Bible Commentaries
Psalms 141

Verses 1-10

Psalms 141:0

Psalms 141:1 (A Psalm of David.) LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Psalms 141:2 “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense” - Comments - This incense was burnt at the morning and evening sacrifices. Therefore, Psalms 141:2 would refer the evening as well as the morning prayer time (Exodus 30:7).

Exodus 30:7, “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning : when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.”

Exodus 30:8, “And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it , a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.”

This incense was made of sweet spices.

Exodus 37:29, “And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.”

The Tabernacle was symbolic of prayer. Incense was symbolic of the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 8:3, “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”

The burning of incense covered the mercy seat, symbolic of our prayers ascending into the presence of God.

Leviticus 16:13, “And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:”

Jack Taylor tells a story, in reference to the lifting up of hands in worship, of how his granddaughter, when he first enters the room, lifts up her hands to him, in order that he might hold her. [128]

[128] Jack Taylor, “Sermon Series on Praise,” Southcliff Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, September, 1982.

In Psalms 141:2 the evening sacrifice was symbolic of the lifting up of hands.

Psalms 141:5 Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

Psalms 141:5 “it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head” - Scripture References - Note a similar verse about oil on the head in Psalms 133:2, “ It is like the precious ointment upon the head , that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;”