Psalm 5

Psalm 5

A PSALM OF DAVID: A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. (As the Fourth Psalm was an evening Psalm, a prayer to the Lord concerning the coming night, the Fifth Psalm is a morning Psalm. David awakens to meditate upon God and pray. This pertains likewise to Christ [Isa. 50:4].)

2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto You will I pray (we learn from these Psalms just how strong was David’s prayer life, and likewise our Saviour’s).

3 My voice shall You hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto You, and will look up (he will “look up,” simply because his help comes from above; we must never forget that).

4 For You are not a God Who has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with You (there was no wickedness or evil in the Messiah; there was terrible wickedness and evil in Israel).

5 The foolish shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all workers of iniquity (Israel played the fool and rejected the Messiah; consequently, they could not stand in God’s sight; God cannot abide wickedness or evil, even in those He calls His “Chosen”).

6 You shall destroy them who speak leasing (lies): the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man (this has a double meaning; the first speaks of Ahithophel, who betrayed David; he was David’s closest advisor; the second and foremost speaks of Judas, the Lord’s Disciple, who betrayed Him).

7 But as for me, I will come into Your House in the multitude of Your Mercy: and in Your fear will I worship toward Your Holy Temple (the “Temple” referred to here is speaking of the Heavenly Temple toward which David prayed and the Earthly Temple into which Jesus went [Jn. 2:16]; so, He came into this “House” in “Mercy” and “fear” and cleansed the Temple of its traffickers).

8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your Righteousness because of my enemies; make Your Way straight before my face (when Jesus cleansed the Temple, He did not fear His “enemies,” because He was led by the Holy Spirit because of Righteousness).

9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth (the Pharisees); their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre (the Sadducees); they flatter with their tongue (the Herodians).

10 Destroy You them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against You (in all cases, this prayer was answered; Ahithophel died of suicide, Absalom was killed in the battle to overthrow David; likewise, Judas died of suicide, and the whole of Israel was destroyed in A.D. 70).

11 But let all those who put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them: let them also who love Your Name be joyful in You (this Passage speaks of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and also the Resurrection of David, who was resurrected from potential destruction; David placed his trust in Jehovah, and the Lord restored him to the throne).

12 For You, LORD, will bless the Righteous; with favour will You compass him as with a shield. (The “shield” addressed here is the largest size, which covers the entire body. This shield here is the favor and Grace of Jehovah.

The “Righteous” is the Lord Jesus. All who are in Him are likewise blessed.)

Psalm 4

Psalm 4

A PSALM OF DAVID: AN EVENING PRAYER OF TRUST IN GOD

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: You have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer (this Psalm was composed by David on the same occasion as Psalm 3, when Absalom rebelled; as David cried to the Lord, likewise, the Lord Jesus cried to God in the same manner when the Scribes and Pharisees, in the spirit of Absalom, came against Him).

2 O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? how long will you love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. (Leasing means lying. The sins listed in this Verse are the reason that Absalom rebelled against his father; the Scribes and Pharisees rebelled against Christ; and all men rebel against God.)

3 But know that the LORD has set apart him who is Godly for Himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto Him (the Lord has set aside Christ as His very Own — made Him a special subject of Grace and Providence; He will do the same for all who properly follow Christ).

4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. (This was perhaps addressed to David’s faithful followers, advising them to check their wrath [II Sam. 16:9; 18:5-15]. As well, when reviled, Jesus did not revile again [I Pet. 2:23].)

5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD (in effect, Jesus is saying that He counsels the Pharisees to commune with their own hearts, to be silent in true conversion, and to offer righteous sacrifices and not vain oblations).

6 There be many who say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift You up the light of Your Countenance upon us (men are always seeking for good while not actually knowing what their true good is; the true good is to have the light of God’s Countenance shining on us).

7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased (the greater Blessings are spiritual rather than material).

8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for You, LORD, only make me dwell in safety (even in the face of acute trouble, David did, and the Lord likewise, lay down in perfect peace, and went immediately to sleep, for He was the Prince and Perfecter of Faith [Lk. 21:37; Heb. 12:2]).

Psalm 3

psalm 3

A Psalm of david: a PRAYER OF CONFIDENCE IN THE lORD

Lord, how are they increased who trouble Me! many are they who rise up against Me. (The Holy Spirit put these words into David’s mouth the morning after his flight from Jerusalem because of Absalom’s unnatural rebellion. David is seen here as a Type of the Messiah rejected by His Own people. Though surrounded by enemies, he slept in confidence upon the mountainside beneath Jehovah’s sheltering wing, and in the assurance of Faith declared that God would lift up his head and destroy his foes. So, even though many of these Psalms speak of David, they more so speak of our Greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, David was a Type of Christ.)

2 Many there be which say of My soul, There is no help for Him in God. Selah. (As Israel said this of David, likewise, they said it of the Lord Jesus Christ [Mat. 27:43].)

3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head (the latter phrase proclaims the fact that it is the Lord Who put David on the throne, and the Lord will keep him on the throne).

4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me out of His Holy Hill. Selah. (David believed in prayer, and so should we!)

5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me (even though in the midst of a terrible problem, with Absalom trying to kill him, David knew that the Lord was in control).

6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, who have set themselves against me round about (the Lord, with one man who believes in Him, is a majority [Rom. 8:31]).

7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for You have smitten all my enemies upon the cheek bone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly (a euphemism or allegory portraying the Lord discomfiting our enemies; the idea is, if we are truly right with God, the enemies of the Lord are also our enemies!).

8 Salvation belongs unto the LORD (He Alone can save): Your Blessing is upon Your People. Selah. (The Blessings surely aren’t on God’s enemies.)

Psalm 1

The BOOK OF

psalms

Psalm 1

The Genesis book: The blessedness of christ

BLESSED (happy) is the Man (Christ Jesus, Who is our Representative Man [I Cor. 15:47]) Who walks (orders His lifestyle) not in the counsel of the ungodly (but according to the Word of God), nor stands in the way of sinners (doesn’t trod the evil path of sin), nor sits in the seat of the scornful (but rather evidences Faith in God. All 150 Psalms point to Christ, with the exception of the parts that point to the Evil One and his followers. As the Gospels proclaim the Acts of Christ, the Psalms portray His Heart, in His Atoning, Mediatorial, or Intercessory Work).

2 But His (our Lord’s) delight is in the Law of the LORD (God’s Word [119:97-108]); and in His Law does He meditate day and night (this was the manner of Christ as our Representative Man in His Earthly sojourn; as our example, it is meant to be our practice as well).

3 And He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water (symbol of the Holy Spirit [Jn. 7:37-39]), that brings forth His Fruit in His Season (Jn. 15:1-8); His Leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever He does shall prosper (“His Leaf” corresponds with the “Tree of Life”; everything that man does dies; everything Jesus does lives forever and is blessed).

The misery of the unrighteous

4 The ungodly are not so (speaks primarily of the Antichrist; however, it includes all who follow Satan): but are like the chaff which the wind drives away (no matter how rich, famous, or powerful the ungodly might be, the Lord refers to them as “chaff”).

5 Therefore the ungodly (the Antichrist) shall not stand in the Judgment (will not be able to pass muster, so to speak), nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous (only those who follow the “Blessed Man,” Who is Christ, are judged as righteous).

6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous (Christ and all who follow Him): but the way of the ungodly (the Antichrist) shall perish (it’s either Christ or the Antichrist!).