Bible Strands
Psalms 141:4
Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing or take part in works of wickedness with men who do iniquity; let me not feast on their delicacies.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist prays to the LORD, positioned between a request for a guard over his mouth (v. 3) and an invitation to righteous rebuke (v. 5). He asks that his heart not be drawn to evil and that he not share in the practices or the table of the wicked.
The words — The verb "turn" (H5186, nāh) is the same root as in Psalms 119:36, where the psalmist asks God to turn his heart toward testimonies; here the request is the negative — that God not turn his heart to anything evil. The noun 'illat (H5949, "practices") carries the sense of deliberate, repeated action, not mere passive association.
The thread — Psalms 119:36 uses the identical verb in the positive direction; Matthew 6:13 asks for deliverance from the evil one; Isaiah 63:17 laments God hardening hearts from fear.
Why it lands — The verse treats table-fellowship with the wicked as a form of complicity, not a neutral social act. It asks the reader to examine whether their social participation in a community of iniquity has become a quiet alignment with its practices.
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
Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Cross-references
- Psalms 119:36 Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.
- Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
- Isaiah 63:17 Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- 1 Kings 8:58 May He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances He commanded our fathers.
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
- James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
- Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
- Revelation 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.