Chapter 141 of Tehillim is a psalm traditionally recited daily by Yemenite Jews between Minchah and Arvit. It is not among the easiest psalms to understand, and we will proceed through it, as is our way, alongside the commentators. Radak explains that this psalm addresses the same subject as the preceding chapter, where he explained that David composed it concerning Doeg and the Ziphites, who informed against him to Saul. Here too, the subject is the same. The Malbim adds that the psalm was established at the time Saul fell into David's hands and David had the opportunity to kill him - both in the cave and at the encampment, where he had two opportunities - and he pleads with Hashem to save him from his yetzer, so that he does not succumb to it and kill Saul.
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד יְהֹוָה קְרָאתִיךָ חוּשָׁה לִּי הַאֲזִינָה קוֹלִי בְּקׇרְאִי־לָךְ׃ - A psalm of David: Hashem, I have called You, hasten to me; lend an ear to my voice when I call to You.
"I have called You, hasten to me" - hurry to help me. "Lend an ear to my voice when I call to You" - listen to my voice the moment I call to You; do not wait until I finish calling, but listen right at the beginning. Essentially, David's entire plea is that the Holy One, blessed be He, rescue him from falling into the hands of his yetzer.
The commentary Tehillot Maharitz, preceded by the Chida, both point to a single idea based on the Gemara in Ta'anit 25b. Shmuel HaKatan decreed a fast, and rain fell for them before sunrise. The people thought this reflected the greatness of the community - before we even cried out, we were answered. Shmuel said to them: I will tell you a parable. To what is this comparable? To a servant who requests a portion from his master, and the master says: Give it to him, so that I do not have to hear his voice. On another occasion he decreed a fast, and rain fell only after sunset. The people thought this reflected the greatness of the community - Hashem has heard all our prayers! He said to them: This too is not praise, but comparable to a servant who requests a portion from his master, and the master says: Leave him until he pines away, and only then give it to him - until he suffers great distress and his tongue cleaves to the roof of his mouth from excessive praying. When is it truly the praise of the community? When the prayer leader says, "He causes the wind to blow," and the wind blows; "He causes the rain to fall," and the rain falls.
This is precisely what David is asking here: "Hashem, I have called You, hasten to me" - hurry to answer my plea on that very day, so that it does not fall under the category of "leave him until he pines away." Yet too quickly is also not good, lest it fall under "give it to him so I do not hear his voice." Therefore, he concludes, "lend an ear to my voice when I call to You" - listen to my voice precisely when I call to You; neither too early nor too late, but at the exact moment I am asking. Then it becomes evident that my prayer is truly accepted favorably before Him.
תִּכּוֹן תְּפִלָּתִי קְטֹרֶת לְפָנֶיךָ מַשְׂאַת כַּפַּי מִנְחַת־עָרֶב׃ - May my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting of my hands as the evening offering.
Radak explains that the comparative letter kaf ("as") is omitted here: may my prayer be established as incense before You, and the lifting of my hands - the spreading of my hands in prayer to You - be considered like the offering brought in the evening. And why specifically the evening offering? It is possible that it was evening when he composed the psalm, and he was referring to the offering about to be sacrificed at that time in the Mishkan, in close proximity to the hour the psalm was composed.
Radak cites another explanation in the name of his father: if the morning offering is brought properly, it is accepted; and if it is followed by a pure evening offering, that second offering is even more accepted. The morning offering is the first, while the evening offering is already the second of the day, making it even more favorably received. This is the request: may my prayer be before You like the evening offering.
The Malbim notes that tikon ("be set" or "be established") relates to preparation: may even the preparation I make for prayer be considered before You as incense. And "the lifting of my hands" - when I actually raise my hands in prayer itself - may it be regarded by You like the evening offering, which is the offering brought at the end, after the conclusion of all prayers and services, and is therefore, as it were, the most choice.
The author of Tehillot Maharitza explains: Sometimes a person's prayer is not completely pure. Stray thoughts, worries, and all sorts of distractions intrude, preventing proper concentration. So a person comes and asks: Master of the Universe, let my prayer be established as incense. For the incense was not entirely pure either - it included galbanum (chelbenah), which smells foul, yet it was accepted with favor. So too with my prayer: even though it contains impure elements, stray thoughts and distractions, may it be beloved before You like incense and rise up with favor.
