5) shall become the hunted. "Evil"--_i.e._, the punishment of their evil deeds--shall dog their heels, and with stroke after stroke chase them as dogs would follow vermin. In vv. 13, 14, the poet comes back to brighter thoughts, and his words become limpid again with his change of mood. He "knows," as the result of meditation and experience, that not only he, but all the afflicted and needy, who are righteous and upright, have God on their side. He will stand by their side in their hour of distress; He will admit them to dwell by His side, in deep, still communion, made more real and sweet by the harassments of earth, which drive them for shelter and peace to His breast. That confidence is a certitude for the psalmist. He announces it with an "I know," and seals it with a "surely." Such is the issue of trouble which was spread before Jehovah, and vented itself in prayer. PSALM CXLI. 1 Jehovah, I have called on Thee; haste to me, Give ear to my voice when I call to Thee. 2 Let my prayer appear before Thee [as] incense, The lifting up of my hands [as] an evening sacrifice. 3 Set a watch, Jehovah, before my mouth, Keep guard over the door of my lips. 4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, To practise wicked practices with men that work iniquity; And let me not eat of their dainties. 5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me, [Such] oil for the head shall not my head refuse. For so is it that my prayer shall continue in their wickednesses. (?) 6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the cliff, (?) And they hear my sayings, that they are sweet. (?) 7 As a man ploughing and cleaving the earth, Our bones are strewn at the mouth of Sheol. 8 For toward Thee, Jehovah, Lord, are mine eyes [turned]; In Thee do I take refuge--pour not out my soul. 9 Keep me from the hands of the snare which they have laid for me, And from the gins of the doers of iniquity. 10 May the wicked fall into their own nets, Whilst at the same time I pass by! Part of this psalm is hopelessly obscure, and the connection is difficult throughout. It is a prayer of a harassed soul, tempted to slacken its hold on God, and therefore betaking itself to Him. Nothing more definite as to author or occasion can be said with certainty.