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Psalm 141:4

Don’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.

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.
6Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock. They will hear my words, for they are well spoken.
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Notice

The delicacies make this prayer searching: evil can offer something desirable, and the plea reaches from the heart’s inclinations to the company kept at a table.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What might the delicacies represent in a choice you face this week?

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Where, if anywhere, does belonging to a group make wrongdoing seem more acceptable?

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What would you ask God to guard in your heart before your next shared meal?

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Connect

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
Daniel 1:8But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the …Both passages link the heart with refusing delicacies: Daniel resolves against defilement, while the psalm asks God to prevent participation in wickedness.
Psalm 119:36Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain.Both prayers ask God to direct the heart away from a wrong desire.
Matthew 6:13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’Both prayers seek God’s protection against being drawn into evil.
Isaiah 63:17O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.Both address God about the heart’s direction, with Isaiah lamenting wandering and the psalm asking to be kept from evil.
2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.Both passages concern separation from wrongdoing, expressed through refusing the wicked’s delicacies and refusing contact with what is unclean.
1 Corinthians 15:33Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”Both passages connect the company a person keeps with the danger of joining in evil.
Philippians 2:13For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.Both connect God’s work with human desire and action: the psalm asks for protection, while Philippians speaks of willing and working.
1 Kings 8:58that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.Both prayers ask God to incline human hearts in a direction that shapes their deeds.
James 1:13Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.Both address God’s relation to evil; the psalm asks for protection, while James states that God tempts no one.
1 Corinthians 10:31Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.Both treat eating as part of conduct before God, though Corinthians does not mention the company of evildoers.
Revelation 18:4I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don’t receive of her plagues,Both passages express the need to avoid participation in others’ sins.
Deuteronomy 29:4But the LORD has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.Both speak of the heart in relation to God, though Deuteronomy concerns understanding rather than participation in evil.
Where this verse fits

Temptation. wanting a steady prayer habit.

What the Bible says about temptation →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 141:4 aloud before one shared meal this week

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Encouragement

The prayer reaches beneath outward deeds to the heart that desires them. Asking God for help can begin before you join in, while the delicacies still look appealing.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 141:4. 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).