"Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked… The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside. Selah."
"I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God… O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle… Let burning coals fall upon them… I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name."
Tongues and traps
Like Psalms 58 and 64, Psalm 140 pictures enemies whose weapons are words (sharpened tongues, poison) and hidden traps (snare, cords, net). The prayer asks that their schemes fall back on them.
Romans 3:13
Paul quotes 140:3, "the poison of asps is under their lips," in his chain of verses on universal sin (Romans 3:13), along with 5:9. Psalm 140 has three selahs. The heading: "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David" (Vulgate "In finem. Psalmus David").
What the evidence shows
- Romans 3:13 quotes 140:3.
Continue the journey
Connected elsewhere in ScriptureThe Song of Moses: The Nations and Heavenly BeingsDeuteronomy 32:33: Serpents' venom as an image of the wicked (140:3).More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Serpents' venom as an image of the wicked (140:3).
- "The poison of asps is under their lips."
- "Their poison is like the poison of a serpent."