To the Chief Musician. With Flutes. A Psalm of David
1. To my sayings give ear, O Yahweh!
Understand my meditation.
2. Hearken to the voice of my cry,
My king and my God,
For unto you will I pray.
3. Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice,
In the morning I will lay out my prayer before you
And I will watch.
4. For not a God taking pleasure in wickedness are you.
Evil will not sojourn with you.
5. Those who boast will not stand before your eyes.
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6. You will make perished those who speak a lie.
A man of blood and deceit Yahweh will abhor.
7. And I, in the multitude of your lovingkindnesses I will come into your house.
I will worship toward the temple of your holiness in your fear.
8. O Yahweh, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries.
Make straight before my face your way.
9. For there is no being steadfast in their mouth.
Their inner part is desire.
An open grave is their throat.
With their tongue they will flatter.
10. Declare them guilty, O God.
Let them fall by their own counsels.
In the multitude of their transgressions drive them away,
For they rebel against you.
11. And let all those who take refuge in you rejoice.
For ever let them shout for joy,
And may you cover them.
Let those who love your name exult in you.
12. For you will bless the righteous one, O Yahweh.
As a shield, with favor you will surround him.
Notes
Many psalms begin with a cry to be heard, but this psalm is unusual in that the cry to be heard really continues all the way through verse 7. Verses 1–2 make up the cry itself, in verse 3 David explains what he will do to be heard, and in verses 4–7 he gives the reason for his cry.
The second line of verse 3 uses two interesting verbs. The first means to set out or to put in order and the second to watch. We get a picture of a man setting out food for his animals and then stepping back to watch what they will do with it, or of a child laying out his work before his father to see how he will respond.
In verses 4–7 David explains why he has sought the Lord in prayer. The Lord hates his adversaries (not mentioned directly until verse 8). In fact, it belongs to his very character to hate all those who are proud, murderous and faithless in their speech: “Not a God taking pleasure in wickedness are you.” But David has received the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, will come into his house and will worship there in his fear. He expects a favorable answer to his prayer.
His prayer is for guidance (v.8), which he needs because his adversaries try to make him wander from the Lord’s way or to prevent him from walking in it. They are inwardly full of evil desire against him, their throat is filled with the corruption of their desires, and their tongues let out the stink of it in flattery. They have spiritual halitosis.
David therefore prays that the Lord will declare them guilty, make them fall and drive them away from him.
He also prays for himself and all the righteous that they may rejoice, shout for joy and exult in the Lord, and he expects a favorable answer to his prayer, because it also belongs to the Lord’s character to bless the righteous and surround them with his favor.
Christology
Christ is the righteous one whom the Lord favors. He imparts his righteousness to those who are his, so that they partake of the Lord’s favor with him.
Christ is also the righteous judge who hates the workers of iniquity, declares them guilty and drives them away.