This is a morning song. The context is clearly David as King, perhaps in a warm-up to more formal worship. In the quiet of his first rising, David appeals to God as a king beset by a royal court loaded with charlatans.
This song is far more lyrical than many English translations can capture. David calls out to God, addressing Him as his Liege Lord. Surely a greater king understands the anguished sighing of one who rules. Not yet fully out of bed, David can already sense the constant tension between the need to get things done against the certainty that he faces any number of secret enemies. So the first order of business is to come before his Lord and wait for that sense of divine peace before he starts grappling with the divided loyalties of those who pretend to serve him.
David rejoices in the assurance that his Lord has no tolerance for such deception. Sincere servants of any ruler would seek to absorb their master’s character, and David hopes he can develop the same intolerance for deception, the same sensitivity for injustice, that characterizes his master. So the first order of business is to appear for the morning offering at the Tent of Meeting David had erected in his courtyard. Calling it a house or temple is a figure of speech; wherever one encounters God is a holy place. A great potentate is at home throughout his domain.
As a senior servant on earth in God’s domain, David knows how often some crafty servant will pretend to obey, but raise up hindrances, pretending to misunderstand through legalistic wrangling. So David asks according to protocol that his Lord grant him a mandate to waltz through all that nonsense and proceed directly with the divine mission. David knows he is surrounded by all sorts of scoundrels who take advantage of their position, trying to skim off an unjust portion of the traffic they handle for the king. They make the pretense of being the king’s most faithful servant and make all the right noises, but their mouths are loaded with slippery lies. Let them be caught in their own traps, O God! It matters not that they have rebelled in their hearts against David, but they have rejected God’s reign.
By contrast, David sees no harm from those who are faithful to God. David would rather be troubled by honest men than pampered by liars. So he prays that God would give the just a sense of strength and courage to demand David’s best. People who are loyal to Jehovah should fear nothing from David, who is likewise His humble servant.
