seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 5:1 Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
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
toward 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 favor as with a shield.
a. Psalm 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1-12 is numbered 5:2-13
Psalms seem to bring out the wind in the commentaries. The easy English covers this nicely in fewer words.
Psalm 3 was a morning song. Psalm 5 is another morning song. We do not know when David wrote it. We do know that David had enemies. He prayed to God about them. We must pray about our enemies. God will do something when we pray.
David told the LORD that he would pray early in the morning. Christians must pray like David did. It is important to pray every morning. It is also important to look for the answer from God. That is why David said, "I will watch and pray".
The enemies of David were really the enemies of God. David says that God will destroy them. Really, they destroy themselves. A man called Hosea wrote part of the Bible. He wrote, "Israel, you destroyed yourself. But your help is in me". (Hosea 13:9) We destroy ourselves if we do not ask God for help. Even the enemies of God can ask for help. Then they will become God's friends.
David did not have a temple in Jerusalem. He had a tent. This was a small house made from goatskins. (Look at the end of Psalm 4 for a note on the Temple.) David met God there. Our God is everywhere. We meet him when we pray to him. It is good to pray the words of Psalm 5:8. A straight path means a good path.
An open grave has dead bodies in it. They are not nice. "Their mouth is like an open grave" means "what they say is not nice".
The psalm finishes with a picture. The LORD is all round the people that love him. He is like a cover over them that stops people from hurting them. This makes the people of God happy, even when their enemies are near.
David had been anointed king by Samuel. This was a long time before David actually became king. First... he was just a shepherd. David was Saul's tranquilizer bunny.... when Saul was stressed... David was supposed to sing him down. David was also Saul's soldier... but when David had a victory... instead of enjoying it [like a song], Saul got jealous. Then Saul decided David was a threat to the throne [which he was]. Saul wanted his son to follow him to the throne, not David... after all Saul was the pretty boy king from a good family and David was just a shepherd. So Saul wanted David dead.God put David on the throne..... but then David's son Absalom killed David's other son Amnon over the rape of David's daughter Tamar.... and after Absalom was banished, and brought home again.... Absalom went after David's throne. It's during this time that David is hiding out.... talking to God... and getting his marching orders. These people who are trying to add all this drama to David's life... these people are all family.
Prayer is talk. When you talk to your friends.... do you make it all flowery and gorgeous? When you talk to your elders.... do you follow a specific line of conversation with bullet points? When you talk to your dad.... do you puff yourself all up with pretty words and prophetic sayings first?
David prayed to God in the morning and watched all day for the reply. David was sure God was watching and answering.
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