Psalm 141

A Prayer Not to Sin

A psalm of David.

141Lord, I call to you. Come quickly.

Listen to me when I call to you.

²Let my prayer be like incense placed before you,

and my praise like the evening sacrifice.

³Lord, help me control my tongue;

help me be careful about what I say.

⁴Take away my desire to do evil

or to join others in doing wrong.

Don’t let me eat tasty food

with those who do evil.

⁵If a good person punished me, that would be kind.

If he corrected me, that would be like perfumed oil on my head.

I shouldn’t refuse it.

But I pray against those who do evil.

⁶Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs.

Then people will know that I have spoken correctly:

⁷“The ground is plowed and broken up.

In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave.”

⁸God, I look to you for help.

I trust in you, Lord. Don’t let me die.

⁹Protect me from the traps they set for me

and from the net that evil people have spread.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

but let me pass by safely.