Psalms 141:2

Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense,.... Which was offered every morning on the altar of incense, at which time the people were praying, Exodus 30:1; and was an emblem of it, even of

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Let my prayer be set forth ('be directed,' the Septuagint, Chaldaic, Vulgate, Ethiopic.

Be set forth before thee, Heb. be directed to thy face. Let it not be lost, but let it come unto thee and find audience. As incense; owned and accepted by thee no less than the increase, which by thy command, , &c., is offered upon thine altar, from which I am now banished, and so disenabled to offer it there, and therefore I trust thou will accept my prayer instead of it. The lifting up of my hands; my prayer made with hands lifted up, which was the usual gesture. See 88:9, &c. As the evening sacrifice; which was offered every evening, , &c.; which he mentions either, 1. By way of opposition to the incense which was offered in the morning: or, 2. Synecdochically, so as to include the morning sacrifice, and all the sacrifices of the day, of which this was the close; such synecdoches being most frequent, as hath been already observed: or, 3. Because the evening sacrifice was more solemn than the morning, and was attended with more company and more prayers; whence the ninth hour, which was the time of this sacrifice, is called the hour of prayer, .

Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense; [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice.Ver. 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense] Faithful prayer is αναβασιςτουνου (saith Darnasen), the ascension of the heart to God. In this incense how many sweet spices are burned together by the fire of faith, as humility, hope, love, &c., all which come up for a memorial before God, Acts 10:4; and the saints (as Manoah’ s angel) ascend up in the flame, and do wondrously, Judges 13:19-20, while their pillars of smoke are perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the spice merchants, Son 3:6, that is, with the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 9:24, those sweet odours poured into the prayers of saints, Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:4, for want whereof the incense of the wicked is abomination, Isaiah 1:13, as stinking of the hand that offereth it. As the evening sacrifice] The sacrificium iuge, that was offered every morning and evening, Exodus 29:39 Numbers 28:4, in reference to that immaculate Lamb of God, slain from the beginning, for an offering and a sweet smelling savour, Ephesians 5:2. Chrysostom telleth us, that the Greek Church made use of this psalm in their evening liturgy.

(2) Set forth . . .—See margin; but more literally, be erected, suggesting the pillar of smoke (comp. Tennyson’s “Azure pillars of the hearth”) continually rising to heaven. Some think the incense refers to the morning sacrifice, so that the verse will mean, “let my prayer rise regularly as morning and evening sacrifice.” But this is hardly necessary. Sacrifice—i.e., the offering of flour and oil, which followed the burnt offering both at morning and evening (Leviticus 2:1-11; in Authorised Version,” meat offering “), and here probably associated specially with evening, because the prayer was uttered at the close of the day. (See Note, Psalms 141:3.) For the “lifted hands,” here, from the parallelism, evidently only a symbol of prayer, and not a term for oblation, see Psalms 28:2, Note. “For what are men better than sheep or goats, That nourish a blind life within the Drain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer, Both for themselves, and those that call them friend.” : Morte d’ Arthur,

Verse 2. As incense] Incense was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. Exodus 29:39, and Numbers 28:4. As the evening sacrifice.] This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt. But it does not appear that David refers to any sacrifice, for he uses not זבח zebach, which is almost universally used for a slaughtered animal; but מנחה minchah, which is generally taken for a gratitude-offering or unbloody sacrifice. The literal translation of the passage is, "Let my prayer be established for incense before thy faces; and the lifting up of my hands for the evening oblation." The psalmist appears to have been at this time at a distance from the sanctuary, and therefore could not perform the Divine worship in the way prescribed by the law. What could he do? Why, as he could not worship according to the letter of the law, he will worship God according to the spirit; then prayer is accepted in the place of incense; and the lifting up of his hands, in gratitude and self-dedication to God, is accepted in the place of the evening minchah or oblation. Who can deplore the necessity that obliged the psalmist to worship God in this way?

2. Let my prayer be set forth] Lit. be prepared, set in order. The same word is used of the service of the Temple in 2 Chronicles 29:35; 2 Chronicles 35:10; 2 Chronicles 35:16. Or, be presented, avail. incense] Either the daily offering of incense by the priests upon the altar of incense (Exodus 30:7-8), or the ‘sweet smoke’ from the azkârâ or ‘memorial,’ the portion of the meal-offering which was mixed with oil and frankincense and burnt upon the altar (Leviticus 2:2, see note on the title of Psalms 38), may be meant. But in the only other passage in the Psalter in which the word ‘incense’ (q’tôreth) is used (Psalms 66:15), it denotes the ‘sweet smoke’ of the sacrifice generally; and as in the next line the Psalmist mentions the evening oblation or meal-offering, he may be thinking of the burnt-offering of which the meal-offering was the accompaniment. the lifting up of my hands] The gesture of prayer (Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; 1 Timothy 2:8), the outward symbol of an uplifted heart (Psalms 25:1). as the evening oblation] Minchâh properly denotes the oblation or meal-offering which accompanied the daily burnt-offering (Exodus 29:38-42); but it may be used here to include the whole of the evening sacrifice (cp. 2 Kings 16:15; Ezra 9:4-5; Daniel 9:21); or the burnt-offering may have been already alluded to (see preceding note) by the word ‘incense.’ The evening sacrifice may be specially named because the Psalmist was in the habit of praying at that time (cp. Daniel 9:21), and composed the Psalm for use as an evening Psalm. The sweet smoke of the sacrifice or of incense rising towards heaven was a natural symbol of prayer ascending to God. Cp. Revelation 5:8, where incense represents the prayers of the saints; and Revelation 8:3-4, where the angel adds incense to the prayers of the saints. It would seem that the Psalmist lived at a time when the daily sacrifice was suspended, or at a distance from Jerusalem; but he had learnt that he could approach God as truly in prayer as if he were assisting at the daily sacrifice. Cp. Malachi 1:11. For the correspondence of prayer and sacrifice cp. Proverbs 15:8; Hosea 14:2; Psalms 19:14, note.

Let my prayer be set forth before thee - Margin, “directed.” The Hebrew word means to fit; to establish; to make firm.

2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee—ëåï, koon, rendered “set forth,” here takes the sense of prepare, make ready, and, in Niphal future, “My prayers shall be prepared as incense.” The word is