Mazmur 5:7-8

5:7 But as for me, ¹  because of your great faithfulness I will enter your house; ² 

I will bow down toward your holy temple as I worship you. ³ 

5:8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness ⁴ 

because of those who wait to ambush me, ⁵ 

remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me! ⁶ 

[5:7]  ¹ sn But as for me. By placing the first person pronoun at the beginning of the verse, the psalmist highlights the contrast between the evildoers’ actions and destiny, outlined in the preceding verses, with his own.

[5:7]  ² sn I will enter your house. The psalmist is confident that God will accept him into his presence, in contrast to the evildoers (see v. 5).

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “in fear [of] you.” The Hebrew noun יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fear”), when used of fearing God, is sometimes used metonymically for what it ideally produces: “worship, reverence, piety.”

[5:8]  ⁴ tn God’s providential leading is in view. His צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) includes here the deliverance that originates in his righteousness; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 842 s.v.

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 27:11; 56:2.

[5:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “make level before me your way.” The imperative “make level” is Hiphil in the Kethib (consonantal text); Piel in the Qere (marginal reading). God’s “way” is here the way in which he leads the psalmist providentially (see the preceding line, where the psalmist asks the Lord to lead him).