Psalm 5:7-12 - Taking the Lord's Hand in the Light

As we study through the Psalms, we can’t help but notice that David made it a daily habit to start every day with prayer. Seeking the face of the Lord as he worshipped and fellowshipped with Him. Prayer was not something David only did when he was in tremendous distress, as he was when he wrote this prayerful Psalm. I’ll never forget an elderly lady in our church in Holland Michigan, make a powerful statement just before she sang her special solo for the service. She said, “If you take the Lord’s hand in the light, you don’t have to look for it in the dark!” My friend, this is some great advice we should all take heed to. If we take the time every day to seek the Lord in a time of communion with Him in prayer, Bible study and meditation, we will be assured of His presence and His protection all the day long. We will be well prepared to face the “dark” times should they come! In Psalm 5, David gives us three valuable instructions to encourage our daily fellowship with the Lord. We Must prepare to meet with the Lord by directing our prayer to Him and looking up! (vv. 1-3). Secondly, in contrast to the wicked, deceitful, lying, bloodthirsty, workers of iniquity, we need to keep our hearts and lives pure and clean before the Lord seeking to please Him (vv. 4-6). The third thing we should do is to submit to the Lord as we pray (vv. 7-12). When David wrote "But as for me," he contrasted himself with the wicked crowd that rebelled against the King. David had come to pray, and he had three requests. David prayed for guidance (vv. 7-8). David was in the wilderness, but he came to the Lord with the kind of awe that the priests and Levites displayed in the tabernacle. In the worship of our great God, there's no place for cuteness and flippancy. We should remember as believers, as we enter into the presence of God to worship and pray, that it cost Jesus His life (Heb. 10:19-20), and to treat this privilege lightly is to cheapen that sacrifice. David knew he needed guidance from God, for he had to put the kingdom back together again. (James 1:5.) David prayed for justice (vv. 9-10). David didn't issue orders to his officers to go out and slaughter his enemies; instead, he turned them over to the Lord. During that tragic battle in which Absalom was slain, "the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured" (2 Sam. 18:8). David's prayer was answered: "let them fall by their own counsels" (v. 10). But it was not because they rebelled against David; their great sin was that they had rebelled against God. In Romans 3:13, Paul quoted "their throat is an open sepulcher" as part of his proof that the whole world is guilty before God (Rom. 3:19)—and that includes all of us! Instead of being upset over God's treatment of David's enemies, we need to examine our own relationship with the Lord! David prayed for God's blessing (vv. 11-12). David didn't rejoice because some of God's covenant people were evil and were judged by the Lord, but because Israel's God had been glorified and His king vindicated. The outcome of our fellowship with the Lord should be joy in His character, His promises, and His gracious answers to prayer. Note that verse 11 emphasizes faith and love, and verse 12 gives the assurance of future hope. David began his devotions seeking help for himself but ended by seeking blessings for all the people, including his enemies. That's the way our devotional times ought to end. Remember to take the Lord’s hand in the light every day and you won’t have to look for Him in the dark! God bless!