Before us is a plea for help that comes from the heart of an exhausted man. This man is the same David who defeated many enemies...
Before us is a plea for help that comes from the heart of an exhausted man. This man is the same David who defeated many enemies and passed through many trials, whom we are accustomed to seeing as an indestructible warrior who handles difficulties splendidly. But now we hear not the voice of a triumphant victor, not the martial call of a mighty warrior accustomed to danger, but the voice of a weak man who hopes in the Lord not only because he is accustomed to walk before Him, but also because there is nothing else to hope in: his own strength is running out and his enemies are growing ever stronger...
It is often precisely the person accustomed to seeing himself as strong who finds it unbearable to admit his own weakness. But David is ready to acknowledge himself as weak, and in this another kind of strength is revealed: inward, inconspicuous, and often unappreciated by those around him. This is the strength of humility, which surpasses outward strength founded on flaunting one’s “toughness.” It is paradoxical, but true: acknowledging oneself as weak before the Lord makes it possible to receive the strength He gives. Self-exaltation founded on boasting of one’s own strength, however, sooner or later leads to its loss.
141 David prays for acceptance and assistance, Psa 141:1-6. For the deliverance of himself and friends, Psa 141:7-10. A psalm of David.
141:4 Incline not - Suffer it not to be inclined. Heart - Keep me not only from wicked speeches, but from all evil motions of my heart.Dainties - The pleasures or advantages which they gain by their wickedness.
141:5 Smite - By reproofs. Break - Not hurt, but heal and greatly refresh me. Calamities - In the calamities of those righteous persons who reproved him. When they came into such calamities as those wherein he was involved he would pity them and pray for them.
141:6 Judges - The chief of mine enemies. Overthrown - Or, cast down headlong by thine exemplary vengeance. Hear - Hearken unto my counsels and offers which now they despise.
141:7 Our bones - Our case is almost as hopeless as of those who are dead, and whose bones are scattered in several places.