Give ear to my words, Yahweh. Consider my meditation.
Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for I pray to you.
Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.
For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you.
The arrogant will not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
You will destroy those who speak lies. Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you.
Lead me, Yahweh, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.
Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you.
But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you.
For you will bless the righteous. Yahweh, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 I presume not positively to determine whether David, in…
I presume not positively to determine whether David, in this psalm, bewails the wrongs which he suffered from his enemies at some particular time, or whether he complains generally of the various persecutions with which, for a long time, he was harassed under Saul. Some of the Jewish commentators apply the psalm even to Absalom; because, by the bloody and deceitful man, they think Doeg and Ahithophel are pointed out. To me, however, it appears more probable, that when David, after the death of Saul, had got peaceable possession of the kingdoms he committed to writing the prayers which he had meditated in his afflictions and dangers. But to come to the words:— First, he expresses one thing in three different ways; and this repetition denotes the strength of his affection, and his long perseverance in prayer. For he was not so fond of many words as to employ different forms of expression, which had no meaning; but being deeply engaged in prayer, he represented, by these various expressions, the variety of his complaints. “Il a aussi represente et exprime ses gemissemens qui estoyent en grand nombre et de beaucoup de sortes.” — Fr.
“Ce qu’il vent requerir a Dieu.” —Fr.
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Bishop Horne beautifully renders the word, “dove-like mournings,” and Bishop Horsley, “sighing.” “The word,” says Hammond, “regularly signifies sighing or cry, not a loud, sonorous voice, but such as complaints are made in.”
“Il semble que puis apres, pour mieux specifier, it en met deux sortes appelant les unes Complaintes obscures, et les autres Cri.” — Fr.
“Quand la douleur l’empesche de parler distinctement et faire entendre sa voix.” — Fr.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 Or, a musical instrument or tune.
Or, a musical instrument or tune.
That is, my vehement prayer, and secret complaint and sighings.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–12 Psa 5:1 « To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth,…
Psa 5:1 « To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. » Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
Ver. 1. To the chief Musician] {See Trapp on title for "Psa 4:1"}
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Upon Nehiloth] Upon wind instruments. Pneumatica, tribulata. The Rabbis say that this psalm was made and appointed to be sung concerning Doeg and Ahithophel.
Give ear to my words, O Lord] David knew him to be a prayer hearing God, Psa 65:2, and that his ears were always open (as the doors of the Roman Aediles were) to hear complaints and requests: hence this prayer.
Consider my meditation] i.e. The conceptions of my soul uttered with a low voice ( Murmur meum, Jerome), but with most vehement affection. Mussitationem meam. All this the Hebrew word importeth.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–12 i.e. My prayer, as the words foregoing and following…
i.e. My prayer, as the words foregoing and following show; which he calls his
meditation, to note that it was not a lip prayer only, but that it proceeded from and was accompanied with the deepest thoughts and most fervent affections of his soul.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 The title of this psalm has nothing in it…
The title of this psalm has nothing in it peculiar but that it is said to be upon Nehiloth, a word nowhere else used. It is conjectured (and it is but a conjecture) that is signifies wind - instruments, with which this psalm was sung, as Neginoth was supposed to signify the stringed - instruments. In these verses David had an eye to God,
I. As a prayer-hearing God; such he has always been ever since men began to call upon the name of the Lord, and yet is still as ready to hear prayer as ever. Observe how David here styles him: O Lord (Psa 5:1, Psa 5:3), Jehovah, a self-existent, self-sufficient, Being, whom we are bound to adore, and, "my King and my God (Psa 5:2), whom I have avouched for my God, to whom I have sworn allegiance, and under whose protection I have put myself as my King." We believe that the God we pray to is a King, and a God. King of kings and God of gods; but that is not enough: the most commanding encouraging principle of prayer, and the most powerful or prevailing plea in prayer, is to look upon him as our King and our God, to whom we lie under peculiar obligations and from whom we have peculiar expectations. Now observe,
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1. What David here prays for, which may encourage our faith and hopes in all our addresses to God. If we pray fervently, and in faith, we have reason to hope, (1.) That God will take cognizance of our case, the representation we make of it and the requests we make upon it; for so he prays here: Give ear to my words, O Lord! Though God is in heaven, he has an ear open to his people's prayers, and it is not heavy, that he cannot hear. Men perhaps will not or cannot hear us; our enemies are so haughty that they will not, our friends at such a distance that they cannot; but God, though high, though in heaven, can, and will. (2.) That he will take it into his wise and compassionate consideration, and will not slight it, or turn it off with a cursory answer; for so he prays: Consider my meditation. David's prayers were not his words only, but his meditations; as meditation is the best preparative for prayer, so prayer is the best issue of meditation. Meditation and prayer should go together, Psa 19:14. It is when we thus consider our prayers, and then only, that we may expect that God will consider them, and take that to his heart which comes from ours. (3.) That he will, in due time, return a gracious answer of peace; for so he prays (Psa 5:2): Hearken to the voice of my cry. His prayer was a cry; it was the voice of his cry, which denotes fervency of affection and importunity of expression; and such effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much and do wonders.
