For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
5 The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
6     you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
    you, Lord, detest.
7 But I, by your great love,
    can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
    towards your holy temple.

8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies –
    make your way straight before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
    with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
    for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favour as with a shield.

David is swimming against the tide. He draws a contrast between himself and the other people he has in mind (possibly the rebels with Absalom?). This is not a distinction of self-righteousness. David was far from perfect. He knew it. We know it. But at his best he wanted to be the best for God (and he for sure knew how to confess and repent when he fell short). Look how, in verse 8, he prays to live right This psalm shows the ‘moral commitment’ (Motyer) of the man praying, seeking to live right amidst many who are living wrong. He doesn’t want to be like those whom the Lord will banish from His presence (9,10). The life of prayer must not be divorced from the pursuit of holiness.

In particular, though, the contrast he draws is one of God’s grace and mercy:

‘But I, by your great love, can come into your house…’ (7a, compare with v.5).

I remember often singing the hymn ‘Eternal Light’ in my earlier years. Note particularly the third and fourth verses:

‘Eternal Light! Eternal Light!
  How pure the soul must be
When, placed within Thy searching sight,
It shrinks not, but with calm delight
  Can live and look on Thee.

The spirits that surround Thy throne
  May bear the burning bliss;
But that is surely theirs alone,
Since they have never, never known
  A fallen world like this.

Oh, how shall I, whose native sphere
  Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before th’ Ineffable appear,
And on my natural spirit bear
  The uncreated beam?

There is a way for man to rise
  To That sublime Abode;
An Offering and a Sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit’s energies,
  An Advocate with God:

These, these prepare us for the sight
  Of holiness above;
The sons of ignorance and night
May dwell in the eternal Light,
  Through the eternal Love.’