Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 5:12

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 5:12. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous — A righteous soul is a peculiar object of God's affectionate regards; and therefore will be a subject of continual blessing.

With favour — Literally, Like a shield, thy favour will crown him. God loves such; and this love is their defence. In all places, times and circumstances, it will preserve them. "Keep yourselves," says the apostle, "in the love of God." He who abides in this love need not fear the face of any adversary. Thus ended the morning's devotion of this excellent man: a model by which every Christian may frame his own.

ANALYSIS OF THE FIFTH PSALM

This Psalm consists of FIVE parts: -

I. An introduction, in which he petitions to be heard; professes his earnestness about it, Psalms 5:1-3; and his confidence of audience.

II. He delivers his petition, Psalms 5:8; and the reason of it-his enemies.

III. These enemies he circumstantially describes, Psalms 5:9.

IV. He prophesies that God will destroy them, Psalms 5:10.

V. He prays for the Church, that God would preserve it, Psalms 5:11-12.

I.

1. In the entrance he prays very earnestly for audience; he shows that he meant to be serious and fervent in it; and he chooses a variety of words to express the same thing, which rise by degrees in the description: 1. He rises from meditation; 2. To words; 3. From words to a voice; 4. From a voice to a cry. Then he desires God, 1. To consider. 2, To give ear. 3. To hearken. 1. He considers, who weighs the justice of the cause. 2. He gives ear, who would understand what the suppliant means. 3. He attends and hearkens, who intends to satisfy the petitioner.

2. The reasons he uses here to beget audience are very considerable: -

1. The relation that was between him and his God: "Thou art my King and my God."

2. That he would sue to none other: "To thee will I pray;" which he illustrates, 1. From the time. It is a morning petition. 2. It was a well composed and ordered prayer. 3. He would lift up his eyes with it; that is, have all his hope and expectation exercised in it. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning; I will direct my prayer unto thee, and look up."

3. The third reason is taken from the nature of God: whom he will and whom he will not hear. 1. Persevering sinners God will not regard. 2. To the upright he is ready to look. The sinners whom God will not hear he thus describes: 1. Men who delighted in wickedness, evil, foolish workers of iniquity - liars - blood-thirsty and deceitful. Now it was not likely that God should hear such: "For thou art not a God who hast pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee." These it is said he hated; these he would destroy; these he did abhor. 2. But on the contrary, he who was faithful; who relied on God; who feared the Lord; who attended the ordinances of his house; who worshipped towards his temple; and who came, not trusting to himself, but in the multitude of God's mercies; him he would hear.

II. David, having petitioned for audience, and delivered the grounds of his confidence, brings forth his petition that his life may be holy and innocent: -

1. "Lead me in thy righteousness."

2. "Make thy way straight before me." For which he gives this reason: "Because of mine enemies."

III. These his enemies he circumstantially describes: -

1. By their MOUTH: "There is no faithfulness in their mouth."

2. By their HEART: "Their inward parts are very wickedness."

3. By their THROAT: "Their throat is an open sepulchre."

4. By their TONGUE: "They flatter with their tongue."

IV. Then he proceeds to prophesy against these enemies: -

1. God will destroy them.

2. They shall fall by their own counsels.

3. They shall be cast out in the multitude of their transgressions. For which predictions he gives this reason: They are rebels. For they have rebelled against thee. Rebels, not against David, but against God. They have not rejected me, but they have rejected thee.

V. The conclusion contains his prayer for God's people, whom he here describes: 1. They are righteous. 2. They put their trust in God. 3. They love his name.

And he prays for them, that, 1. They may be happy; that they may shout for joy. 2. They may be joyful in God.