2. What David here promises, as the condition on his part to be performed, fulfilled, and kept, that he might obtain this gracious acceptance; this may guide and govern us in our addresses to God, that we may present them aright, for we ask, and have not, if we ask amiss. Four things David here promises, and so must we: - (1.) That he will pray, that he will make conscience of praying, and make a business of it: Unto thee will I pray. "Others live without prayer, but I will pray." Kings on their own thrones (so David was) must be beggars at God's throne. "Others pray to strange gods, and expect relief from them, but to thee, to thee only, will I pray." The assurances God has given us of his readiness to hear prayer should confirm our resolution to live and die praying. (2.) That he will pray in the morning. His praying voice shall be heard then, and then shall his prayer be directed; that shall be the date of his letters to heaven, not that only ("Morning, and evening, and at noon, will I pray, nay, seven times a day, will I praise thee"), but that certainly. Morning prayer is our duty; we are the fittest for prayer when we are in the most fresh, and lively, and composed frame, got clear of the slumbers of the night, revived by them, and not yet filled with the business of the day. We have then most need of prayer, considering the dangers and temptations of the day to which we are exposed, and against which we are concerned; by faith and prayer, to fetch in fresh supplies of grace. (3.) That he will have his eye single and his heart intent in the duty: I will direct my prayer, as a marksman directs his arrow to the white; with such a fixedness and steadiness of mind should we address ourselves to God. Or as we direct a letter to a friend at such a place so must we direct our prayers to God as our Father in heaven; and let us always send them by the Lord Jesus, the great Mediator, and then they will be sure not to miscarry. All our prayers must be directed to God; his honour and glory must be aimed at as our highest end in all our prayers. Let our first petition be, Hallowed, glorified, by thy name, and then we may be sure of the same gracious answer to it that was given to Christ himself: I have glorified it, and I will glorify it yet again. (4.) That he will patiently wait for an answer of peace: "I will look up, will look after my prayers, and hear what God the Lord will speak (Psa 85:8; Hab 2:1), that, if he grant what I asked, I may be thankful - if he deny, I may be patient - if he defer, I may continue to pray and wait and may not faint." We must look up, or look out, as he that has shot an arrow looks to see how near it has come to the mark. We lose much of the comfort of our prayers for want of observing the returns of them. Thus praying, thus waiting, as the lame man looked stedfastly on Peter and John (Act 3:4), we may expect that God will give ear to our words and consider them, and to him we may refer ourselves, as David here, who does not pray, "Lord, do this, or the other, for me;" but, "Hearken to me, consider my case, and do in it as seemeth good unto thee."
