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Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

5:10 Destroy thou them. This is the first of many “imprecations” in the Psalms, wherein God-fearing men actually pray for God to torture and destroy their enemies. This seems alien to the spirit of Matthew 5:44 (“I say unto you, Love your enemies”), especially in view of the fact that these “imprecatory psalms” are divinely inspired. The distinction, however, is to be made between our personal enemies and the enemies of God. David says in a later psalm: “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee?...I hate them with perfect hatred” (Psalm 139:21-22). There is no personal vindictiveness involved in desiring and praying that God will be vindicated when His enemies are defeated and judged. David here is praying for judgment against such men, not because they have injured him personally but because “they have rebelled against thee.”


5:11 put their trust. Compare Psalm 2:8.

Psalm 6 (title) Sheminith. Sheminith occurs only here and in the title to Psalm 12. It is believed to refer to an eight-stringed lyre.


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