There’s a lot I can learn from David’s prayer in Psalm 141. Let me list a few lessons:
1. He talked to God as if he truly believe God would answer him, and he wasn’t afraid to ask for a speedy answer (1).
2. His prayers were a daily disciplined devotion, like the morning and evening sacrifices offered by the priests (2; compare 5:1-3).
3. He wasn’t passive when he prayed & even lifted up his hands as he sought to receive help from God.
4. What help did David so urgently need? He asked for God’s help to “set a guard over [his] mouth” and to “keep watch over … his lips” (3). IOW, David started with help for himself because he knew his own weaknesses and tendency to speak before he thought. He knew the heart-mouth connection (“out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,” Luke 6:35), so he prayed for God to restrain his heart from bending in the direction of evil and evil people (4). This is similar to how Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (or evil people), Matthew 6:13.
5. David even welcomed God to send “a righteous man” to speak into his life, even if it was a rebuke (5a). This showed David’s humility & openness to examination & correction. David was likely being rebuked by a lot of unrighteous men who harassed him to join in their company and what they offered him; “their delicacies” must have looked tempting (4c).
6. To resist their temptation, David continually prayed against their evil deeds (5b). That’s how I can resist condoning or compromising with evil – pray against the harm that it causes.
7. David kept his focus on God and sought his help in responding properly to those who tried to trap him by joining them (8-10). I need God’s help every day so I don’t ever compromise with the evil that’s in me or around me. The best way I know how to do this is to do what David did: pray for God’s help and look to him for a speedy answer.
Leave a Reply