The covering of verse seven turned around. His head was covered by God; theirs is to be covered by what they said.
Let burning coals fall on them Psalms 140:10.
The harshest line, and it is the standard imagery of the collection rather than a new escalation.
I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
The turn, and it is a piece of knowledge rather than a request. What he knows is not that he will be rescued but that the case of people in his position is taken up — the same conviction the ninth and tenth psalms rested on.
Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name. The upright will dwell in your presence.
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