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Psalm 140:5
The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.
3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah.
4LORD, keep me from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet.
5The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.
6I said to the LORD, “You are my God.” Listen to the cry of my petitions, LORD.
7LORD, the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.
Notice
A net spread by the path makes the next step feel exposed: the speaker faces people who have planned harm and concealed it.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the repeated language of snares, nets, and traps help you notice about the speaker’s danger?
Write on thisWhere do you need God’s protection from harm you can name without guessing someone’s motives?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Luke 6:45The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which …Both passages describe evil expressed through human conduct, though Luke concerns speech from the heart and the psalm describes concealed traps.
Psalm 31:20In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.Human plotting threatens people in both psalms; Psalm 31 speaks of God’s shelter from the kind of danger Psalm 140 describes.
Psalm 35:7For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.Both speakers describe enemies hiding nets to catch them, with Psalm 35 stressing that the attack has no cause.
Psalm 119:110The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I haven’t gone astray from your precepts.Both speakers face snares laid by hostile people; Psalm 119 also states the speaker’s continued faithfulness to God’s precepts.
Psalm 142:3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.Both passages describe a hidden snare along the speaker’s path, while Psalm 142 affirms that God knows the route.
Jeremiah 18:22Let a cry be heard from their houses when you bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet.Both speakers report hidden snares intended to catch them; Jeremiah also asks for an armed attack on those responsible.
Jeremiah 18:20Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from …Both passages describe deliberate attempts to trap the speaker; Jeremiah also recalls having pleaded for those who now threaten him.
Luke 20:20–23They watched him and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and …Concealed intent links the hidden snares in the psalm with spies pretending righteousness to trap Jesus through his words.
Luke 11:53–54As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him,Both passages show hostility toward a speaker, though the supplied Luke verse describes angry questioning without stating a hidden trap.
Job 18:9A snare will take him by the heel. A trap will catch him.Both passages use snares and traps to picture capture, though the supplied Job verse does not identify who sets them.
Proverbs 29:5A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.Both passages picture a net spread to catch someone, with Proverbs identifying flattery as the means of entrapment.
Proverbs 24:15Don’t lay in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Don’t destroy his resting place;Both passages concern planned harm against another person; Proverbs forbids the ambush that the psalm’s speaker fears.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The speaker names concealed danger, then addresses YHWH: “You are my God.” Asking for protection belongs within faith; this prayer speaks of threats without pretending they have passed.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).