Bible Strands
Psalms 140:8
Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh directly, pleading for divine intervention against enemies who surround him during a time of imminent battle. The words — The Hebrew imperatives אַל־ תִּתֵּן ('al-titten) and אַל־ תָּפֵק ('al-tapek) literally command "may not you grant" and "may not you promote." The thread — This plea to block wicked schemes aligns with Psalms 10:2, Deuteronomy 32:27, and 2 Samuel 15:31. Why it lands — The text explicitly states that God must not fulfill the wicked's desires or advance their plots to prevent their exaltation. It requires a reader to acknowledge that human ambition only succeeds when permitted by divine restraint.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
Cross-references
- Psalms 10:2 In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- Deuteronomy 32:27 if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”
- 2 Samuel 15:31 Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Job 5:12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Psalms 27:12 Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
- Psalms 94:20 Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?