Psalm 5:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

NIV: Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

NASB: For You bless the righteous person, Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

CSB: For you, Lord, bless the righteous one; you surround him with favor like a shield.

NLT: For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.

KJV: For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

NKJV: For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

David closes Psalm 5 with a prayer for the Lord to bless the righteous; that is, to make the righteous happy or spiritually prosperous. The righteous may not be financially prosperous, but they can be spiritually prosperous and happy. Scripture is clear that a godly life is not always (or often) easy, wealthy, or free from pain (John 16:33). Yet those who trust in God know that they can rest in Him, and experience joy and peace, despite those hard times (Psalm 5:11; Romans 5:3–11; Philippians 4:4–9; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 1:6–9).

This verse also asks the Lord to cover the righteous person "with favor as with a shield." The word for "shield" in this verse does not refer to the small, round shield mentioned in Psalm 3:3. The word here is tsin'nāh, which refers to a "standing shield"—a massive barrier, like a door, which covered a soldier's entire body. God's favor is not small but large. His protection is sufficient to keep believers safe at all times, and according to His will.

Psalm 84:11 affirms what David wrote in Psalm 5:12. It promises, "The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." The apostle John offered a verse that alleviates our fears when the Devil hurls his fiery darts at us. John wrote: "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

Psalm 5:7–12 reflects David's confidence in God's justice. The Lord punishes the guilty but rewards the righteous. Other passages tell us the Lord loves righteousness and justice (Psalm 36; 58; 97). Isaiah 30, Luke 18, and Romans 1 reveal these characteristics of God, as well. Romans 3 paints the entire human race as guilty before God, but Romans 4—6 show how God justifies the guilty who believe on His crucified and risen Son Jesus (John 3:16–18). David's prayer for blessing resembles the apostle Paul's benedictions at the close of some of his epistles (1 Corinthians 16:23; Galatians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:28).

Psalm 5 begins with David's urgent prayer for the Lord to heed his groaning and cry. He addresses the Lord as his King and his God, and indicates that he prays in the morning and watches for an answer. He recognizes that God takes no pleasure in the wicked but destroys evil, lying, bloodthirsty, or deceitful men. He anticipates that the God who loves him will allow him to enter the tabernacle, where he will offer reverential worship. He prays for the Lord's leading so that he will escape his enemies, whom he identifies as devoid of truth and violent. He prays further that the Lord will cause those rebels to bear the consequences of their transgressions. The psalm closes with an appeal to the righteous to sing for joy as they take refuge in the Lord, and David asks the Lord to bless and protect the righteous.

Like Psalm 4, this psalm is connected to Psalm 3. Psalm 3 refers to David's rising up in the morning, whereas Psalm 4 refers to his nighttime sleep. This psalm is addressed to the choirmaster. Like Psalms 3 and 4, Psalm 5 was composed by David in the wilderness, when Absalom's forces sought to destroy him (see 2 Samuel 15—18). This is one of the ''imprecatory psalms,'' so called because they pray for God to destroy the wicked. The imprecatory psalms are Psalms 5, 12, 35, 37, 58, 59, 69, 79, 83, 108, 139, and 140. These psalms urge God to judge those who oppose God and His people. Imprecations are also found elsewhere in the Bible, such as in passages like Jeremiah 11:18–20,15:15, 17:18, 18:19–23, 20:11–12; 1 Corinthians 16:22, and Revelation 6:10.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.