As for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.
Psalm 5:7-8 (NKJV)
Throughout the Bible God gives us His promises and relates them to us by saying “I will” do this or that and most of the time they come with the condition by The Lord saying, “if” we will keep His Word and be obedient. In the Psalms the writer states, “I will,” do such and such but never seems to put a condition on God. We are to do what is right even when God does not bless us for doing so, don’t you think?
Twice in our text David said “I will.” First, he said “I will come into Your house.” Remember, it was only the priests who could come into the “house” and only after they had been ritually cleansed. But David said he would come into house in the multitude of the mercy of God. Next, he said, “I will worship toward Your holy temple.” Even if he was not near the tabernacle, he would worship toward it for it represented God’s presence. These “I will’s” speak of David’s determination to be a worshiper of God. The wicked were not so.
In contrast with wickedness David did not boast of his own goodness. Rather he stressed God’s mercy toward him. By this he could go into the tabernacle to worship the Lord in reverence. The Hebrew word for worship signifies prostrating oneself, a posture that represents the proper inner attitude toward God in worship. The wicked are arrogant; a worshiper is humble before God.
David’s prayer for guidance is the central idea of verses 8-12. This prayer is for guidance in righteousness. Because God is righteous, and because the enemies are wicked, David’s desire was to follow the path of right conduct (make straight Your way before me) and not be numbered among those God hates.
Are we determined to go to the house of the Lord? Have we made up our minds that we will worship God because He is worthy? What is our reason for doing so? Is it about God or is it about us? David said, “I will worship.” Our Lord is worthy of our worship so let’s do with the greatest awe and reverence of Him. Amen and amen.
