morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute
fall
יִפְּל֣וּyi.pe.Lu
H5307
to fall · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
nets
בְמַכְמֹרָ֣יוve.makh.mo.Rav
H4364
a (hunter's) net (as dark from concealment) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
withal
יַ֥חַדYa.chad
H3162
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
escape
אֶעֱבֽוֹר'e.'e.Vor
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 35:8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
Psalms 140:9 As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
Psalms 7:15-16 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
Psalms 64:7-8 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
Proverbs 11:8 The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.
Psalms 37:14-15 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversatio…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 141:5–end
Here, I. David desires to be told of his faults. His enemies reproached him with that which was false, which he could not but complain of; yet, at the same time, he desired his friends would reprove him for that which was really amiss in him, particularly if there was any thing that gave the least colour to those reproaches (Psa 141:5): let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness. The righteous God (so some); "I will welcome the rebukes of his providence, and be so far from quarrelling with them that I will receive them as tokens of love and improve them as means of grace, and will pray for those that are the instruments of my trouble." But it is commonly taken for the reproofs given…
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,.... Which they have laid for others, as they very often do; see Psalm 7:15; or "into his net" (k), either Saul into his own net, and others with him, so Kimchi and Ben Melech; or the wicked into the net which God has laid for them; see Ezekiel 12:13;
whilst that I withal escape; or "whilst I together escape", or "pass over" (l); that is, while he, together with his companions, passed over the net laid; or,
"till I pass over safe and sound,''
will all mine, as Noldius (m); not only pass over and escape the snares of the wicked, but pass out of this world into a state of happiness and glory in another.
(k) "in retiacula ejus", Pagninus, Montanus; "i…
Psalm 141:8-10
8. Because to thee, O Jehovah! My Lord, are my eyes; in thee have I:hoped: leave mot my soul destitute. 9. Keep we from the hands of the snare which they have spread for me, from the nets of the workers of iniquity. 10. Let the wicked fall together into his nets; I always shall pass by. [242]
8. Because to thee, O Jehovah! etc. If we reflect upon what was comprehended under the previous figure of their bones being broken, his praying in such circumstances is just as if the torn fragments of a mangled corpse should cry unto God. This may give us some idea of the heroical courage of David, who could continue to direct his eyes to God even under such overwhelming difficulties;…
The Church Fathers
The sinners shall fall into his net. Above he said, Keep me from the snare which they have set for me, concerning many; but now concerning one, The sinners shall fall into his net. Just as the Lord casts a net, and catches a multitude of fish, and has the apostles as fishermen gathering and bringing to him, that is, those who believe through them: so also the devil has demons, who are subject to him, who both deceive men and bring them to him. I am alone until I pass over. Jeremiah says: 'I sat alone, for I was filled with bitterness.' That is, I was in penitence. Alone: clean, not a second. And Moses says: 'Passing over, I will see this great vision.' Unless he passes over, that is, all the faults, he cannot see the great vision. Now the vision was great, because the bush was burning, and was not consumed: the thorns were burning, that is, the sins. By this fire Isaiah too is cleansed: for this is the coal which touched his lips, which was upon the altar. Of this coal the prophet David also makes mention: 'The sharp arrows of the mighty one with desolating coals.' This coal is a desolator: it makes solitude, and purges of sins.
"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 Christ? Behold, when persecution was raging, when they all "left Thee alone, and went every one to his own:" lo! they who were closest to Thee, in Thy trial and persecution, when Thine enemies demanded Thee to be crucified, abandoned Thee. And that bold one, who had promised Thee that he would go with Thee even unto death, heard from the Physician what was being done in him, the sick man. For being in a fever, he had said he was whole; but the Lord touched the vein of his heart. Then came the trial; then came the test; then came the accusation; and now, questioned not by some great power, but by a humble slave, and that a woman, questioned by a handmaid, he yielded; he denied thrice. ..."He wept bitterly," it saith. Not yet was he fitted to suffer. To him was said, "Thou shall follow Me afterwards." Hereafter he was to be firm, having been strengthened by the Lord's Resurrection. Not yet then was it time that those "bones" should be "scattered beside the pit." For see how many failed, even to those who first hung on His mouth; even they failed. Wherefore? "I am alone, until I pass over:" for this followeth in the Psalm. ...
Dictionary and topics
Hunting · Fowling — Fowling
Net · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The prayer now begins to be particularized, and that in the first instance as a petition fore the grace of silence, calling to mind old Davidic passages like Psa 39:2; Psa 34:14. The situation of David, the betrayed one, requires caution in speaking; and the consciousness of having sinned, not indeed against the rebels, but against God, who would not visit him thus without his deserving it, stood in the way of any outspoken self-vindication. In pone custodiam ori meo שׁמרה is ἅπ. λεγ., after the infinitive form דּבקה, עזבה, עצמה. In Psa 141:3 דּל is ἅπ. λεγ. for דּלת; cf. "doors of the mouth" in Mic 7:5, and πύλαι στόματος in Euripides. נצּרה might be imper. Kal: keep I pray, with Dag.…
Wisdom sometimes requires protection from oneself. One could say or think things that lead to the evil path (Prov 13:3; 21:23). • Wisdom opens itself to correction from godly people (see Prov 3:11; 9:8; 15:31; 19:25).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 141:10
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape. It may not be a Christian prayer, but it is a very just one, and it takes a great deal of grace to refrain from crying Amen to it; in fact, grace does not work towards making us wish otherwise concerning the enemies of holy men. Do we not all wish the innocent to be delivered, and the guilty to reap the result of their own malice? Of course we do, if we are just men. There can be no wrong in desiring that to happen in our own case which we wish for all good men. Yet is there a more excellent way.
