141:3 door of my lips. “The tongue can no man tame” (James 3:8). It requires the guarding power of the indwelling Spirit of God to purify what proceeds from the mouth. Of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was prophesied that “grace is poured into thy lips” (Psalm 45:2), and that should be our desire and prayer as well.

Psalm 142 (title) Maschil. This is the last of the Maschil psalms (see note on Psalm 32 (title). Like the first, it was written by David. He was fleeing from Saul, who was determined to kill him, and was in the cave Adullam (I Samuel 22:1). Thus, it was written before he wrote Psalm 32, which was composed following his much later affair with Bathsheba.