Protection from the Wicked

(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 will I 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 those 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.
--Psalm 5 KJV Bible

In this lament psalm of David, it is apparent that David really wants an audience with God. In Verses 1 and 2 David uses the Hebrew method of parallelism, asking the same thing three times: LORD, please listen to me.

In verse 3 we see that David followed the practice of praying to God in the morning. At the very beginning of each day, David honored God and dedicate the day to Him. We also see that David directed his prayers to God and then expected God to answer.

Verses 4 through 6 describe God's hatred of sin. David gives some examples of doers of wickedness--possibly the evil actions that were troubling him the most at that time. David mentions the boastful, those who lie and those who kill.

In verses 7 through 10 David asks God to guide him in righteousness. David describes the ever enduring love of God. The word "mercy" in verse 7--sometimes translated as "lovingkindness"--comes from the Hebrew "hesed," meaning a loyal, steadfast, or faithful love." David asks God to lead him in the right path. But David asks that the wicked be allowed to fall away by their own tangled webs of deceit. In verse 9 David describes their open mouths as an open grave, something physically dangerous, morally corrupt, and religiously unclean.

In verses 11 through 12 David rejoices in God's protection and blessing of the righteous. God surrounds them like an all encompassing shield.

O God, remind me to lift my prayer to You in the morning. Help me to walk in Your way of righteousness. And protect me from the works the wicked.

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