Psalm 140:1

Psalm 140:1, in plain English

David is calling out to God for protection from people who want to harm him—not just people who annoy him, but actual violent men who pose a real threat.

Why it's here

David faced genuine enemies throughout his life, whether as a fugitive from Saul, during his reign dealing with rebels, or in his later years. This isn't theoretical; he's asking God to intervene in a dangerous situation where wicked people are actively working against him.

Who's speaking

David, likely written during a time when he was being hunted or threatened by violent adversaries.

Where it sits in the story

This echoes the pattern throughout the Psalms where God's people cry out for rescue from those who oppose them. It's a foundational posture in Scripture: when you're threatened by evil, you take it to God, not to revenge or fear.

The scholarly reading

The psalmist urgently petitions God for deliverance from violent adversaries, establishing the psalm's central concern: protection from those who inflict physical and moral harm.

Language and setting

This opening invocation reflects the existential vulnerability of an ancient Israelite facing persecution—whether from political enemies, social rivals, or court opponents. The doubling of the petition (rescue/protect, evil men/men of violence) employs what Hebrew scholars term parallelismus membrorum, intensifying the plea through structural repetition rather than introducing new content.

Voice

An individual psalmist experiencing acute danger, likely someone of some standing whose enemies view him as a threat worth eliminating.

Significance

This psalm inaugurates a pattern throughout the Psalter wherein the righteous cry out to God as their ultimate judge and protector—a theme running from Abraham's intercession for Sodom through the New Testament's portrait of Christ's persecution, establishing that God's people have always faced opposition that only divine intervention can remedy.

1Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence,

2who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.

3They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips.

Read all of Psalm 140 — Violent men plot evil. They sharpen their tongues like a serpent's. David prays for deliverance — and trusts that God maintains the cause of the afflicted.