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Psalm 141:3

Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.

1A Psalm by David. LORD, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! Listen to my voice when I call to you.
2Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
3Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.
4Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity. Don’t let me eat of their delicacies.
5Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
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← Psalm 141:2Psalm 141:4 →
Notice

A guard at the mouth makes speech a matter for prayer, as David asks YHWH to watch over what leaves his lips.

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Where might you need to pray for a guard at your lips today?

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What difference might asking God to guard your mouth make before your next conversation?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

7 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
James 1:26If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.The watch over David’s mouth and James’s bridle for the tongue both express the need for restraint in speech.
Psalm 39:1For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle …Both psalms use a watch to describe guarded speech; Psalm 141 asks God for help, while Psalm 39 records David’s resolve.
Micah 7:5Both passages concern guarding the mouth; Psalm 141 addresses God, while Micah warns about words spoken even to someone close.
Psalm 34:13Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.Both passages speak of keeping the lips under guard, with Psalm 34 naming evil and lies as speech to avoid.
James 3:2For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also.David’s guarded door and James’s bridle both picture restraint, with James linking control of speech to control of the whole body.
Psalm 71:8My mouth shall be filled with your praise, with your honor all day long.Both verses speak to God about the mouth: one asks for guarded lips, and the other speaks of praise all day.
Psalm 17:3–5You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.David asks God to guard his mouth in Psalm 141 and resolves that his mouth shall not disobey in Psalm 17.
Where this verse fits

Work conflict. family conflict. temptation.

What the Bible says about temptation →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 141:3 before your next phone call

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Encouragement

There is room to ask for help before words leave your lips. David entrusts even the door of his mouth to YHWH’s care.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 141:3. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 141 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).