For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. Psalm 5:12
An Appeal to God’s Character
David prays early and earnestly, confident that God will answer. Since God rejects the arrogant, David, who is reverent and humble, is sure of God’s leading. David calls on God to declare the wicked guilty and spread His protection over the righteous who take refuge in the Lord. David’s appeal is rooted in his conviction that God is righteous. God will act in character to preserve him.
Psalm 5, a lament psalm, speaks of an unspecified but distressing period of David’s life, a time marked by enemies who verbally opposed him and his rule. When David’s enemies hurled curses at him, they believed that those curses called on divine power to destroy him. In this psalm, David is in distress because of the lies and boasts of his adversaries. He identifies his own cause with that of the Lord, so that attacks on him became attacks on God Himself. The “righteous” in v. 12 ultimately points to the Savior Jesus, as is common in the Book of Psalms (1:6). The psalm has three movements: 1) a prayer to the Lord for deliverance in a time of trouble (vv.1-6); 2)a desire to worship the Lord in a time of trouble (vv.7-9); 3) a longing for final judgment by the Lord in times of trouble (vv.10-12).
5:4-6 Takes pleasure means to find enjoyment or reason for laughter. There is no enjoyment to be found in evil. The Hebrew word for boastful is the same one used to describe the praise of God. The praise of God is the focus of the Psalms; but praise of self – a mere boast – is a twisted, human perversion of true praise. Not stand: This psalm speaks of final judgment on the wicked. They will not be allowed to stay in His glorious presence. You hate: God’s hatred is not merely a feeling, but an action of His will. The phrase workers of iniquity occurs often in the Psalms to describe those who characteristically practice evil (14:4).
God’s hated (5:5-6). The psalm says, “You hate all who do wrong.” God’s hatred extends to evil acts such as robbery and iniquity and even to the hypocritical worship of those who violate His moral standards.
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.
God’s “great mercy” (5:7). David immediately balances his reference to God’s hatred. Mercy here is hesed, a term also translated as “love,” “covenant love” and “loving-kindness.” Hesed reminds us that God is totally committed to human kind. The love we see in Calvary’s ultimate sacrifice draws us, as God’s mercy drew David, to worship and serve the Lord.
5:7, 8 But as for me: In the Hebrew text, these words indicate a sharp contrast with the previous description of the wicked. The Hebrew owrd temple can be used of any very large structure – “palace” or “big house.” David was a leader in reforming the worship of God in Jerusalem, and he established a structure for the worship that would take place in the temple to be built by Solomon. David uses the word temple in anticipation of the future glorious building; all later-generations of Hebrew worshipers would understand their own sorshp better because of the use of this word in these psalms. Make Your way straight: David prayed that God would make clear His will for him.
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.
5:9, 10 Their throat is an open tomb: These words describe the perverse language used by people in opposition to God. Paul used the words of these verses to argue for depravity of all people (Rom 3:13).
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.
“Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; Romans 3:13
5:11, 12 rejoice: Here the psalmist describes the joy of the saved, the ecstasy of the ones whom God saves from their own deserved destruction. Our joy must always be focused on our Savior (Phil. 4:4).
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.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4
A Prayer for Protection
5 1 To the Chief Musician. With flutes. A Psalm of David. 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.
