Psalm 5
1 For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. 2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. 5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. 6 You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors. 7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down towards your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies—make straight your way before me. 9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
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 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.
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Psalm 5 – God’s protection and favour
(Verses 1-3 ) In the Psalms we often see a great personal need being met by God in answer to the prayer of someone who trusts Him. Here, David is praying to God again. He sets a good practical example of how to pray. He first asks God to ‘hear’, ‘consider’, and ‘listen to’ him. He sighs. He cries for help. He addresses God reverently but very personally as ‘my King and my God’ because He knows God personally as his Lord. He starts his day’s praying ‘in the morning’. He speaks ‘words’ with his ‘voice’, so he prays out loud. He lays out his requests before God and waits expectantly for Him to reply to them. This is no mere dull and dead religious exercise. Do you pray like this? The only thing that stops our prayers reaching God and being answered is unconfessed and unforgiven sin. Jesus died to take our sins and their punishment to the cross where He was punished there for us in our place. When we turn from our sins and ask Jesus to enter and rule our lives as our Lord and Saviour, the sin barrier is broken down and we receive eternal life. As we daily forsake and confess our sins direct to Jesus, He hears our prayers. He answers if we are praying in submission to Him. Do you know Jesus? Do you pray like this each day?
(Verses 4-6) explain why God answers prayer. He hates all evil and wrongdoing of the wicked and arrogant. He abhors liars, bloodthirsty men and deceivers. He will not ‘dwell’ with unforgiven wicked men. They cannot stand before His holy presence. Can you see why we all need His mercy, His loving forgiveness, and His cleansing from our sins? Can you see why Jesus gave Himself to be punished for our sin in our place? It was so we could be pardoned.
(Verses 7-8) David can worship reverently and humbly only because of God’s ‘great mercy’. Like us, he needs his ‘righteous God’ to lead him in the path of ‘righteousness’, even as his enemies surround him, and graciously to straighten out his sinful paths. What is true for David is true for all sinners everywhere.
(Verse 9) Lying and dishonest mouths of men whose hearts are Hell-bound produce death and deceit. Awaiting these guilty unrepentant rebel sinners are spiritual death, eternal destruction and being banished forever. They need to turn and trust in Jesus.
(Verses 11-12) Contrast this with God’s grace to all who take refuge in God and in His mercy. They will sing for joy as they now love His name. He blesses them and counts them as ‘righteous’, not because they have done good but because they trust in Jesus and His righteousness is counted as theirs. God loves, protects and surrounds them with ‘favour as a with a shield.’ If you repent and receive Christ, you are fully included!
