1A psalm of David. Yahweh, I call out to you; hurry to me! Give ear to my voice when I call out to you.
2Let my prayer be set before you like incense, the lifting up of my palms like the evening offering.
3Set a guard, Yahweh, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.
4Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to busy myself with deeds in wickedness alongside men who do iniquity; and let me not eat of their delicacies.
5Let the righteous one strike me — it is loyal love; and let him rebuke me — it is oil for the head; let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against their evils.
6Their judges have been thrown down by the sides of a rock, and they will hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7As when one plows and splits open the earth, so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8For to you, Yahweh, Lord, are my eyes; in you I take refuge — do not pour out my life.
9Keep me from the hands of the trap they have set for me, and from the snares of those who do iniquity.
10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, all together, while I pass by.
Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.
A Prayer for Protection from Sin
allusionExodus 29:38— The 'evening offering' invokes the daily tamid sacrifice prescribed at twilight.
allusionRevelation 5:8— Prayer likened to incense rising before God is echoed in the golden bowls of incense which are the prayers of the saints.
echoed inRevelation 8:1— The image of incense rising as the prayers of the saints echoes the psalmist's plea that prayer be set forth as incense before God.
thematic1 Samuel 22:1— The superscription references David in the cave, matching the narrative of David fleeing to the cave of Adullam.
thematic1 Samuel 24:3— David's hiding in a cave while pursued by Saul is the traditional setting associated with this psalm's superscription.
thematicProverbs 27:6— The wounds/rebuke of a righteous friend are received as faithful love rather than harm.
thematicPsalms 39:1— Both plead for a guard over the mouth to avoid sinning in speech.
thematicPsalms 140:5— Both describe the wicked setting hidden traps and snares for the psalmist.
thematicPsalms 7:15— The wicked falling into their own nets echoes the motif of the evildoer trapped by the pit he dug.
thematicRevelation 5:1— Incense representing the prayers of the saints echoes prayer likened to incense.