Psalm 5

Psalm 5 has often been used as a morning prayer, because of the words in verse 3.

Here’s what I want to do today: I’ll include the text of the entire psalm below, commenting as we move through it. Remember, the psalms help us pray through our emotions, thereby shaping and strengthening us to face the day.

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.

The psalmist is desperate—we’ll see below, it seems people are lying about him—and he wants the Lord to know that things are not good in his life.

3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

He starts his day with prayer, and then he just sits…and waits. There is wisdom in that kind of behavior. Pray your worries early, and then just sit in silence.

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Here, the psalmist is reminding himself of what he knows to be true: the Lord does not support or favor the wicked. It’s like he just needs to hear himself say it out loud.

7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.

And then he reminds himself that he does NOT behave like the wicked, but instead has been faithful to the Lord in the past.

8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

Like all of us, the psalmist needs guidance; in his case, he needs to know what his next step should be, in light of his enemies’ actions against him. There’s something powerful in praying for the Lord to show you your next step. Not every step, but your next step.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

He vents his anger to the Lord by describing just how nasty are his enemies, and he begs the Lord to do something about them. It is healthy to ask God to defeat our enemies—the alternative is taking vengeance into our own hands, which is a dangerous step for us to take.

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

As with so many of the psalms, Psalm 5 ends on a note of reassurance. I think it’s precisely because the psalmist has cried out in pain and fear and frustration to God that he then feels a sense of confidence in the Lord. There is a lesson here for us—the Psalms help us pray through our fears and thereby lead us to a place of confidence. Always be honest with God in prayer, and the Psalms give us language for that.

One final point about the last verse:

12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

It’s good to slow down and pay attention to the imagery in the psalms we read. How does a shield function? It blocks the blows of an enemy. Note that you only use a shield when you are being attacked.

The lesson: the life of faith does NOT mean we will not face opposition, it does NOT mean our enemies will not strike out at us. What it DOES mean is that the Lord will protect us and keep us from feeling the full weight of our enemies’ blows.

Be confident today: the Lord is your SHIELD!