Daily Devotionals

Psalm 5:7–8

Having reviewed the attributes of God, focusing on His sovereignty and goodness, David examines himself (vv. 7–8).

But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.
O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;
Make Your way straight before me.

Psalm 5:4–11

After the plea in Psalm 5:1–3, David begins to think through the day that spreads out before him, giving extra consideration to those he would encounter. His song addresses four specific realms of interest (vv. 4–11).

    1. David meditates on the Lord Himself (vv. 4–6)
    2. David describes himself (vv. 7–8)
    3. David describes his enemies (vv. 9–10)
    4. David describes the righteous (v. 11)

Let's examine each realm of interest, beginning with the first: God Himself.

Psalm 5:1–3

Some psalms are difficult to outline; others easily lend themselves to an organized layout. Psalm 5 falls in the latter category. It begins with a plea (vv. 1–3) directed to the Lord, whom David addresses, “O LORD...my King...my God...O LORD.” It concludes with a promise (v. 12). Sandwiched between the plea and the promise are four descriptions. 

I observe three things in David's introductory plea.

First, it was a "morning" prayer. Twice in verse 3 David mentions that it was "in the morning" that he met with his Lord.

Psalm 5:1–12

Songs are usually born out of surrounding circumstances that so affect the thinking of the composer, he cannot help but burst forth with a melody and an accompanying set of lyrics describing his plight. This is certainly the case with the blues and jazz of yesteryear as well as the old spirituals of days gone by and the romantic love songs of any era. The same has often been true of gospel songs and sacred hymns; their historical settings explain their message.

Psalm 1:4–6

A key observation in Psalm 1:4–6 is contrast. Don't miss the many things that are quite the opposite from the preceding verses. "The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away."

"Not so!" That is exactly how verse 4 begins in the Hebrew Bible. It is an emphatic negative assertion. Literally, it says, "Not so, the wicked!" It refers back to the three preceding verses describing the righteous, godly believer, who:

Psalm 1:1–3

As I read Psalm 1, three illustrations from the Bible flash into my mind. Two men flirted with evil, then fell; but there was one other who refused to begin a "walk in the counsel of the wicked." The first two illustrations involve Lot and Samson; the third is Joseph. People the world over are familiar with Samson, whose life is best described in Proverbs 5:20–23:

Psalm 1:1–3

Psalm 1:1–6

The Hebrews' ancient hymnal begins with a song that addresses one of life's most common grinds: compromise. Please understand, I'm not referring to those give-and-take times so necessary for living in harmony with one another. Without that healthy kind of compromise, nations could never find a meeting ground for peaceful co-existence and family members would forever be at each other's throats.

Galatians 3:29

The Bible doesn’t try to paint its heroes as anything but real people with real flaws.

Consequently, Abraham becomes real, not despite his frailties, but because of them. Like all real people, he had weaknesses. Some of them are disappointing to look at, but they help us see the whole man. And those weaknesses help us learn how to regard our own.

Hebrews 11:9

In the book of Hebrews, Abraham is praised for believing God’s promises.

God called Abraham to move to a place where he didn’t know a soul. He had no permanent place to live, no community to rely upon for support, and no one to call in times of trouble. When he left Ur, he left the security of a permanent place of residence. He was able to live apart from established and secure human communities only because he “was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations” (Hebrews 11:10).