And he expects an answer; because, 1. God defends them. 2. He will continue to bless them. 3. He will with his favour compass them as with a shield.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 5:0 Joy of the godly

In another morning prayer David again recalls the attacks that certain enemies made on him. This leads him to consider the different attitudes God has towards the godly and the ungodly. David expects God to hear his prayers and save him from his enemies (1-3).
The reason for David’s confidence is that his enemies belong to that group of people whose wickedness brings only opposition from God (4-6). By contrast, David worships God with a true heart and has a sincere desire to know God’s ways and walk in them (7-8). The speech of the wicked reveals the evil in their hearts, and because of that evil, God will punish them. On the other hand, the joy of the righteous displays their love for God, and because of that love, God will protect them (9-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"But let all those that take refuge in thee rejoice, Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou wilt bless the righteous; O Jehovah, thou wilt compass him with favor as with a shield."

There is infinite trust and confidence in such a passage as this. It is the inalienable right of every true child of God to accept this passage and many others like it as his very own inheritance.

Notice that the joyful confidence here is not limited to the one offering the prayer, but it is the blessing of all who "love the name" of the Lord and truly serve him.

Kidner pointed out that the last clause here, "Thou wilt compass him," etc. is a word, "Whose only other occurrence is in 1 Samuel 23:26, where it describes a hostile force closing in on David, only to find itself quietly deflected by God's encircling, providential care of David."Derek Kidner, Psalms (London: InterVarsity Press, 1973), p. 60.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

:Title

Upon Nehiloth - The title of Psalms 4:1-8 is, “upon Neginoth.” As that refers to a musical instrument, so it is probable that this does, and that the idea here is that this psalm was intended particularly for the music-master that had special charge of this instrument, or who presided over those that played on it. Perhaps the idea is that this psalm was specially designed to be accompanied with this instrument. The word here, Nehiloth - נחילות n^echı̂ylôth, plural. נחילה n^echı̂ylâh, singular - is supposed by Gesenius, Lexicon, to denote a flute, or pipe, as being “perforated,” from חלל châlal, to bore.” The word occurs only in this place. Very various opinions have been entertained of its meaning. See Hengstenberg, “Com.” The Latin Vulgate and the Septuagint understand it as meaning “inheritance” - the same as נחלה nachălâh, and as being somehow designed to refer to the people of God “as” a heritage. Latin Vulgate: In finem pro ca, quae hereditatem consequitur, psalmus David. So the Septuagint - ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης huper tēs klēronomousēs. So Luther, Fur das Erbe. What was the precise idea affixed to this it is not very easy to determine. Luther explains it, “according to the title, this is the general idea of the psalm, that the author prays for the inheritance or heritage of God, desiring that the people of God may be faithful to him, and may always adhere to him.” The true interpretation, however, is evidently to regard this as an instrument of music, and to consider the psalm as adapted to be sung with the instrument of music specified. Why it was adapted particularly to “that” instrument of music cannot now be determined. Horsley renders it “upon the flutes.” Compare Ugolin. Thesau. Ant. Sac.; tom. xxxii. pp. 158-170.

A Psalm of David - See introduction to Psalms 3:1-8.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous - It is one of the characteristics of God that, while he will punish the wicked, he will show favor to the righteous; while he brings deserved punishment upon the one, he will show his favor to the other.

With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield - That is, as a shield is thrown round or before one in the day of battle to protect him, so wilt thou throw thy protection around the righteous. For a description of a “shield,” see the notes at Ephesians 6:16. Compare the notes at Psalms 3:3. On these accounts, David felt that he might trust in God in the day of trouble and danger; and, on the same account, all who are righteous may put their trust in him now.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