Regarding the galbanum, there is a story told about an observant community that was looking for a tenth man for a minyan, calling out, "Tzenter! Tzenter!" A man came along who had to be given a kippah to put on his head, and he saw they were still searching for a tenth. In his youth he had learned a little, and he understood that in their eyes he was not quite suitable to join the minyan. When a God-fearing tenth man finally arrived and they began to pray, he turned to the rabbi and said: "Honored Rabbi, I saw that you did not count me as the tenth, but in the incense offering they also included the galbanum!" He was no fool. The rabbi answered him: "True, and that is why there were eleven ingredients in it."
שִׁיתָה יְהֹוָה שׇׁמְרָה לְפִי נִצְּרָה עַל־דַּל שְׂפָתָי׃ - Set, Hashem, a guard for my mouth; watch over the door of my lips.
One must be careful when pronouncing this word. When the kamatz is a kamatz gadol, which is a long vowel, it vocalizes the sheva that follows it, and one reads "shamrah" - as we say in the psalm preceding the Song of the Day, "Shamrah nafshi ki chasid ani" ("Preserve my soul, for I am pious"). But when the kamatz is a kamatz katan, which is a short vowel, it does not vocalize the sheva that follows, and it is pronounced like an "o": "shomrah." And so the Radak writes here, that the word follows the pattern of chochmah and otzmah.
Rashi explains: When I pray before You, guard my mouth so that my tongue speaks with purity and elegance, proper and dignified language that will find favor before You. "Keep guard over the dal of my lips" - dal is like the doors of my lips, referring to the upper lip, which is higher up, dal being related to elevation. Malbim similarly explains that dal denotes lifting up, as in "my eyes were lifted (dalu) on high," the highest place.
The Radak notes that shomrah is a noun, not a verb. There is a difference between "shemor" (guard) and "shemirah" (a watch/guarding): "shemor" is an action and an imperative command, whereas "shemirah" is a noun, referred to by the early grammarians simply as a "name." It follows the pattern of chochmah (wisdom) and otzmah (might), which are likewise nouns rather than actions. The meaning is thus: Hashem, place a guard over my mouth, so that I do not stumble in my prayer; rather, just as my heart is directed toward You, so may my prayer be properly articulated, as it is written: "To man belong the arrangements of the heart, but from Hashem comes the reply of the tongue."
The Radak's father explained "keep guard over the dal of my lips" from the root of "my eyes were lifted (dalu) on high" - meaning the bearing or lifting of my lips, the words I bear upon my lips, that You guard them to be worthy. One might also consider whether dal in the sense of poverty is connected here: perhaps an impoverished person (dal) is called so because he lifts up (doleh) and casts his eyes upon everyone, just as an evyon (destitute person) derives from ta'avah (desire), for he longs (aveh) for everything. So too, the dal constantly lifts his eyes and pleads, connecting it to "my eyes were lifted (dalu) on high."
The holy Alshich finds here an expression of what our early sages instituted in the prayers of the Yamim Noraim: "Ochilah la-El, achaleh fanav" ("I will place my hope in God, I will supplicate His face"). There we find two elements. First, prior to prayer, one must prepare words worthy of being uttered before Hashem. This is why we pray, "Teach them what they should say" - so they can properly prepare in their hearts what they intend to speak. Does someone who goes before a judge not prepare what to say? He spends months preparing, drafting, printing, memorizing, and setting it before himself. How much more so one who stands in prayer before the Creator! Second, even after doing so, one must plead that the Holy One, blessed be He, be with us at the very moment of speaking, so that we do not falter in our words - for sometimes a person intends to say one thing and something else comes out of his mouth. This is the meaning of "and let them not stumble in their speech."
