Prayer for deliverance from wicked men.
The psalmist prays to be delivered from, not open persecution, but the scoff and scourge of the tongue at all goodness and service to God. When irreligion prevails, it is difficult to resist it and stand firm in our allegiance to God.
I. THE CRY FOR HELP AGAINST THE PREVAILING IMPIETY.
1. He prays God as the Highest to hearken to his meditations, his words, and his cry. All true prayer begins in thought or meditation, goes on to express itself in uttered words, and rises at last into an earnest cry. Not till we muse on our own needs and difficulties does the fire of devotion burn; then do we break into earnest pleading, and deep, if not loud, cries.
2. The urgency and eagerness of his suit. In the morning, at the earliest opportunity, at the time of the morning sacrifice in the temple, do I wait upon thee with my prayer. Urgent matters take precedence of all others, and we cannot rest till we set about them.
3. He waited expectant for the answer to his prayer. (Psalms 5:3.) "Watched"—or looked out, not "up"—to see what came of it, and how it would be answered. This is both natural and reasonable; for God has promised to answer true prayer.
II. THE GROUND OF HIS PRAYER. God is the righteous God, and as such:
1. He has no sympathy with the ways of the wicked. (Psalms 5:4.) Not when they seem to prosper—in trade, politics, or open irreligion. And they seem to prosper only for a time.
2. God has no fellowship with the irreligious. (Psalms 5:5.) "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight;' or before thee, as favoured courtiers stand in the presence of a king. God has no gracious intercourse or communion with wicked men. Therefore I can ask for his help with confidence; for he is gracious to the righteous.
3. The false and the cruel are doomed to perish. (Psalms 5:6.) Their own devices destroy them; that is God's appointment. God's action is commonly by law, anti not by personal interference; he abhors and destroys men by the opposition of his laws to all deceit and cruelty.
III. THE FREEDOM AND AWE OF THE PSALMIST IN DRAWING NIGH TO GOD. (Psalms 5:7, "I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy loving-kindness.") The wicked cannot stand in thy sight; but I can. Note:
1. The freedom and confidence of trite worship. He feels the infinite mercy and privilege of enjoying access to God.
2. The arm of God felt in all true worship. "In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple." When freedom and reverence are blended, then is our worship the truest and most acceptable.—S.