12.For thou, Jehovah, wilt bless the righteous. The Psalmist here confirms the concluding sentence of the preceding verse, namely, that all the servants of God in common will take support to their faith from what he had experienced, for he would have us from one example to form our judgment of the immutability and perpetuity of God’s grace towards all the godly. Again, by this he teaches us that there is no true and right joy but that which is derived from the sense of God’s fatherly love. The word, to bless, in Hebrew, (when we speak of this as the act of men,) signifies to wish happiness and prosperity to any one, and to pray for him; ⁽⁷⁹⁾ but when it is spoken of as the act of God, it signifies the same thing as to prosper a man, or to enrich him abundantly with all good things; for since the favor of God is efficacious, his blessing of itself produces an abundance of every good thing. The name righteous is not restricted to any one man, but signifies in general all the servants of God. Those, however, who are called righteous in Scripture, are not so called on account of the merit of their works, but because they aspire after righteousness; for after God has received them into his favor, by not imputing their sins to them, he accepts their upright endeavors for perfect righteousness. What follows is of the same import as the preceding clause, Thou wilt crown them with thy free favor, or good will, as with a shield The Psalmist’s meaning is, that the faithful shall be completely defended on all sides, since he will, in no case, withhold from them his grace, which is to them an invincible fortress, and brings along with it certain safety. The word, to crown, which the Psalmist employs, often denotes in Hebrew, ornament or glory; but as there is added the similitude of a shield, I have no doubt but he uses it metaphorically for, to fortify or to compass about. ⁽⁸⁰⁾ The meaning, therefore, is, that however great and various may be the dangers which besiege the righteous, they shall, notwithstanding, escape, and be saved, because God is favorable to them.

(79) “Signifie, souhaitter bien et prosperite a quelquun et prier pour luy.” — Fr.

(80) Bishop Horsley thinks כצנה, katsinah, as with a shield, should be construed with רצונ ratson, favor or good will, and translates the words thus: ”Like a shield of good will, thou wilt stand guard around him.” The reading of the Septuagint is the same: Ως ὁπλω εὐδοκιας, as with a shield of good will. The word צנה tsinah, means that kind of shield, from the middle of which there arose a large boss, surmounted by a dagger and which was highly useful both as a defensive and an offensive weapon in ancient warfare.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 5:1-12

Psalms 5:1-12 is a prayer of the morning. Psalms 4:1-8 was the prayer of the evening, and now for the morning.

Give ear unto my words, O LORD; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and look up ( Psalms 5:1-3 ).

This again is upon a Neginoth, the psalm of David. And he said,

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all of the workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak deceitfully: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man ( Psalms 5:4-6 ).

Now the bloody, this is an old English kind of a word. Over in England to say, "You are a bloody bloke," is really a bad thing. Where's Malcolm? He'll tell you that in England the word bloody is really a gutter type of word. You have got to really watch your language when you go really from one culture to the other, because you can be saying things that are sort of weird.

When I was over in England I was speaking to a group of ministers, and I was sharing with them a little bit about the history of Calvary Chapel. And how before we came, the group of people that were praying whether or not to try to keep going or just to quit. And they were discouraged; there were only about twenty-five people here. They had a little church down here on Church Street here in Costa Mesa, and they had gone for a couple of years and were actually just deciding to whether or not to try to go or not. And so a prophecy came to them. And in the prophecy the Lord said that, "Chuck Smith is going to come down and be your new pastor and the church is going to be blessed. You are going to out grow this facility; you are going to have to move onto the bluff overlooking the bay. The church will be going on the radio nationally and it will be known around the world." Twenty-five discouraged people ready to quit and a prophecy like that, and you have the same attitude as the guy upon whom the king leaned when Elisha said, "Tomorrow they will be selling a barrel of wheat for sixty cents in the gate of the city." And he said, "If God could open up the windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" It seemed utterly impossible. The prophecy went on to say, "As soon as Chuck comes down, he's not going to like the church. He is going to suggest that you remodel it. Remodel the platform and all." And, it was just an encouragement, "Get in and do it."

They didn't tell me anything about the prophecy. In fact, when I finally said, "Yes, I will come down," they called me back the next day and they said, "Don't bother. We have decided to quit. We just have had it." I said, "Hey, I have already resigned. I'm on my way, you know." So the first Sunday, all of us went out for lunch together to the Sizzler. And I took the napkin on the table, and I said to the guys, "We really need to remodel the church, and here is what we need to do to the platform." And I began to draw on the napkin, remodeling design for the church. Now, they didn't tell me about the prophecy. I didn't know anything about it, but they all began to get real excited. They said, "That sounds great! Lets start this week." And I thought, "Wow! This is all right. I've got an eager crew here, you know."

