Psalms 141:5

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

Let the righteous smite me; (it shall be) a kindness. It is real kindness on the part of God to cause me to be smitten by the righteous, and not to let me be 'inclined to practice' wickedness with the workers of iniquity (Psalms 141:4), allured by their prosperity. I had rather be associated by God with the righteous when they smite me, than with the wicked, though they offer me dainties. Hengstenberg makes God to be meant by "the Righteous:" as some take Isaiah 24:16. But there is no article here, which is against this view; and the antithesis is better as explained above.

And let him reprove me; (it shall be) an excellent oil (literally, an oil for the head) (which) shall not And let him reprove me; (it shall be) an excellent oil (literally, an oil for the head) (which) shall not break my head - Whereas 'the dainties' of the wicked (Psalms 141:4) would ultimately cause my head (the vital part which shall be bruised in the old serpent and his seed Genesis 3:15) to be fatally broken (Psalms 68:21; Psalms 110:6; Habakkuk 3:13). Hengstenberg, Maurer etc., translate the Hebrew verb [ yaaniy (H5106)] refuseth: 'oil for the head my head refuseth not.' But Pagnini, Buxtorf, and Cocceius agree in the main with the English version, 'shall not cause my head to be weighed down,' in contrast, the head being lifted up (Psalms 3:3) (Cocceius). The Lord is the lifter up of the head of His people; He breaks the head of the ungodly. Their own prosperity prepares them for being thus broken. I prefer the stronger sense, break fatally, or else break with grief, as in Numbers 32:7; Numbers 32:9, margin (cf. the same Hebrew Psalms 33:10). The "break my head" stands in antithesis to "smite me." Though the righteous smite me, their smiting does not break my head: nay, it is rather as a prime oil (literally, oil for the head) to anoint my head with gladness (cf. Proverbs 27:6; Ecclesiastes 7:5). So far from wounding fatally, it heals one's spiritual sore, and gives festive joy: cf. the image of anointing the head before a feast, for the Lord's feast of good things to His people, including joy in the midst of trials (Psalms 4:7; Psalms 42:8), as opposed to the "dainties" of the wicked (Psalms 141:4; Psalms 23:5; Psalms 45:7; Psalms 104:15; Matthew 6:17). Contrast with this divine "oil" of joy the wicked men's 'words softer than oil,' which are yet "drawn swords" (Psalms 55:21). The promise to which this cycle of Psalms 138:1; Psalms 139:1; Psalms 140:1; Psalms 141:1; Psalms 142:1; Psalms 143:1; Psalms 144:1; Psalms 145:1 refers is 2 Samuel 7:1. There, in Ps. 141:14-15 , the Lord declares that when David's seed offend He will chasten them with the rod of men; but His mercy shall not wholly depart from them: so also Psalms 89:30-19. This promise is the ground of the prayer here.

For yet my prayer, also shall be in their calamities - i:e., "for" flourishing as the ungodly are now, and abounding in "dainties" which tempt one to join them, "yet" the time will come when they shall be 'in calamities,' and "my prayer shall be" for them "in their calamities." Psalms 141:6 is parallel; the overthrowing of their judges answering to "their calamities" here, and "my words" (of invitation to worship the Lord), which "are sweet," answering to "my prayer" for them here. The type David, like the antitype Messiah, prays for his enemies (Psalms 109:4). Hengstenberg, taking Yahweh to be meant by "the Righteous," and the wicked to be the instruments employed by Him to chastise David and his seed and his people, translates, 'still then (if they proceed in their wicked actions, so as to overstep the due measure of chastisement of the Lord's people; or, as Maurer takes it, if Yahweh shall go on to chastise me more, severely) I shall pray against their wickedness.' I prefer the English version on account of the parallelism to Psalms 141:6.