II. As a sin-hating God, Psa 5:4-6. David takes notice of this, 1. As a warning to himself, and all other praying people, to remember that, as the God with whom we have to do is gracious and merciful, so he is pure and holy; though he is ready to hear prayer, yet, if we regard iniquity in our heart, he will not hear our prayers, Psa 66:18. 2. As an encouragement to his prayers against his enemies; they were wicked men, and therefore enemies to God, and such as he had not pleasure in. See here. (1.) The holiness of God's nature. When he says, Thou art not a God that has pleasure in wickedness, he means, "Thou art a God that hates it, as directly contrary to thy infinite purity and rectitude, and holy will." Though the workers of iniquity prosper, let none thence infer that God has pleasure in wickedness, no, not in that by which men pretend to honour him, as those do that hate their brethren, and cast them out, and say, Let the Lord be glorified. God has no pleasure in wickedness, though covered with a cloak of religion. Let those therefore who delight in sin know that God has no delight in them; nor let any say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God is not the author of sin, neither shall evil dwell with him, that is, it shall not always be countenanced and suffered to prosper. Dr. Hammond thinks this refers to that law of Moses which would not permit strangers, who persisted in their idolatry, to dwell in the land of Israel. (2.) The justice of his government. The foolish shall not stand in his sight, that is, shall not be smiled upon by him, nor admitted to attend upon him, nor shall they be acquitted in the judgment of the great day. The workers of iniquity are very foolish. Sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest of all fools; not fools of God's making (those are to be pitied), for he hates nothing that he has made, but fools of their own making, and those he hates. Wicked people hate God; justly therefore are they hated of him, and it will be their endless misery and ruin. "Those whom thou hatest thou shalt destroy;" particularly two sorts of sinners, who are here marked for destruction: - [1.] Those that are fools, that speak leasing or lying, and that are deceitful. There is a particular emphasis laid on these sinners (Rev 21:8), All liars, and (Psa 22:15), Whosoever loves and makes a lie; nothing is more contrary than this, and therefore nothing more hateful to the God of truth. [2.] Those that are cruel: Thou wilt abhor the bloody man; for inhumanity is no less contrary, no less hateful, to the God of mercy, whom mercy pleases. Liars and murderers are in a particular manner said to resemble the devil and to be his children, and therefore it may well be expected that God should abhor them. These were the characters of David's enemies; and such as these are still the enemies of Christ and his church, men perfectly lost to all virtue and honour; and the worse they are the surer we may be of their ruin in due time.
In singing these verses, and praying them over, we must engage and stir up ourselves to the duty of prayer, and encourage ourselves in it, because we shall not seek the Lord in vain; and must express our detestation of sin, and our awful expectation of that day of Christ's appearing which will be the day of the perdition of ungodly men.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–12 Give ear to my words, O Lord,.... Meaning not…
Give ear to my words, O Lord,.... Meaning not his words in common conversation, but in prayer; the words which came out of his mouth, and were audibly expressed by him at the throne of grace, and design vocal prayer; and so stand distinguished from the meditation of his heart, sacred ejaculations, or mental prayer; see Psa 54:2; and words in prayer to God ought to be few, at least not repeated, Ecc 5:2; and these should be a man's own words, as were the psalmist's; not what were suggested by another, or written in a book before him, but what were of his own composing and putting together, under the direction of the Spirit of God; who put words into his mouth, and furnished him both with words and matter, and which he freely uttered before the Lord: and this is the "parrhesia", boldness, freedom of speech, which the Scriptures speak of, Heb 4:16; and the saints are allowed to use in prayer before God; when they may pour out their souls unto him, and freely tell him all their mind, as the psalmist now did; to which he entreats the Lord to "give ear"; not that God has a corporeal ear as man has, but he that made the ear has the power of hearing: this is an anthropopathy, and is spoken after the manner of men; such as are of kind and benevolent dispositions do not turn away, but stop and hear what a poor miserable object has to say to them, to whom they listen and return an answer; and so this phrase is expressive of the kind regard God has to the prayers of the destitute, which he does not despise but delight in; and of his bowing and inclining his ear, or of the strict and close attention he gives to them; and of the full and suitable answer he returns, in his own time and way; and is what the psalmist most earnestly entreats. He adds,
consider my meditation; the prayer he had meditated: for meditation is requisite to prayer, and should go before it; which is necessary in order to pray with the understanding; nor should men utter anything rashly and hastily before the Lord: it may design mental prayer, in distinction from vocal prayer, signified by his words before, such as that of Moses at the Red sea, and of Hannah before Eli, Exo 14:15, Sa1 1:13. The word also signifies inward mourning, and groans; the root from whence this is derived to mourn, and is so rendered in Isa 38:14; where Hezekiah compares his prayers to the chattering of a crane and swallow, and the mourning of a dove; and are the same with the unutterable groanings with which the Spirit of God sometimes makes intercession for the saints, Rom 8:26; and which are not hid from God, Psa 38:9; but are well known to him: he understands the language of a sigh or groan; and so the words may be rendered "understand my moan" (c).
