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Psalm 5
Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Righteous is often a difficult word to understand. We often confuse it with holy. At least I do. There is a difference. Righteous means morally right, justifiable or in a right relationship with God. Holy means set apart, sacred, or consecrated to God. There is some overlap, but they are different.
I highlighted the places in the psalm that show signs of either a righteous person or a righteous God. When I grew up, I didn’t think of a righteous person as someone who was joyful or singing, but of course they go together. It is weird how the truth gets so warped by our caricatures. Also notice how the image of a shield from an earlier Psalm is here again. Remember in Ephesians 6, the armor of God is spoken of? There it talks of the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith.