Old Testament Commentary - Psalms 5

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 5 David asks the Lord to hear his voice—The Lord hates workers of iniquity—He blesses and shields the righteous.
To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my ^ameditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my ^aKing, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. 3 My voice shalt thou hear in the ^amorning, 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 ^awickedness: neither shall ^bevil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all ^aworkers 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 ^athy fear will I worship toward thy holy ^btemple. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine ^aenemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their ^ainward part is very wickedness; their ^bthroat is an open sepulchre; they ^cflatter 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 ^arebelled against thee^a.	10^a they have rebelled against thee Christ came unto the world to save the sinner. This is none who is without sin. All have sinned and are found to be in sin by God. Fallen man is in a state of corruption and if man does rebell against God and refuse to turn unto him, then he does remain in his sins and he remains wicked still until that day in which he turns from them unto Christ. Being guilty of sin is one thing, remaining in one's sins and refusing to turn unto God who has the power to remove those sins is wickedness. A righteous man will readily confess his sins unto God and seek repentance continually before Him. And with the aid of God, that man may be led in the path of righteousness as long as he continues to humbly accept Christ and progress through the principle of continual repentance until he may even become AS GOD IS.	9^a Luke 11:44; Acts 23:3 ^b Rom. 3:13 ^b TG Flattery 10^a Mosiah 15:26-27; Hel. 8:25 Rebellion Against God There are degrees of rebellion against God. Those who do turn from him entirely and deny the Holy Ghost in their sins and are of the mind that will state that the sun does not shine when it is high in the sky at noon of mid-day, those who are so opposed to Christ and the truth are those who will become the Sons of Perdition. They will be raise in their resurrection only to be cast out in to outerdarkness to be subject to sin and the Devil forever more. Those who have been wicked knowingly but do after their stent in hell bow their knee and confess the Christ, will be resurrected to a degree of glory as long as they have not shed inocent blood knowingly as did King David. Such as King David will be raised to a state of no glory, but it will be a state of righteousness, or incorruption, and not being subject to sin and the devil. Those who are the honorable of the earth, but not valiant in their testimony and acceptance of Christ, will be of one glory and those who have been valiant and righteous in the gospel of Christ will be raised to the highest degree of glory.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee^a rejoice: let them ever ^ashout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the ^arighteous; with favour wilt *thou compass him as with* a ^ashield^a. In the Strength of the Lord** The difference between walking in the strength of the Lord and not so walking is real. Perhaps King David more than most experienced this variance as he did seem to vasilate between grevious sins and righteously seeking the Lord not only guite often but with great variance in his own behavior as well.	11^a those that put their trust in thee All men of this world are of a fallen nature. That nature is that of the natural mortal man being carnal and corrupt. That is the nature of the physical temporary state of the body of man. Yet the spirit which resides in that tabernacle of clay is of God. It is a child of God. The test being to what extent the spirit of man will triump over the nature of man. Man in and of himself can not conquer or free himself from this corruption. Only they who come unto the LORD and trust in him. To him will the LORD give power and strength to overcome. The primary difference between the righteous, as righteous Israel, and the wicked of the world is to be found in that the people of God do turn unto God while the wicked do turn from him. As to man's degree of righteousness, it is dependent upon two things, the degree that man turns unto the LORD and then to that degree that the LORD does bless him with the help and strength that is needed to successfully over come the evil of this world. King David is one who consistantly wages this war. He was guilty of many sins himself, more so in greiveousness that what many of us have done. Yet King David did not turn from the LORD, but did strive to seek after the LORD, at least in appearance before the children of Israel. *12^athou compass him as with* a shield** This phrase and meaning reads better without the italisized word 'with' that was added by the translators. In fact it is the aid, protection and power of God which is placed to 'compass' those who come in scincerity unto the LORD. He, his righteousness works as a shield against evil. Physically the garments of the holy priesthood of God actually do work as a shield unto those who do seek unto God. Spiritually the LORD's Holy Spirit does the same. That is the blessing of the covenant with God, that one might always have his spirit to be with them. Concerning man's communicative link with heaven, it is the Holy Ghost, that third member of Godhead, the spirit thereof which does offer to attend to man as a constant companion. God's shield is real and without it man would never triump over sin and wickedness, but live forever in his sins. which	11^a HEB sing 12^a 2 Ne. 9:18; Alma 40:12-14; D&C 29:27-28; D&C 88:26 (25-26) 12^a TG Sheild