The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 140
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 141 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Psalm of David. O Lord, I have cried to thee; hear me: Attend to the voice of my supplication, when I cry to thee.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ. Κύριε ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, εἰσάκουσόν μου· πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου, ἐν τῷ κεκραγέναι με πρὸς σέ.
"Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hear Thou me" (ver. 1). This we all can say. This not I alone say: whole Christ saith it. But it is said rather in the name of the Body: for He too, when He was here and bore our flesh, prayed; and when He prayed, drops of blood streamed down from His whole Body. So is it written in the…
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
Κατευθυνθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου· ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου θυσία ἑσπερινή.
"Let my prayer be set forth in Your sight as incense, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice". That this is wont to be understood of the Head Himself, every Christian acknowledges. For when the day was now sinking towards evening, the Lord upon the Cross "laid down His life to take it again," [John 10:17]…
Set a watch, O Lord, on my mouth, And a strong door about my lips.
Θοῦ, Κύριε, φυλακὴν τῷ στόματί μου, καὶ θύραν περιοχῆς περὶ τὰ χείλη μου.
..."Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips" (ver. 3). He said not a barrier of restraint, but "a door of restraint." A door is opened as well as shut. If then it be a "door," let it be both opened and shut; opened, to confession of sin; closed, to excusing sin. So will it be a…
Incline not my heart to evil things, To employ pretexts for sins, With men who work iniquity: And let me not unite with their choice ones.
Μὴ ἐκκλίνῃς τὴν καρδίαν μου εἰς λόγους πονηρίας, τοῦ προφασίζεσθαι προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, σὺν ἀνθρώποις ἐργαζομένοις τὴν ἀνομίαν, καὶ οὐ μὴ συνδοιάσω μετὰ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτῶν.
The righteous shall chasten me with mercy, and reprove me: But let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head: For yet shall my prayer also be in their pleasures.
Παιδεύσει με δίκαιος ἐν ἐλέει καὶ ἐλέγξει με, ἔλαιον δὲ ἁμαρτωλοῦ μὴ λιπανάτω τὴν κεφαλήν μου, ὅτι ἔτι καὶ ἡ προσευχή μου ἐν ταῖς εὐδοκίαις αὐτῶν.
"The righteous One shall amend me in mercy, and convict me". Behold the sinner confessing. He desires to be amended in mercy, rather than praised deceitfully...."Shall convict me," but "in mercy:" shall convict, yet hates not: yea, shall all the more convict, because He hates not. And why does he therefore give…
Their mighty ones have been swallowed up near the rock: They shall hear my words, for they are sweet.
Κατεπόθησαν ἐχόμενα πέτρας οἱ κραταιοὶ αὐτῶν· ἀκούσονται τὰ ῥήματά μου, ὅτι ἠδύνθησαν.
You say to me, What am I doing? I am beset with flatterers; they cease not to besiege me; they praise in me what I would not, that praise in me what I hold in little esteem; what I hold dear they blame in me; flatterers, treacherous, deceivers. For instance, "Gaiuseius is a great man, great, learned, wise; but why is…
As a lump of earth is crushed upon the ground, Our bones have been scattered by the mouth of the grave.
Ὡσεὶ πάχος γῆς διεῤῥάγη ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, διεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην.
What then have all those deaths of the martyrs accomplished? Listen: "As the fatness of the earth is spread over the earth, our bones have been scattered beside the pit". "The bones" of the martyrs, that is, the bodies of the witnesses of Christ. The martyrs were slain, and they who slew them seemed to prevail. They…
For mine eyes are to thee, O Lord God: I have hoped in thee; take not away my life.
Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε Κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, μὴ ἀντανέλῃς τὴν ψυχήν μου.
"For unto You, Lord, are my eyes; in You have I hoped, take not Thou away my life". For they were tortured in persecutions, and many failed. It occurs to him that many have failed, many have been in hazard, and as it were in the midst of the tribulation of persecution is sent forth the voice of one praying; "For unto…
Keep me from the snare which they have set for me, And from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
Φύλαξόν με ἀπὸ παγίδος ἧς συνεστήσαντό μοι, καὶ ἀπὸ σκανδάλων τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν.
"Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me". What was the trap? "If you consent, I spare you." In the trap was set the bait of the present life; if the bird love this bait, it falls into the trap: but if the bird be able to say, "The day of man have I not desired: You know:" [Jeremiah 17:16] "He shall pluck…
Sinners shall fall by their own net: I am alone until I shall escape.
Πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ, καταμόνας εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἕως οὗ ἂν παρέλθω.
"Sinners shall fall into his nets" (ver. 10). Not all sinners, certain sinners, who are so great sinners, as to love this life to such a degree as to prefer it to everlasting life, "shall fall into his trap." But what sayest thou? Shall they that are such, thinkest thou, fall into his nets? what of Thy disciples, O…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.