Psalms 5:1-12
To the Chief Musician. With flutes. A Psalm of David.
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD,
Consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
This song of David is a prayer for direction and faith. It begins with asking God to hear what he is asking for and to consider it because the king is considering what he is doing and where he is headed in living daily for God as his King of kings. He prays only to the LORD, promising to speak with the Almighty first thing in the morning, in a servile and submissive attitude of the heart by looking up. He acknowledges that God hates sin and evil, that those who boast in themselves are proud and cannot endure before Him. God hates those living for the evil of sin, not just the sin of the evil as many say today. He can and will remove those continuing in evil actions of lying and violence. But the king on earth anointed by the King in the heavens reminds us here by example that he approaches God for mercy, not by earning grace through his own food works, worshiping in fear and awe. David’s own works are the lifestyle he pursues to please God, based on His grace in mercy, not earned but still accountable. Therefore, he asks in prayer for direction, to be led by God in the straight and narrow path for the sake of His righteousness and in His righteousness (Psalm 1:2, 6, 27:11, Romans 8:14). In his prayer, David mentions the unrighteousness of his enemies who are opposed to God as His enemies, and speaks of their lack of faith with hearts set on destruction (Romans 9:22). They flatter with words not from the heart, purposely deceiving others, bit of course unable to deceive God. David cries for justice in judgment for these that they may be taken down by their own evil advice and words in their unrepentant rebellious sin. Then God’s anointed servant reminds all of us who trust in Him to find joy expressed with words of praise, knowing that God is for us (Romans 8:31) to defend us against the evil ones. We should be joyful because we are in Him, named as His by His name! He blesses those who follow and surrounds us in His good grace to protect us from the evil (Ephesians 6:13, 16, Matthew 5:6, Romans 4:7, Luke 13:27, 2 Timothy 2:19). Let us then follow Christ in faith and live according to His word as called out of sin by grace in mercy, praying for the direction of our lives to please our Savior with grateful and loyal hearts (2 Chronicles 16:9, Psalm 25:5, 31:3). Amen!
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