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(c) "murmur meum", Vatablus, Gejerus; "gemitum meum", Cocceius, Hammond; "gemitus et suspiria mea", Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 David beseeches God to hear his prayer, ver. 1-3.…
David beseeches God to hear his prayer, ver. 1-3. Assures himself of God's justice against his enemies, ver. 4-6. Declares his resolution: to serve God, ver. 7. Prays for himself and the people of God, and against his enemies, ver. 8-12. To the chief musician upon Nehiloth, A psalm of David. Title of the psalm. Nehiloth - This is no where else used in scripture. It is thought to signify a wind-instrument, as Neginoth signified stringed instruments.
Meditation - My prayer accompanied with deep thoughts and fervent affections of soul.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–12 David continues instant in prayer, 1, 2;
PSALM V
David continues instant in prayer, 1, 2;
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makes early application to God, 3;
and shows the hatred which God bears to the workers of
iniquity, 4-6.
His determination to worship God, and to implore direction and
support, 7, 8.
He points out the wickedness of his enemies, 9,
and the destruction they may expect, 10;
and then shows the happiness of those who trust in the Lord,
11, 12.
NOTES ON PSALM V
This Psalm is inscribed to the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. As neginoth may signify all kinds of instruments struck with a plectrum, stringed instruments, those like the drum, cymbals, c. so nechiloth, from חל chal, to be hollow, to bore through, may signify any kind of wind instruments, such as the horn, trumpet, flute, c. See on the title to the preceding Psalm (Ps 4:1-8). The Septuagint have, Εις το τελος, ὑπερ της κληρονομουσης, "In favour of her who obtains the inheritance." The Vulgate and Arabic have a similar reading. The word נחילות nechiloth they have derived from נחל nachal, to inherit. This may either refer to the Israelites who obtained the inheritance of the promised land, or to the Church of Christ which obtains through him, by faith and prayer, the inheritance among the saints in light. This Psalm is, especially, for the whole Church of God.
Verse 1. Give ear to my words] This is properly a morning hymn, as the preceding was an evening hymn. We have seen from the conclusion of the last Psalm that David was very happy, and lay down and slept in the peace and love of his God. When he opens his eyes on the following morning, he not only remembers but feels the happiness of which he spoke and with his first recollections he meditates on the goodness and mercy of God, and the glorious state of salvation into which he had been brought. He calls on God to give ear to his words; probably words of God's promises which he had been pleading.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Psa 5:1-2. Consider my meditation — That is, my…
Psa 5:1-2. Consider my meditation — That is, my prayer, as the foregoing and following words show. He calls his prayer his meditation, to signify that it was not the mere labour of his lips, but that it proceeded from, and was accompanied with, the deepest thoughts and most fervent affections of his soul. Hearken unto the voice of my cry — The sincerity and earnestness of our cry to God will be in proportion to the sense we have of our sins and wants. My King — It is the part and duty of a king to answer the just and humble desires of his subjects; and my God: for unto thee will I pray — To thee alone will I direct all my prayers, for to whom should a sinner pray but to his God? and therefore, from thee alone I expect succour and relief.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–12 Upon Nehiloth - The title of Psa 4:1-8 is,…
:Title
Upon Nehiloth - The title of Psa 4:1-8 is, “upon Neginoth.” As that refers to a musical instrument, so it is probable that this does, and that the idea here is that this psalm was intended particularly for the music-master that had special charge of this instrument, or who presided over those that played on it. Perhaps the idea is that this psalm was specially designed to be accompanied with this instrument. The word here, Nehiloth - נחילות nechı̂ylôth, plural. נחילה nechı̂ylâh, singular - is supposed by Gesenius, Lexicon, to denote a flute, or pipe, as being “perforated,” from חלל châlal, to bore.” The word occurs only in this place. Very various opinions have been entertained of its meaning. See Hengstenberg, “Com.” The Latin Vulgate and the Septuagint understand it as meaning “inheritance” - the same as נחלה nachălâh, and as being somehow designed to refer to the people of God “as” a heritage. Latin Vulgate: In finem pro ca, quae hereditatem consequitur, psalmus