Psalms 5:12

For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. As he has blessed him with a righteousness, even the righteousness of God imputed to him, by which he is denominated righteous, and with the forgiveness of

For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. For - the ground of his hope expressed in Psalms 5:7; Psalms 5:11.

i.e. Thou art resolved, and hast engaged thyself by promise and covenant, to bless them; and therefore my prayer for them is agreeable to thy will. With favour; with thy love and gracious providence. Wilt thou compass him as with a shield, i.e. keep him safe on every side.

Psalms 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as [with] a shield.Ver. 12. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous] Yea, the righteous man shall abound with blessings, Proverbs 28:20; yea, God will bless all them that bless him, Genesis 12:3, or that but give him a cup of cold water, Matthew 10:42 With favour] Or, goodwill; Quae praecedit nostram bonam voluntatem, saith Augustine. Wilt thou compass him] Or, encircle him as with a crown, and so make them "higher than the kings of the earth," Psalms 89:27, whose crowns cannot keep their heads from aching, but fill them with cares; which made one king cry out, O vilis pannus, &c. (Val. Max.), and another spake this of his crown, Nobilis es fateor, rutilisque onerata lapillis, Innumeris curis sed comitata venis. Quod bene si nossent omnes expendere, nemo Nemo foret qui te tollere vellet humo. As with a shield] A piked shield, such as doth circuire tres partes hominis, compass about three parts of a man, saith R. Solomon on this text. Shields and bucklers, besides other bosses for ornament, had one great boss in the middle with a sharp pike in it for use, to pierce and wound the adversary. See Job 15:26. God will be all in all to his people, crown, shield, &c.: they may therefore well enough rejoice, shout, leap, as in the former verse.

Verse 12. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous] A righteous soul is a peculiar object of God's affectionate regards; and therefore will be a subject of continual blessing. With favour] Literally, Like a shield, thy favour will crown him. God loves such; and this love is their defence. In all places, times and circumstances, it will preserve them. "Keep yourselves," says the apostle, "in the love of God." He who abides in this love need not fear the face of any adversary. Thus ended the morning's devotion of this excellent man: a model by which every Christian may frame his own. ANALYSIS OF THE FIFTH PSALM This Psalm consists of FIVE parts: - I. An introduction, in which he petitions to be heard; professes his earnestness about it, Psalms 5:1-3; and his confidence of audience. II. He delivers his petition, Psalms 5:8; and the reason of it-his enemies. III. These enemies he circumstantially describes, Psalms 5:9. IV. He prophesies that God will destroy them, Psalms 5:10. V. He prays for the Church, that God would preserve it, Psalms 5:11-12. I. 1. In the entrance he prays very earnestly for audience; he shows that he meant to be serious and fervent in it; and he chooses a variety of words to express the same thing, which rise by degrees in the description: 1. He rises from meditation; 2. To words; 3. From words to a voice; 4. From a voice to a cry. Then he desires God, 1. To consider. 2, To give ear. 3. To hearken. 1. He considers, who weighs the justice of the cause. 2. He gives ear, who would understand what the suppliant means. 3. He attends and hearkens, who intends to satisfy the petitioner. 2. The reasons he uses here to beget audience are very considerable: - 1. The relation that was between him and his God: "Thou art my King and my God." 2. That he would sue to none other: "To thee will I pray;" which he illustrates, 1. From the time. It is a morning petition. 2. It was a well composed and ordered prayer. 3. He would lift up his eyes with it; that is, have all his hope and expectation exercised in it. "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning; I will direct my prayer unto thee, and look up." 3. The third reason is taken from the nature of God: whom he will and whom he will not hear. 1. Persevering sinners God will not regard. 2. To the upright he is ready to look. The sinners whom God will not hear he thus describes: 1. Men who delighted in wickedness, evil, foolish workers of iniquity - liars - blood-thirsty and deceitful. Now it was not likely that God should hear such: "For thou art not a God who hast pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee." These it is said he hated; these he would destroy; these he did abhor. 2.

12. The R.V. follows the Massoretic punctuation in transferring lord to the second half of the verse: O lord, thou wilt compass him with favour as with a shield. a shield] A buckler, or large shield to protect the whole body. Cp. Psalms 35:2, Psalms 91:4; 1 Samuel 17:7. From 1 Kings 10:16-17 it would seem that the ‘buckler’ (A.V. ‘target’) was about double the size of the ‘shield.’

For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous - It is one of the characteristics of God that, while he will punish the wicked, he will show favor to the righteous; while he brings deserved punishment upon