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Psalm 141 Bible study: Set a watch before my mouth
Psalm 141's watch before the mouth is a word the Hebrew Bible has only here (141:3), and its door of the lips has a lexicon entry for this verse alone. It asks for prayer to be received like incense and the evening offering (141:2), calls the blow of the righteous kindness (141:5), and turns its eyes to the LORD (141:8).
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“Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Psalm 141:5 the psalmist calls being struck by the righteous kindness.”
Is that in Psalm 141, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Like incense, like the evening sacrifice
The psalm's title is "A Psalm by David" (141:1), and the title says no more. Then the psalmist speaks to the LORD: "LORD, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! Listen to my voice when I call to you" (141:1). In Hebrew called and call are the same verb, qara, so the verse begins and ends with calling. Then he asks, "Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice" (141:2) (tap incense, sacrifice). The Law had incense burned before the LORD at evening (Exodus 30:8) and a lamb offered "at evening" (Exodus 29:39) with its meal offering (Exodus 29:41). The psalm doesn't say the psalmist was at the altar, or where he was. It asks for his prayer and his lifted hands to be received like them.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 141
- "Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness" (141:5). What does this verse mean?
- "Their judges are thrown down" (141:6), and "our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol" (141:7). Who are they?
- "Let the wicked fall together into their own nets while I pass by" (141:10). How can a prayer ask for that?
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 141 is waiting in Favor
- A watch before the mouth, a guard on the heart
- Three hard verses
- My eyes are on you
- Prayer at the evening offering
- A guard for the mouth
- Snares in three psalms in a row
- 6 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 141 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שׇׁמְרָהshomrahsay shom-RAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "guard, watch". Strong's: "feminine of an unused noun from 8104 meaning a guard; watchfulness". "Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth" (141:3). The Hebrew Bible has this word only here. Strong's 8104 is shamar, the verb for keeping and guarding, which the psalm has in "Keep me from the snare" (141:9) (tap Keep there). In the same verse as watch, the WEB's Keep is another verb, natsar (tap Keep). The psalmist doesn't set the watch himself; he asks the LORD to set it.
For your group
Psalm 141 Bible study questions
- 1"Let my prayer be set before you like incense" (141:2). The psalmist asks for his prayer to be received like an offering. What helps you come to prayer with that kind of care?
- 2"Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips" (141:3). Where do you most need a guard on what you say?
- 3"Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness" (141:5). Who in your life can tell you hard things, and how do you take it when they do?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 141 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Psalm 141 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 141 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home