Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Read Chapter 141
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
And. Hebrew, "keep guard at the door of my lips "(Montanus) or "on the poverty of", (St. Jerome) that I may not speak too much, or imprudently; as I shall do, if left to myself. (Haydock)
Houbigant rejects this version, which is very expressive. (Berthier) (Ecclesiasticus xxviii. 28.)
Hebrew dal is rendered "elevation "(Chaldean) and may here stand for "a door. "Nature has included the tongue within a double restraint of the teeth and lips, to counteract its too great volubility. (Theodoret)
David prays that he may not be unguarded in his speech. He always spoke to Saul with the greatest respect, 1 Kings xxiv. 18. (Calmet)
The lips must be like a door, neither always open, when we ought to be silent, nor always shut, when we should confess our sins. (Worthington)