The verse speaks of both of these aspects. "Set, Hashem" (Shitah Hashem) - arrange and set the words before us, as in "which you shall set before them" (asher tasim lifneihem), that they be arranged before us like a set table (shulchan aruch), so that we know what we are about to pray. And after this arrangement: "a guard for my mouth" (shomrah lefi) - that I do not forget what I arranged, for sometimes a person prepares his words and suddenly they escape him, leaving him unable to open his mouth. And even if I articulate them with my mouth, I might stumble in my speech - and regarding this, "watch over the door of my lips" (nitzrah al dal sefatai), that You guard my tongue so that I do not utter anything unfitting before Him, blessed be He.
Indeed, we find that even great individuals stumbled in this. Yiftach is an example of someone who said, "whatever comes out of the doors of my house," and his phrasing was not precise. Yet even with a righteous woman like Channah we find this: "then I will give him to Hashem all the days of his life" - and our Sages expounded on "forever" (ad olam) that this refers to the "forever" of the Levi'im, which is fifty years, and Shmuel lived fifty-two years. Thus, a specific formulation worked to her disadvantage. A person must therefore be exceedingly careful: even if you prepared your words and seemingly recite them properly, the phrasing might not be exact and could cause harm.
A Midrash recounts a story of a man walking in the desert, utterly exhausted and barely able to walk, who prayed: "Master of the Universe, send me a donkey." A government official came along riding a donkey that had just given birth to a foal, and said to him: "Come here, Jew, carry the donkey." He could barely drag himself, and now he had to carry the donkey as well. He said: "Master of the Universe, I did not mean this kind of donkey; You have brought me three donkeys. I meant only one, to ride upon." Therefore, a person should always be explicit in his speech: "Send me a donkey upon which to ride."
Rav Assulin, of blessed and righteous memory, recounted from his sickbed several firsthand stories that he had not had the opportunity to tell in his public lectures, wishing to pass them on to the next generation (these accounts are preserved in his recording). He evidently sensed that the decree had already been sealed, and related incidents he had witnessed with his own eyes involving Rav Mandel, the Baba Meir, and others. Among them, he spoke of his sister, a righteous and exceptional woman.
One day she finished work at the edge of Bnei Brak and arrived at the bus stop. From a distance, she saw the bus that was supposed to take her home, already about to pull away. She was tired and struggling, and she said: "Master of the Universe, I beg that this bus not leave, that it take me. And Master of the Universe, do not say no to me." And indeed, miraculously, the bus stopped and waited several seconds until she arrived and boarded. She praised and thanked Hashem, blessed be He.
However, on the bus she met an utterly tactless woman, someone devoid of basic sensitivity. "Hello, how are you? What is new? Well, were you finally blessed with children?" - and this was during a period when she had no children. That woman began laying out her entire personal history at the top of her lungs on the bus. She recounted: "I did not know where to bury myself. Master of the Universe, why do I have to be here? Why must I endure such humiliation and shame?" And then she realized: "I told the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Do not say no to me,' and He truly did not say no to me."
See how grave this matter is. Do not set conditions for the Holy One, blessed be He. If the Almighty knows that this bus is not good for you, do not insist on it, because later you will regret it. A person must know that whatever Hashem has given is what is best for him. Do not tell the Holy One, blessed be He, not to say no to you - for if He does not say no, you will only end up regretting it later.
The Malbim explains the verse in an entirely different direction. "Set, Hashem, a guard for my mouth" - place a guard at my mouth, not to guard what comes out of my mouth, but rather that a guard stand ready to fulfill my request immediately: when my mouth asks something of You, that guard will go and carry it out at once. "Watch over the door of my lips" - place a guardian (notzer) watching over the lifting of my lips, so that even if I merely raise my lips and have not yet articulated the words with my mouth, he will already run to act. And the notzer, the Malbim explains, is greater than the shomer: the shomer waits until the words leave my mouth, whereas the notzer, whose guarding is superior, rushes to fulfill my request the moment my lips begin to part.
אַל־תַּט־לִבִּי לְדָבָר רָע לְהִתְעוֹלֵל עֲלִלוֹת בְּרֶשַׁע אֶת־אִישִׁים פֹּעֲלֵי־אָוֶן וּבַל־אֶלְחַם בְּמַנְעַמֵּיהֶם׃ - Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds in wickedness with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies.
