Psalm 5

To the chief musician upon Nehiloth (thought to be a wind instrument like a flute),

A Psalm of David

1 Give ear to my words, O LORD,

consider my meditation.

2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry,

my King, and my God;

for unto thee I will pray.

3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD;

in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:

neither shall evil dwell with thee.

5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight:

thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing;

the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

7 But as for me, I will come into thy house

in the multitude of thy mercy:

and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;

make thy way straight before my face.

9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;

their inward part is very wickedness;

their throat is an open sepulchre;

they flatter with their tongue.

10 Destroy thou them, O God;

let them fall by their own counsels;

cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions;

for they have rebelled against thee.

11 But let all that put their trust in thee rejoice:

let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them;

let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous;

with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

JW: David beseeches God to hear his prayer, ver. 1-3; assures himself of God's justice against his enemies, ver. 4-6; declares his resolution: to serve God, ver. 7; prays for himself and the people of God, and against his enemies, ver. 8-12.

[On verse 1:] 'Meditation' - my prayer accompanied with deep thoughts and fervent affections of the soul.

[On verse 3:] 'Morning' - every morning. As soon as I wake, I am still with thee, as he saith, Psalm 139.18. The first thing that I do is to pray to thee.

[On verse 7:] 'Come' - with holy boldness and confidence. 'Mercy' - trusting only in thy mercy.

[On verse 8:] 'Righteousness' - in thy righteous laws. 'Because' - that I may give them no occasion of slandering me, or religion for my sake. 'The way' - the way wherein thou wouldst have to one walk.

[On verse 9:] 'Throat' - wide opened ready to devour all that come within their reach. A metaphor for wild beasts gaping for the prey.

It can be difficult to deal with Psalms such as these that talk about destroying enemies and wishing ill on those who are out to get you, especially in light of what Jesus says about loving your enemies, turning the other cheek, and the fact that he prays for forgiveness to those who persecute/execute him. What we must keep in mind, however, is to remember who our true enemy is. This Psalm strikes me as one engaged in spiritual warfare. When we set our minds and hearts in the spirit of verses 1-3, developing a discipline of praying fervently every day, then we can well expect what comes thereafter - resistance.

I like the progression in verses 7-8 from a prayer for mercy to a prayer for righteousness. That tends to be the way things go, and rightfully so. God declares we sinners righteous, but then enables us to actually become righteous. Ergo, the cliché "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven" won't work. Not that sanctimoniousness is the way to go, but if we actually live as though God's mercy actually sets us free from bondage, then our enemy will have no evidence in accusing us of hypocrisy or evil. "Lead me in thy righteousness!"

Walking that path is certainly not easy. But if we commit ourselves to it, then God will put his shield of favor around us. That shield does not protect us from harm but if we walk righteously, we will overcome the evil one. Fight the good fight!