◄ Psalm 141:1 ►
I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You.
Study Bible
A Psalm of David.
This introduction identifies the author as David, the second king of Israel, known for his deep relationship with God and his role as a psalmist. David's life, marked by both triumphs and trials, provides a rich backdrop for understanding his psalms. His experiences as a shepherd, warrior, and king inform his writings, often reflecting a heart seeking after God. The psalms attributed to David are integral to the worship practices of ancient Israel and continue to be central in Christian liturgy.

I call upon You, O LORD;
David's use of "LORD" (YHWH) signifies a personal and covenantal relationship with God. This invocation reflects a deep trust and reliance on God's character and promises. The act of calling upon the Lord is a recurring theme in the Psalms, emphasizing prayer as a vital means of communication with God. It echoes the practice of seeking divine intervention and guidance, as seen throughout the Old Testament, such as in the lives of the patriarchs and prophets.

come quickly to me.
This plea for urgency highlights David's immediate need for God's presence and assistance. It reflects the human experience of desperation and the desire for swift divine intervention. The phrase can be connected to other biblical instances where God's timely response is sought, such as in the cries of the Israelites in Egypt or the prayers of the prophets. It underscores the belief in God's ability to act promptly in times of distress.

Hear my voice when I call to You.
David's request for God to hear his voice underscores the personal nature of his prayer. It reflects a confidence that God is attentive to the cries of His people. This assurance is rooted in the covenant relationship between God and Israel, where God promises to listen to His people's prayers. The phrase resonates with other scriptural affirmations of God's attentiveness, such as in 1 John 5:14, which speaks of the confidence believers have in approaching God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
The author of this psalm, David is expressing his urgent plea to God. Known as a man after God's own heart, David often turned to God in times of distress.

2. LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal presence and faithfulness to His people. David is calling upon Yahweh, highlighting a personal and covenantal relationship.

3. Prayer
The act of calling upon God, which is central to this verse. David's prayer is marked by urgency and a deep desire for God's immediate presence and intervention.
Teaching Points
Urgency in Prayer
David's plea for God to "come quickly" teaches us the importance of urgency in our prayers, especially in times of distress. We should not hesitate to bring our immediate needs before God.

Confidence in God's Response
David's call to God reflects a deep confidence that God hears and responds. We are encouraged to pray with the assurance that God listens to His children.

Personal Relationship with God
The use of "O LORD" signifies a personal relationship. Our prayers should stem from a personal connection with God, recognizing Him as our covenant-keeping Lord.

Consistency in Prayer
David's example shows the importance of consistently turning to God in prayer, regardless of circumstances. We should cultivate a habit of seeking God regularly.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does David's approach to prayer in Psalm 141:1 reflect his relationship with God, and how can we apply this to our own prayer life?

2. In what ways can we cultivate a sense of urgency in our prayers without becoming anxious or impatient?

3. How does the assurance of God's responsiveness, as seen in Psalm 141:1, influence our confidence in prayer?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to deepen our personal relationship with God, as demonstrated by David's use of "O LORD"?

5. How can we incorporate the practice of consistent prayer into our daily routines, and what other scriptures support this discipline?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 18:6
This verse also depicts David calling upon the LORD in distress, emphasizing God's responsiveness to the cries of His people.

Psalm 102:2
Similar to Psalm 141:1, this verse is a plea for God to hear and respond quickly, showing a pattern of seeking God's immediate help in times of need.

James 5:16
This New Testament verse highlights the power of prayer, connecting to David's reliance on prayer as a means of seeking God's intervention.
Sermons
The Plea of Former PrayerR. Tuck Psalm 141:1
A Comprehensive PrayerC. Short Psalm 141:1-10
An Invocation for the Truly Desirable in Human LifeHomilistPsalm 141:1-10
Keep Me from the SnaresS. Conway Psalm 141:1-10
People
David, Psalmist, Saul
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Cry, David, Ear, Goes, Gt, Haste, Hasten, Listen, Lt, O, Psalm, Quickly, Voice
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 141:1

     4926   delay, human

Library
The Incense of Prayer
'Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.'--PSALM cxli. 2. The place which this psalm occupies in the Psalter, very near its end, makes it probable that it is considerably later in date than the prior portions of the collection. But the Psalmist, who here penetrates to the inmost meaning of the symbolic sacrificial worship of the Old Testament, was not helped to his clear-sightedness by his date, but by his devotion. For throughout …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Evening Hymns
 …
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