David. So the Septuagint - ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης huper tēs klēronomousēs. So Luther, Fur das Erbe. What was the precise idea affixed to this it is not very easy to determine. Luther explains it, “according to the title, this is the general idea of the psalm, that the author prays for the inheritance or heritage of God, desiring that the people of God may be faithful to him, and may always adhere to him.” The true interpretation, however, is evidently to regard this as an instrument of music, and to consider the psalm as adapted to be sung with the instrument of music specified. Why it was adapted particularly to “that” instrument of music cannot now be determined. Horsley renders it “upon the flutes.” Compare Ugolin. Thesau. Ant. Sac.; tom. xxxii. pp. 158-170.
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A Psalm of David - See introduction to Psa 3:1-8.
Give ear to my words, O Lord - We naturally incline the ear toward anyone when we wish to hear distinctly what he says, and we turn away the ear when we do not. The meaning here is, David prayed that God would be attentive to or would regard his prayer. This form of the petition is, that he would attend to his “words” - to what he was about to “express” as his desire. He intended to express only what he wished to be granted.
Consider my meditation - Understand; perceive, for so the word rendered “consider” properly means. He desired that he would regard the real import of what is here called his “meditation;” that is, he wished him not merely to attend to his “words,” but to the secret and unexpressed desires of the soul. The idea seems to be that while his words would be sincere and truthful, yet they could not express “all” his meaning. There were desires of the soul which no language could convey - deep, unuttered “groanings” (compare Rom 8:26-27), which could not be uttered in language. There is a difference, however, in rendering the word translated “meditation.” Most interpreters regard it as derived from הגה hâgâh, to meditate (see the notes at Psa 1:2) - and as thus denoting “thought,” or “meditation.” Gesenius and some others regard it as derived from הגג hāgag, obsolete root - meaning to set on fire, to kindle; and hence, that it means here “heat,” fervour of the mind; and then, fervent cry, or prayer. See “Rosenmuiller” also in “loc.” DeWette concurs with Gesenius, and supposes that it should be rendered “sigh” or complaint. Prof. Alexander renders it “thought.” Horsley renders it, “my sighing,” but says he is in doubt whether it refers to an “internal desire of the mind,” in opposition to “words” in the former part of the verse, or to a “prayer uttered sotto voce, like the private prayer usually said by every person before he takes his seat in the church” - the “internal motion of the mind toward God.” It is not easy to determine the true meaning, but the probability is that it refers to an internal emotion - a fervent, ardent feeling - perhaps finding partial expression in sighs Rom 8:26, but which does not find expression in words, and which words could not convey. He prayed that God would attend to the “whole” desires of the soul - whether expressed or unexpressed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 5
Psalms 5
To the chief musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David.
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1 Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God:
For unto thee will I pray.
3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:
Neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight:
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing:
The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy:
And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;
Make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness;
Their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice:
Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous;
With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Respecting the title, vid. Introduction. This is a morning prayer, which is not only in general a testimony to the Divine grace and righteousness in defending and blessing the pious, and in excluding the wicked from their society, to their own destruction (Venema); or a prayer against hypocrites and false prophets who mislead the people of God and the inheritance of Christ with their human precepts (Luther); but the prayer of a pious man, surrounded by ungodly enemies, which are deceitful rather than powerful; and he prays for Divine guidance, blessing, and protection for himself, and punishment for his enemies, who are at the same time adversaries of God; and he bases both petitions on the righteousness of God, who rules over Israel as king.
