Who - David writes a song of commitment to the LORD.
What - David is making a promise to the LORD of how he will live. It is a promise to live in a covenant with the LORD. All the promises David makes to the LORD are aspects or components of covenantal living, to call and affirm good that which the LORD has called good and evil what the LORD has called evil.
This song is also a praise and a request. David praises the LORD for His steadfast love and justice. David's only request in this song is for the LORD to come to David.
While this psalm is a personal pledge to the LORD by David, it is also a psalm that describes the perfect king and the perfect people. It is describing the perfect Davidic king, the one promised in 2 Samuel chapter 7. Therefore, it is a psalm that describes the Messiah.
When - Unstated, but it must be early in David’s life or early in his kingship. He would not say these things in this way after Bathsheba and Absalom.
Where - Unstated
Why - Without a historical context for this psalm we cannot say specifically why David wants to make this promise to the LORD. For some reason David feels the need to have a closer fellowship with the LORD. David connects the closeness one can have with the LORD to the commitment of covenantal living. So David is promising to keep the covenant to enjoy fellowship with the LORD. I take David's desires as a true expression of his heart, not an attempt to earn the LORD’S favor.
How - David opens the psalm with a declaration of praise to the LORD for His steadfast love and justice. He follows that praise with a petition, “when will you come to me?” David finishes the stanza with promises of personal holiness, “I will” statements.
In the next short stanza David declares he will not overlook or condone the actions of wicked people around him.
The third stanza is a promise to encourage and reward righteous living by others around him.
The fourth stanza comes back to David's personal holiness, he will not allow wicked people to be a part of his household or inner circle (Psalm 1:1).
The last stanza is a promise to govern with righteousness and punish the wicked. David will be an agent of the LORD’S justice.
We can also see this psalm is a declaration of the ideal king and the pattern of covenantal living and leadership he will live up to. At the same time it is a call for Israel to live this way and be an example to the nations just as the Davidic king was an example to them.
So What
- Personal holiness matters. We cannot expect to enjoy fellowship with the LORD when we are not living in covenant with him. Affirming the LORD’S ways in our personal life and with whom we have close relationships with matters.
- We too can look for and affirm this kind of leadership, both in the church and in the social/political sphere, when we see it. As Christians we want to live up to these kind of ideals and serve as an example to the nations of Christian ethics and morality.
- Be careful what you promise, for keeping a promise is not the same as making a promise. We all affirm David's promises are good and righteous promises. Yet 2 Samuel shows David failed with everyone: Bathsheba, Joab, Amnon and Absalom.
- Examining this psalm in light of David's failures, as well as our own, makes Christ's perfect covenant living all the more amazing! Praise the LORD that our perfect Davidic King has come.
- Praise the LORD we can enjoy close fellowship with him through Christ's perfect covenant keeping. While our personal holiness matters, thank the LORD His love and fellowship with us are not solely dependent on our perfect covenant keeping.
- Where we can, we must seek justice and oppose wickedness around us.
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