And Lest it Should Seem that Necessary Continence was to be Hoped for From...
2. And lest it should seem that necessary Continence was to be hoped for from the Lord only in respect of the lust of the lower parts of the flesh, it is also sung in the Psalm; "Set, O Lord, a watch to my mouth, and a door of Continence around my lips." [1810] But in this witness of the divine speech, if we understand "mouth" as we ought to understand it, we perceive how great a gift of God Continence there set is. Forsooth it is little to contain the mouth of the body, lest any thing burst forth …
St. Augustine—On Continence

For Acceptance in Prayer, and Daily Guidance. --Ps. cxli.
For Acceptance in Prayer, and daily Guidance.--Ps. cxli. Lord, let my prayer like incense rise, And when I lift my hands to Thee, As on the evening sacrifice Look down from heaven well-pleased on me. Set Thou a watch to keep my tongue, Let not my heart to sin incline; Save me from men who practise wrong, Let me not share their mirth and wine. But let the righteous, when I stray, Smite me in love,--his strokes are kind; His mild reproofs, like oil, allay The wounds they make, and heal the mind. …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Epistle xxxv. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. In the past year I received the letters of your most sweet Holiness; but on account of the extreme severity of my sickness have been unable to reply to them until now. For lo, it is now almost full two years that I have been confined to my bed, afflicted with such pains of gout that I have hardly been able to rise on feast-days for as much as three hours space to solemnize mass. And I am soon compelled by severe pain to lie down, that …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

How Some of the Heavenly Lovers Died Also of Love.
All the elect then, Theotimus, died in the habit of holy love; but further, some died even in the exercise of it, others for this love, and others by this same love. But what belongs to the sovereign degree of love is, that some die of love; and then it is that love not only wounds the soul, so as to make her languish, but even pierces her through, delivering its blow right in the middle of the heart, and so fatally, that it drives the soul out of the body;--which happens thus. The soul, powerfully …
St. Francis de Sales—Treatise on the Love of God

That all Hope and Trust is to be Fixed in God Alone
O Lord, what is my trust which I have in this life, or what is my greatest comfort of all the things which are seen under Heaven? Is it not Thou, O Lord my God, whose mercies are without number? Where hath it been well with me without Thee? Or when could it be evil whilst Thou wert near? I had rather be poor for Thy sake, than rich without Thee. I choose rather to be a pilgrim upon the earth with Thee than without Thee to possess heaven. Where Thou art, there is heaven; and where Thou are not, …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

In this So Great Conflict, Wherein Man under Grace Lives...
13. In this so great conflict, wherein man under Grace lives, and when, being aided, he fights well, rejoices in the Lord with trembling, there yet are not wanting even to valiant warriors, and mortifiers however unconquered of the works of the flesh, some wounds of sins, for the healing of which they may say daily, "Forgive us our debts:" [1855] against the same vices, and against the devil the prince and king of vices, striving with much greater watchfulness and keenness by the very prayer, that …
St. Augustine—On Continence

The Theology of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
This Chapter offers no more than a tentative and imperfect outline of the theology of St. Hilary; it is an essay, not a monograph. Little attempt will be made to estimate the value of his opinions from the point of view of modern thought; little will be said about his relation to earlier and contemporary thought, a subject on which he is habitually silent, and nothing about the after fate of his speculations. Yet the task, thus narrowed, is not without its difficulties. Much more attention, it is …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers

Wherefore Let this be the First Thought for the Putting on of Humility...
42. Wherefore let this be the first thought for the putting on of humility, that God's virgin think not that it is of herself that she is such, and not rather that this best "gift cometh down from above from the Father of Lights, with Whom is no change nor shadow of motion." [2172] For thus she will not think that little hath been forgiven her, so as for her to love little, and, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishing to establish her own, not to be made subject to the righteousness …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Daily Walk with Others (I. ).
When the watcher in the dark Turns his lenses to the skies, Suddenly the starry spark Grows a world upon his eyes: Be my life a lens, that I So my Lord may magnify We come from the secrecies of the young Clergyman's life, from his walk alone with God in prayer and over His Word, to the subject of his common daily intercourse. Let us think together of some of the duties, opportunities, risks, and safeguards of the ordinary day's experience. A WALK WITH GOD ALL DAY. A word presents itself to be …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

An Analysis of Augustin's Writings against the Donatists.
The object of this chapter is to present a rudimentary outline and summary of all that Augustin penned or spoke against those traditional North African Christians whom he was pleased to regard as schismatics. It will be arranged, so far as may be, in chronological order, following the dates suggested by the Benedictine edition. The necessary brevity precludes anything but a very meagre treatment of so considerable a theme. The writer takes no responsibility for the ecclesiological tenets of the …
St. Augustine—writings in connection with the donatist controversy.

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

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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