Psalms 141:2 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

Be set forth before thee, Heb. be directed to thy face. Let it not be lost, but let it come unto thee and find audience. As incense; owned and accepted by thee no less than the increase, which by thy command, Exodus 30:7, &c., is offered upon thine altar, from which I am now banished, and so disenabled to offer it there, and therefore I trust thou will accept my prayer instead of it. The lifting up of my hands; my prayer made with hands lifted up, which was the usual gesture. See Job 11:13 Psalms 63:4, Psalms 88:9, &c. As the evening sacrifice; which was offered every evening, Exodus 29:39, &c.; which he mentions either,

1. By way of opposition to the incense which was offered in the morning: or,

2. Synecdochically, so as to include the morning sacrifice, and all the sacrifices of the day, of which this was the close; such synecdoches being most frequent, as hath been already observed: or,

3. Because the evening sacrifice was more solemn than the morning, and was attended with more company and more prayers; whence the ninth hour, which was the time of this sacrifice, is called the hour of prayer, Acts 3:1.

Psalms 141:2

2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.