Psalm 5--Lead Me in Your Righteousness

Psalm 5
English Standard Version

Lead Me in Your Righteousness
To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David

.5 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.
​
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

​11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

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Once again we see David in need and crying out to the LORD.  He feels like he has to ask for the LORD to hear him and to listen to him.  Then David expects the LORD's response by saying that he will awake early in the morning and will prepare a sacrifice to Him as he awaits the LORD's response.

David then describes how he is sure that the request he is making is going to be answered--because it is in keeping with the very nature of God.  David's prayer for God to punish the evildoers so that the nations will fear Him and worship Him is something we know God will do--however, we also know that God extends grace and mercy and changes the identity of those who are found in Christ so that they are no longer under condemnation or judgment.  We'll see David will have to cry out for such grace and mercy in the near future when it is he who is the wicked one.

David then describes the nature of the wicked and how the judgment that God gives to them is just.  They are opposed to the very nature of God and since God is holy and just, he cannot let the wicked go unpunished.  However, we can see that David's request will only be answered for those who are outside of Christ, because Christ has taken the judgment and wrath of God (including the guilt and shame) for all those who are in Him.

That is where this psalm ends--those who take refuge in the LORD are completely and totally safe (like those who were safe inside the Ark at the time of the Flood).  We can worship and exalt the LORD for the salvation He has provided (through Jesus).  We can then boldly ask for God's favor to be on the righteous as we know that when God the Father sees the ones who have been declared righteous that He sees His Son and will withhold no good thing from the Son or those who are being made into His image.  We know that the LORD will also protect and defend all of us who are in Christ so that we have nothing to fear.​