Rashi explains: Let my heart not incline toward evil. "Et ishim" means with men, just as in the verse "et Yaakov ish uveito bau" - with Jacob. That is to say, may my heart not incline toward an evil thing, to perpetrate wicked deeds with men who work iniquity. "Uval elcham beman'ameihem" - that I not recline at their feasts, that I not share in their bread and delicacies, and that I not be part of their company.
The Radak explains: Until now, David prayed over the utterance of his lips, and now he prays over his heart. Just as my heart is presently steadfast toward You and clinging to You, so may it always remain upright toward You, and let the workers of iniquity and evildoers not divert my heart from cleaving to You. This is the meaning of "al tet" (do not incline). With this, the Radak resolves the well-known difficulty: Does the Holy One, blessed be He, ever incline a person's heart toward an evil thing? After all, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not interfere with free will! Rather, the meaning is: If You do not help me prepare my heart for good, it is as though You have inclined it toward evil. For the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and the moment I do not direct it and You do not assist me to direct it toward good, it is considered as if You inclined it toward evil. "To perpetrate wicked deeds" - that I not come to perform an act of wickedness. "And let me not eat of their dainties" - as Rashi explains, that I should not crave to eat of their delectable foods, the broader intent being that my heart should not be drawn after worldly desires in the manner that their hearts are drawn.
The Malbim explains that this clarifies why the petition had to be answered immediately. After all, he asked for a guard and a watcher to run and fulfill his words even before they left his mouth - so why the urgency? Because the request is that his heart should not incline toward an evil thing, that his evil inclination should not entice him. And what is that evil thing? "To perpetrate" - that his inclination should not entice him to deal aggressively with the wicked and repay him according to his wickedness; "with men who work iniquity" - to repay them according to their evil. That is: when Saul stood before him, the impulse was to kill him; when Doeg and Ahithophel opposed him, the impulse was to kill them. Regarding this, he prays that his inclination not incite him, for everyone said to him, "Behold, Hashem has delivered your enemy into your hand," and "Let me strike him once, and I will not strike him a second time" - yet he replied, "Who can stretch forth his hand against Hashem's anointed and remain guiltless?" Likewise, "and let me not eat of their dainties" - that I not partake of the bread of their delicacies, meaning that I not walk in their ways or follow their counsel.
In the book Yosef Tehilot, the Chida writes that those who ask how one can say "Do not incline my heart" when everything is in the hands of Heaven have overlooked the words of the Zohar. The holy Zohar in Parashat Tazria raises a difficulty on this verse: Does the Holy One, blessed be He, ever incline a person's heart to an evil thing? It answers that the words are addressed not to the Holy One, blessed be He, but to the heart itself. David turns to his own heart and says to it: My heart, do not incline me toward evil. For the inclination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil all the day; therefore, he turns to his heart and pleads with it not to be drawn after evil - not to the Holy One, blessed be He, Who certainly does not incline a person's heart to negative things.
And what is the meaning of "and let me not eat of their dainties"? This too is part of the prayer, for "great is partaking of food." We see that eating together can sway a person's judgment, as happened with the leaders of Israel who were drawn in with Korach, about whom Chazal said that he drew them close through matters of food and drink. Great is partaking of food, for it draws hearts together. Therefore, if I eat of their delicacies and maintain companionship with them, this might divert me from the upright path and attach me to the wicked.
In the book Otzrot Ha'aggadah, an interpretation is brought by way of homiletic allusion (remez): It is well known that the yetzer hara does not come to a person all at once and say, "Go worship idols," nor does it bring him down in a single instant. Rather, today it tells him, "Do this," and tomorrow it tells him, "Do that," until it brings him to the gravest transgressions. And this is the meaning of "Do not incline my heart to an evil thing" - Master of the Universe, help me already when the heart merely begins to incline, at the slightest deviation, so that it is not even leaning toward an evil thing. And why? Because I fear that I may ultimately come "to perpetrate wicked deeds." A ballistic missile that has a minor downward deviation of a quarter of a millimeter will end up, over the course of its trajectory, in a completely different direction. So it is with man: when a deviation begins within him, "sin crouches at the entrance" - the divergence is slight, but later it turns into "perpetrating wicked deeds with men who work iniquity."