Psalm 5:7-12 “But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow towards your holy temple in reverence of you. Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you. But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you. For you will bless the righteous. LORD, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.”

What a revelation: we can approach God because of the abundance of his steadfast love! That should ignite in us an even greater desire to worship and serve. And our service is for a purpose: to differentiate ourselves from the wicked. Not only do we want to be protected from them, we also don’t want to become like them. Is it strange that we should ask God to help us be different? No, because we understand that we can’t really live for God without the help of His Spirit:

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Some have trouble with passages that indicate a desire for the wicked to be punished. Although we do live in the New Testament era, we can still pray for the wicked to be exposed and judged for their actions. We actually see that as one of the prayers in Revelation:

Revelation 6:10 “They cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’”

Notice in both the Old and the New Testaments the saints are crying out for God to do the judging, not us!

The last thing that this Psalm reveals is how those who know and trust God respond to His love and protection: we love Him back and rejoice in His name!

For additional worship: Lead Me Lord (with lyrics)