And so I was relating this to the ministers in England how that I took out a napkin and I began to draw the plans on the napkin. Afterwards my host over there said, "Um, in England we call baby diapers a napkin." So he said, "All of those ministers were giggling because they pictured you drawing plans on a baby diaper." So it is interesting how one culture changes the thoughts and the meanings. Of course, that's not quite as bad as when I was in New Guinea and I decided to use one of Romaine's phrases, but never again. As I, at the close of the missionary conference, told those Wycliffe missionaries how the conference was just such a great blessing to us. I said, "I've just been blessed out of my gourd since I have been here." Not realizing that New Guinea tribesmen often wear gourds over a certain part of their body. The place broke up.

Now I don't know what the word bloody means really, but it's a dirty word in England. So being an English translation of a Hebrew word, it's a word that doesn't really commentate to us the dirtiness of it, that it is. It is a dirty kind of a man. But it doesn't really connotate in our minds. But David used it several times in the psalm concerning the deceitful man and the evil man. So he speaks, "The Lord will abhor the bloody and the deceitful man." That will mean much more to an Englishman than it does you.

But as for me ( Psalms 5:7 ),

Now here is the contrast. Now, as I told you, poetry to them is contrasting ideas or the compounding of an idea. Here comes the contrast,

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. Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. 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. 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 ( Psalms 5:7-10 ).

Contrast.

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defend them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee ( Psalms 5:11 ).

This is a beautiful psalm, really. "Let all of these who put their trust in Thee rejoice." If you put your trust in the Lord, then you should be rejoicing, shouting for joy. Why? Because God defends you. "Those that love Thy name, let them be joyful in Thee." God does want the consciousness of our daily walk in life to be that of joy.

For thou, LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor will thou encircle him as with a shield ( Psalms 5:12 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 5

This is another prayer of David that arose out of opposition by enemies (cf. Psalms 3, 4), as is clear from the content. In contrast to Psalms 4, this one is a morning prayer. The Jews regarded each new day as beginning with sundown. Both are individual laments that contain elements of confidence, but this one also has characteristics of a community lament (Psalms 5:11-12) and an imprecation.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Prayer for guidance 5:8-12

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

On the other hand, those who love God can count on His blessing and protection. They will respond to His care with joyful singing in praise of Him. This is the first of many references to singing in the Book of Psalms. "Thy name," an expression found over 100 times in the Psalter, refers to the character and attributes of God as He has revealed these to human beings. The whole psalm finds its focus in the faith expressed in Psalms 5:12.

We who are God’s people should seek God’s help in prayer diligently, so we may perceive and walk in God’s ways of righteousness. When we do so walk, we will experience His joy, protection, and fellowship-rather than sharing the fate of the wicked. [Note: See Swindoll, pp. 16-26.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. As he has blessed him with a righteousness, even the righteousness of God imputed to him, by which he is denominated righteous, and with the forgiveness of his sins; so he will bless him with peace and prosperity, with all spiritual blessings, with the blessings of grace here, and glory hereafter. Hence he has just reason to rejoice and be glad;

with favour wilt thou compass him as [with] a shield: by which is meant the free favour, love, and grace of God in Christ, which springs from his sovereign will and pleasure; is his good will to men, and the exceeding riches of his grace, shown in his kindness towards them in Christ Jesus: and the compassing or crowning of the righteous with it, as the word x signifies, is expressive of the abundance of it, in the application of it to them in conversion, and in every instance and blessing of grace; for such are crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies; the grace of the Lord is exceeding abundant towards them, it flows and overflows; it surrounds them on all sides, and covers them all over: it is as a shield unto them from all their enemies,

Psalms 40:11; and which being held in the hand of faith, quenches the fiery darts of Satan; and is the saints security from every enemy, and from all hurt and danger, here or hereafter; see Zephaniah 3:17; and is a crown of glory upon them, which makes them glorious, lovely, and amiable. Some interpret this of Christ the righteous One; so Nebiensis.

x תעטרנו εστεφανωσας ημας, Sept. "coronasti nos", V. L. Arab. Ethiop. "coronabis cum", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.

