A Prayer about Prayer

Psalm 141

Sunday, 03 August 2025

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. - Psalm 141:2

Psalm 141 opens with a cry for help. It is a soul in deep anguish crying earnestly to God saying “O God I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.” Here is a desperate call for God’s intervention— a prayer of a person who is turning to God with an urgent heart cry, pleading for immediate help. We read from the latter half of this psalm, written by David, that he was in deep trouble. His enemies had laid traps for him and he feared for his safety and was in danger of losing his life.

Approaching God with right offerings

It appears that David is not offering his prayers at the Tabernacle but he consciously makes an effort to approach God with the right offerings. This is seen in verse 2 where he says,“May my prayer be set before you like incense; May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” 

Incense is a sweet-smelling aroma, offered by the priest at the Tabernacle, pleasing to God. It is symbolic of our prayers that go up to God. David’s desire is to offer a prayer that is like incense, a pleasing offering to God.

David then says, “may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” Lifting up of hands is a sign of surrender. It is a posture showing that we have no defence and our lives are subjected to the person before whom we stand. This posture of total surrender is likened to the evening sacrifice that is offered by priests at the Tabernacle.

Approaching God with humility

David then turns his attention to his own words, and his heart and his actions. A person who is being tormented by wicked men who want to harm him and take his life, stands in the presence of God and asks for God’s help to set a guard over his mouth and his lips so that no wrong words might come out from his mouth.

As David prays that God would watch over his mouth and not allow him to join with those who do evil, he says, “let me not eat of their delicacies.”

A delicacy is a food item that is considered highly desirable or sophisticated. David obviously may not be talking about food, rather about words in our mouth that feels like a delicacy which we desire for but is actually wicked and displeasing to God.

David, standing before God with his petition, is careful not to be drawn into speaking words that would be slanderous, or wicked in any way. He wants no part in the deeds of evil doers and he is open to accepting correction from the righteous.

Taking a stand against the deeds of evil doers.

After having examined his heart and his actions he offers his petition against the deeds of evil doers. Notice, it is not against the evil doers. The prayer is against their evil deeds. The evil schemes of the wicked will lead to their downfall. They will fall into the pits they have dug but it is not the doing of the person who is praying. It is the Lord’s judgment upon them. Here we see the psalmist praying against the snares and the schemes of the wicked asking God to protect him from them.

As we approach God in prayer, let us do so in a manner that is pleasing and acceptable to Him!

Thought for the Day: “Prayer can never be in excess” ~ Charles Spurgeon