Psalm 140:8
Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah
Sermons
The Desires of the Wicked InadmissibleD. A. Clark.Psalm 140:8
God Preserves His ServantPsalm 140:1-13
Our Adversary and Our DefenseS. Conway Psalm 140:1-13
The Holy WarC. Short Psalm 140:1-13
The Intervention of God SoughtR. Tuck Psalm 140:8-11














We need not fix close attention on the intensity of the language which the psalmists use concerning their enemies, or even concerning the enemies of God. All that unrestrainedness belongs to the times and the race. Eastern people use language which to the Western mind appears extravagant and unworthy. We feel, under persecution and calamity, precisely as they felt, but we know how to express our feelings more guardedly. Only in moments of passion do we ever permit ourselves to say or to wish such things as these psalmists utter so freely. The topic suggested here is this - What is to be done by the godly man when he finds himself in the midst of malicious foes?

I. HE IS TEMPTED TO INDULGE REVENGEFUL FEELING. Such feelings at once come. They are the natural, or we may more truly say the unnatural, response of our hearts, Indeed, if we do not watch ourselves well, we at once answer back. It is not our sin that revengeful feeling is aroused. It is sin when revengeful feeling is encouraged; our grievous sin when it is enjoyed.

II. HE IS TEMPTED TO VINDICATE HIMSELF BY ACTS OF RETALIATION. "Rendering evil for evil." Taking the avenging of his injuries into his own hands. Children do that. Uncivilized and unorganized nations do that. Each one avenges his own wrongs. But from the Divine standpoint that is always and altogether wrong; for one supremely good reason - that a man can never avenge himself without seriously injuring himself in so doing. The worst thing that can happen to a man is to get his revenge. That dims the fine gold of character.

III. HE IS PERSUADED TO LEAVE VENGEANCE TO GOD. And this he may safely do, because whosoever touches God's people touches God - touches the "apple of his eye." Moreover, God never lets the wicked go unpunished; but as he loves the wicked and seeks his good, he alone can adjust the punishment to the individual, and to the securing of wise and gracious ends. God can be calm in judgments.

IV. HE IS MOVED TO ASK GOD TO UNDERTAKE THE VENGEANCE FOR HIM. And then he is altogether relieved from the pressure of responsibility, and is free to bear the burden quietly and calmly. - R.T.

Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked.
I. SOME OF THE DESIRES OF THE WICKED.

1. That there is no God. They dare not submit their conduct to Divine inspection, and would be glad if there were no Being to inspect. But against this desire the godly oppose their prayers. And there are good reasons why they thus feel. If there were no God, everything must immediately be thrown into a state of confusion. Chaos would return.

2. If a God do and must exist, sinners wish Him to be a mere spectator of the affairs of the world. The grand objection they have to His existence is, that if He exist He must have the reins of government. But the saints not only desire God to reign, they wish Him to manage all the affairs of creation. They consider their own safety and that of others to depend on this special care of God.

3. If God must exist, and must be an active agent in governing the world, the wicked are desirous that He should work without any plan. They are afraid of Divine decrees. They fear that these decrees do not favour them. The righteous, on the other hand, found all their hopes of salvation, both as it regards themselves and others, on the purposes of God.

4. Sinners desire happiness and heaven without holiness. Between these two God has established an indissoluble connection. He has decreed that holiness shall be the only path to happiness. But this connection sinners wish to destroy. They hate holiness wherever it appears, and yet they intend to be happy. The righteous, on the contrary, love nothing so much as holiness.

5. Sinners desire that Christians may walk disorderly, and so dishonour the religion of Jesus. Against these falls the saints pray, and are grieved when they take place. They love their fellow-saints. Every spot that appears in their garments grieves their hearts. They feel some of the same distress on such occasions as is felt when they go astray themselves.

6. The wicked desire to remain ignorant of their own characters. The righteous daily pray the favour of being acquainted with themselves.

7. Wicked men are very desirous that there may be no day of judgment. They do not wish the final inspection of Omniscience. In such desires the righteous cannot unite. It is their ardent wish that there may be a day that shall bring every deed to light, and pass an impartial judgment on all the actions of men.

8. The wicked are very desirous to be left to act without restraint. Nothing do they desire more. In this particular the children of God, and all holy beings, oppose their wishes. It would ruin the world to have them gratified. Free the wicked from restraint and there would be but little difference between earth and hell.

II. INFERENCES.

1. The monstrous wickedness of the heart.

2. The nature of regeneration. It is a universal change in the desires of the heart, in the affections of the soul.

3. The great difference between the righteous and the wicked.

4. Why sinners do not desire or relish the society of the righteous. They have opposing desires.

(D. A. Clark.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Bring, Designs, Desire, Desires, Device, Evil, Exalt, Exalted, Forth, Further, Grant, Lest, O, Plans, Plot, Pride, Promote, Proud, Selah, Succeed, Themselves, Uplifted, Wicked, Wrongdoer
Outline
1. David prays to be delivered from Saul and Doeg
8. He prays against them
12. He comforts himself by confidence in God

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 140:8

     5917   plans

Library
Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V.
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Letter xxvi. (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He excuses the brevity of his letter on the ground that Lent is a time of silence; and also that on account of his profession and his ignorance he does not dare to assume the function of teaching. 1. You will, perhaps, be angry, or, to speak more gently, will wonder that in place of a longer letter which you had hoped for from me you receive this brief note. But remember what says the wise man, that there is a time for all things under the heaven; both a time to speak and a time to keep
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Epistle xviii. To John, Bishop.
To John, Bishop. Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople [1586] . At the time when your Fraternity was advanced to Sacerdotal dignity, you remember what peace and concord of the churches you found. But, with what daring or with what swelling of pride I know not, you have attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offence. I wonder exceedingly at this, since I remember how thou wouldest fain have fled from the episcopal office rather than
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

How the Silent and the Talkative are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart; so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part they
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

A Discourse of Mercifulness
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 These verses, like the stairs of Solomon's temple, cause our ascent to the holy of holies. We are now mounting up a step higher. Blessed are the merciful . . '. There was never more need to preach of mercifulness than in these unmerciful times wherein we live. It is reported in the life of Chrysostom that he preached much on this subject of mercifulness, and for his much pressing Christians to mercy, he was called of many, the alms-preacher,
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Covenanting a Privilege of Believers.
Whatever attainment is made by any as distinguished from the wicked, or whatever gracious benefit is enjoyed, is a spiritual privilege. Adoption into the family of God is of this character. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power (margin, or, the right; or, privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."[617] And every co-ordinate benefit is essentially so likewise. The evidence besides, that Covenanting
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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