      In Psalms 5:7-12 David gives three characters--of himself, of his enemies, and of all the people of God, and subjoins a prayer to each of them.

      I. He gives an account of himself and prays for himself, Psalms 5:7; Psalms 5:8.

      1. He is stedfastly resolved to keep closely to God and to his worship. Sinners go away from God, and so make themselves odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice: "But, as for me, that shall not keep me from thee." God's holiness and justice are so far from being a terror to the upright in heart, to drive them from God, that they are rather by them invited to cleave to him. David resolves, (1.) To worship God, to pay his homage to him, and give unto God the glory due unto his name. (2.) To worship him publicly: "I will come into thy house, the courts of thy house, to worship there with other faithful worshippers." David was much in secret worship, prayed often alone (Psalms 5:2; Psalms 5:3), and yet was very constant and devout in his attendance on the sanctuary. The duties of the closet are designed to prepare us for, not to excuse us from, public ordinances. (3.) To worship him reverently and with a due sense of the infinite distance there is between God and man: "In thy fear will I worship, with a holy awe of God upon my spirit," Hebrews 12:28. God is greatly to be feared by all his worshippers. (4.) To take his encouragement, in worship, from God himself only. [1.] From his infinite mercy. It is in the multitude of God's mercy (the inexhaustible treasures of mercy that are in God and the innumerable proofs and instances of it which we receive from him) that David confides, and not in any merit or righteousness of his own, in his approaches to God. The mercy of God should ever be both the foundation of our hopes and the fountain of our joy in every thing wherein we have to do with him. [2.] From the instituted medium of worship, which was then the temple, here called the temple of his holiness, as a type of Christ, the great and only Mediator, who sanctifies the service as the temple sanctified the gold, and to whom we must have an eye in all our devotions as the worshippers then had to the temple.

      2. He earnestly prays that God, by his grace, would guide and preserve him always in the way of his duty (Psalms 5:8; Psalms 5:8): Lead me in thy righteousness, because of my enemies--Heb. "Because of those who observe me, who watch for my halting and seek occasion against me." See here, (1.) The good use which David made of the malice of his enemies against him. The more curious they were in spying faults in him, that they might have whereof to accuse him, the more cautious he was to avoid sin and all appearances of it, and the more solicitous to be always found in the good way of God and duty. Thus, by wisdom and grace, good may come out of evil. (2.) The right course which David took for the baffling of those who sought occasion against him. He committed himself to a divine guidance, begged of God both by his providence and by his grace to direct him in the right way, and keep him from turning aside out of it, at any time, in any instance whatsoever, that the most critical and captious of his enemies, like Daniel's, might find no occasion against him. The way of our duty is here called God's way, and his righteousness, because he prescribes to us by his just and holy laws, which if we sincerely set before us as our rule, we may in faith beg of God to direct us in all particular cases. How this prayer of David's was answered to him see 1 Samuel 18:14; 1 Samuel 18:15.

