Psalm 141

1 O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.

2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

6 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

7 They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave."

8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
from the traps set by evildoers.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.

Most of us do not like it when someone rebuke us. We prefer to be affirmed and encouraged. However, as a teacher myself, I really believe that there is a place for stern rebuke. If I see that a student is behaving in a negative way, and I don't do anything about it, that is akin to encouraging that particular bad behavior. That's bad.

It's just that we have to see who is the source of the rebuke. If the person who rebukes you is someone who doesn't care much about you, we shouldn't 'accept' the rebuke (just ignore it). For instance in NS, there will be people who rebuke you just for the sake of rebuking - using vulgarities is a norm (sigh).

Hence, I really agree with the psalmist when he said in v5 "Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me — it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it."

A righteous man's rebuke is like a blessing! And this righteous man can be our parents, cell leaders, teachers or older and wiser friends.


I thank God for the righteous people in my life who have rebuked me out of love - my parents, my cell leader, my school teachers and of course, my fiancee. Though sometimes at the heat of the moment, their words may be difficult to accept, I know that they care about me enough to correct me so that I can become better.


Things to ponder
1. Who are the people in your life that would rebuke you out of love? List them down here.
2. What is your response every time they rebuke you? Is it very defensive? Or is it very receptive?
3. Do you in turn rebuke others out of love? Or rebuke others out of spite? Check your heart.
4. Pray for yourself to be receptive to the rebuke of those who love you. Pray for yourself too to be able to rebuke others out of love in an acceptable way.