Psalm Five.
For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
1 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
toward 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 favor as with a shield.
[Endnote 1]
Background and Theme.
Psalm Five is another “Morning Prayer”. Not much is known about the background of this psalm other than thematically it is similar to Psalm Four. “The psalm begins with prayer to God, then expresses unwavering confidence in God, pleads for God’s guidance in life’s perplexities, and finally, exhorts all to put their trust in God [Endnote 2].”
Psalm Five is arranged into five sections [Endnote 3] or thoughts:
Plea for help
1 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.
Appeal to God's holiness
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.
Confident hope of deliverance
7 But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.
Prayer for destruction of the wicked
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.
Prayer for salvation of the righteous
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 favor as with a shield.
The Impact.
Five days into this writing challenge I am blown away by the forwardness of David in each of the psalms I have studied. In Psalm Four David in bold and direct words tells God that he’s expecting an answer from Him. Psalm Five is just as direct but with a slightly less forcefulness on David’s part. David tells God with the use of an imperative [Endnote 4] that He must give ear to these words.
What I love most about this boldness is that God never rebukes David for this candor. On the contrary, God rewards it by calling David a “man after His own heart [Endnote 5]”.
Despite this luxury that David enjoys as a man after God’s own heart it is important to note that David still submits to God. In verse three David makes a point to ask God for help with the understanding that God is his King and his God. David takes ownership of this submission. David doesn’t claim the false gods of the world or the false god of self. God is everything to David.
As a result of this fierce loyalty on David’s part you see it reciprocated by a loving God that shows great mercy (verse seven). The Hebrew word for mercy is ḥeseḏ which means that God “will intervene on behalf of the worshipper and thus demonstrate his divine kindness [Endnote 6]”. A symbiotic relationship emerges here with mutual benefits. God receives the love and adoration of His creation. And creation receives watch, care, protection and “divine kindness”.
This is why David can be so bold before God.
I want this kind of relationship with God.
A relationship devoid of my trying to pan for my wants.
A relationship that seeks God for who He is.
A relationship that grows a trust in my Creator.
A relationship that grows authentic and genuine love for God.
David gives an example to follow. In all of his brokenness. In all of his pain. In all of his sorrow. David keeps God first and seeks Him out. There was nothing that could keep David away from his relationship with God [Endnote 7].
May you (and I) seek a relationship with God devoid of human selfishness and may we grow in divine kindness.
Grace and Peace,
Geraldo
_________________________
Endnotes:
1. The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984. Print.
2. Nichol, Francis D., ed. The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1977. Print.
3. Witthoff, David, Kristopher A. Lyle, and Matt Nerdahl. Psalms Form and Structure. Ed. Eli Evans. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014. Print.
4. The mood that normally expresses a command, intention, or exhortation; i.e., it is the mood of volition. The imperative mood is therefore not an expression of reality but possibility (or, ‘unreality’). In Biblical Hebrew, volition can be expressed for the first person (cohortative; “I will”, “let us”), the second person (imperative “you”), and the third person (jussive “he will”, “let him”). [Psalm 5:1 makes use of a second person imperative.] Heiser, Michael S., and Vincent M. Setterholm. Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology. Lexham Press, 2013; 2013. Print.
5. Acts 13:22.
6. Zobel, Hans-Jürgen. “חֶסֶד.” Ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Trans. David E. Green. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament 1986 : 56. Print. 15 vols.
7. Romans 8:37-39 paints a beautiful picture of how nothing can separate us from God’s love.
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