      II. He gives an account of his enemies, and prays against them, Psalms 5:9; Psalms 5:10. 1. If his account of them is true, as no doubt it is, they have a very bad character; and, if they had not been bad men indeed, they could not have been enemies to a man after God's own heart. He had spoken (Psalms 5:6; Psalms 5:6) of God's hating the bloody and deceitful man. "Now, Lord," says he, "that is the character of my enemies: they are deceitful; there is no trusting them, for there is no faithfulness in their mouth." They thought it was no sin to tell a deliberate lie if it might but blemish David, and render him odious. "Lord, lead me," says he (Psalms 5:8; Psalms 5:8), "for such as these are the men I have to do with, against whose slanders innocency itself is no security. Do they speak fair? Do they talk of peace and friendship? They flatter with their tongues; it is designed to cover their malice, and to gain their point the more securely. Whatever they pretend of religion or friendship, two sacred things, they are true to neither: Their inward part is wickedness itself; it is very wickedness. They are likewise bloody; for their throat is an open sepulchre, cruel as the grave, gaping to devour and to swallow up, insatiable as the grave, which never says, It is enough," Proverbs 30:15; Proverbs 30:16. This is quoted (Romans 3:13) to show the general corruption of mankind; for they are all naturally prone to malice, Titus 3:3. The grave is opened for them all, and yet they are as open graves to one another. 2. If his prayer against them is heard, as no doubt it is, they are in a bad condition. As men are, and do, so they must expect to fare. He prays to God to destroy them (according to what he had said Psalms 5:6; Psalms 5:6, "Thou shalt destroy men of this character," so let them fall; and sinners would soon throw themselves into ruin if they were let alone), to cast them out of his protection and favour, out of the heritage of the Lord, out of the land of the living; and woe to those whom God casts out. "They have by their sins deserved destruction; there is enough to justify God in their utter rejection: Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, by which they have filled up the measure of their iniquity and have become ripe for ruin." Persecuting God's servants fills the measure as soon as any thing, 1 Thessalonians 2:15. Nay, they may be easily made to fall by their own counsels; that which they do to secure themselves, and do mischief to others, by the over-ruling providence of God may be made a means of their destruction, Psalms 7:15; Psalms 9:15. He pleads, "They have rebelled against thee. Had they been only my enemies, I could safely have forgiven them; but they are rebels against God, his crown and dignity; they oppose his government, and will not repent, to give him glory, and therefore I plainly foresee their ruin." His prayer for their destruction comes not from a spirit of revenge, but from a spirit of prophecy, by which he foretold that all who rebel against God will certainly be destroyed by their own counsels. If it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to those that trouble his people, as we are told it is (2 Thessalonians 1:6), we pray that it may be done whenever we pray, Father, thy will be done.

      III. He gives an account of the people of God, and prays for them, concluding with an assurance of their bliss, which he doubted not of his own interest in. Observe, 1. The description he gives of God's people. They are the righteous (Psalms 5:12; Psalms 5:12); for they put their trust in God, are well assured of his power and all-sufficiency, venture their all upon his promise, and are confident of his protection in the way of their duty; and they love his name, are well pleased with all that by which God has made himself known, and take delight in their acquaintance with him. This is true and pure religion, to live a life of complacency in God and dependence on him. 2. His prayer for them: "Let them rejoice; let them have cause to rejoice and hearts to rejoice; fill them with joy, with great joy and unspeakable; let them shout for joy, with constant joy and perpetual; let them ever shout for joy, with holy joy, and that which terminates in God; let them be joyful in thee, in thy favour, in thy salvation, not in any creature. Let them rejoice because thou defendest them, coverest them, or overshadowest them, dwellest among them." Perhaps here is an allusion to the pillar of cloud and fire, which was to Israel a visible token of God's special presence with them and the special protection they were under. Let us learn of David to pray, not for ourselves only, but for others, for all good people, for all that trust in God and love his name, though not in every thing of our mind nor in our interest. Let all that are entitled to God's promises have a share in our prayers; grace be with all that love Christ in sincerity. This is to concur with God. 3. His comfort concerning them, Psalms 5:12; Psalms 5:12. He takes them into his prayers because they are God's peculiar people; therefore he doubts not but his prayers shall be heard, and they shall always rejoice; for, (1.) They are happy in the assurance of God's blessing: "Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous, wilt command a blessing upon them. Thou hast in thy word pronounced them blessed, and therefore wilt make them truly so. Those whom thou blessest are blessed indeed." (2.) "They are safe under the protection of thy favour; with that thou wilt crown him" (so some read it); "it is his honour, will be to him a diadem of beauty, and make him truly great: with that thou wilt compass him, wilt surround him, on every side, as with a shield." A shield, in war, guards only one side, but the favour of God is to the saints a defence on every side; like the hedge about Job, round about, so that, while they keep themselves under the divine protection, they are entirely safe and ought to be entirely satisfied.

      In singing Psalms 5:7-12, and praying them over, we must by faith put ourselves under God's guidance and care, and then please ourselves with his mercy and grace and with the prospect of God's triumphs at last over all his enemies and his people's triumphs in him and in his salvation.