Catholic Commentary on Psalm 140

"I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." (Psalm 140:12)

Rescue from Evil Men

Psalm 140 is a petition for deliverance from violent and deceitful enemies who plot evil in their hearts, who make war every day, whose tongues are sharp as serpents and whose lips are full of the poison of vipers. The psalmist does not spiritualise his enemies. They are real people who plan real harm. The prayer is direct: keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet.

But the confidence at the psalm's centre is also real and specific: I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. This is not hope; it is knowledge, arrived at through the experience of a lifetime and the history of God's dealings with his people. The one who is being threatened by violent men knows, as a settled conviction, that God takes the side of the vulnerable. This knowledge changes the quality of the fear: it does not remove the danger but it places the danger within a framework of divine justice that will ultimately prevail. The Catechism grounds this confidence in the revelation of God as the defender of the poor throughout both Testaments (CCC 2448).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the enemies of Psalm 140 are also the spiritual forces that plot against the soul: the violent impulses toward despair, the serpent's tongue of accusation, the plans laid for our moral downfall. The LORD secures justice for the poor. Bring your vulnerability to him and trust his justice. It will not fail.

Prayer

Lord God, rescue me from evil and protect me from the violent. I know that you secure justice for the poor and uphold the cause of the needy. Let the righteous give thanks to your name and the upright live in your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

140
Rescue Me from Evil Men
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
 
1 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men.
Protect me from men of violence,
2 who devise evil in their hearts
and stir up war all day long.
3 They sharpen their tongues like snakes;
the venom of vipers is on their lips.* 140:3 Cited in Romans 3:13
Selah
4 Guard me, O LORD,
from the hands of the wicked.
Keep me safe from men of violence
who scheme to make me stumble.
5 The proud hide a snare for me;
the cords of their net are spread along the path,
and lures are set out for me.
Selah
6 I say to the LORD, “You are my God.”
Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.
7 O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
do not promote their evil plans,
lest they be exalted.
Selah
9 May the heads of those who surround me
be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into the fire,
into the miry pits, never to rise again.
11 May no slanderer be established in the land;
may calamity hunt down the man of violence.
 
12 I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor
and defends the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will praise Your name;
the upright will dwell in Your presence.

*140:3 140:3 Cited in Romans 3:13

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