We thus have not only a subjective source for a didactic Psalm, in which the poet speaks in the abstract as a righteous person (Hengst.), but the reference is to a special circumstance, which yet does not appear in such a way, that we are obliged with the Rabbins to consider Doeg or Ahithophel as the real opponents of the Psalmist. Psa_5:7 is not necessarily against David as the author of this Psalm (vid. exegesis). The interpreters differ very much in the analysis of this Psalm. It seems to me most natural; since the symbolism of numbers, accepted by Hengstenberg, is not favored at all by the structure or contents of the Psalm, and there is no sign of a homogeneous structure of the strophes, to divide according to the contents: a) An introductory invocation of God. Psa_5:1-3; b) reasons for the Psalmist’s confidence in prayer, Psa_5:4-7; c) petition for his own person, with reasons, Psa_5:8-9; d) petition with respect to his opponents, Psa_5:10; e) closing statement respecting the consequences of such a prayer being heard, with reasons, Psa_5:11-12.
Str. I. Psa_5:1. Hear my sighs [“consider my meditation,” A. V.] The construction of the verb with the accusative, does not allow the translation “listen to.” Instead of sighs it may be translated “meditation,” (Syr., Rabb., Hengst.), since this word, which occurs only here and Psa_39:4, is derived from a root which denotes thinking, as well as a dull tone, a low sound.15 Either translation gives a suitable contrast to the loud cry mentioned, Psa_5:3.
Psa_5:2. My king.—[Hupf.: “Here, and generally in the Old Testament, not only in a general sense as Ruler of the earth, as the ancient nations called their gods kings, but in a special theocratic relation to the people of Israel, as a subject to his king, whose righteousness and protection he invokes, and can expect with confidence, Psa_10:6; Psa_44:4; Psa_48:2; Psa_68:24; Psa_74:12; Psa_84:3; 1Sa_12:12.”—C. A. B.]
Psa_5:3. In the morning.—This word has the same meaning in both members of the verse, its first use and its repetition. Hupfeld even has rejected the figurative, soon, early, but yet would find in the local reference only a poetical force; whilst Delitzsch, on the contrary, in justification of Hengst., remarks that then the allusion to the daily morning sacrifice would be done away with. But עַרַךְ is the usual word for the arrangement of the wood of the offering, Lev_1:7, and of the pieces offered, 1:8, 12; 6:5; the holy lamps, Exo_27:21; Lev_24:8; the show bread, Exo_40:23; Lev_24:8; and the arrangement of the wood for the lamb of the morning sacrifice was one of the first duties of the priest as soon as the day began. Psa_55:17 mentions three times for prayer. [Wordsworth: “David lays his prayer on the altar as a sacrifice to God. The wood and the victim are of no avail without the spiritual sacrifice of the heart of the offerer.”—C. A. B.] This figure, Look out (Look up, A. V.), is used, Mic_7:7; Hab_2:1. [Barnes: “The idea is that he would watch narrowly and carefully (as one does who is stationed on a tower) for some token of Divine favor.—This is perhaps equivalent to the Saviour’s oft-repeated command “watch and pray!” Perowne: “As the priest might look (or as Elijah looked on Carmel) for the fire from heaven to descend and consume the victim.”—C. A. B.]
Str. II. Psa_5:4. For thou art not a God,etc.—The Psalmist bases his courage in drawing near to God in prayer, and his confidence of being heard on attributes which are derived from the Being of God; and indeed his confidence is based on the holiness of God, and his courage on the abundance of Divine grace; the former negatively, the latter positively.
Be a guest [“dwell,” A. V.]. נּוּר is usually connected with עם, but also with the accusative, and indeed of the person, when the idea of place is applied to persons (Hupf.) Comp. Psa_58:4; Psa_68:18; Psa_120:5; Gen_30:20. It indicates not only the right of external entrance into the temple, but the enjoyment of the rights of hospitality which include that of protection. The same figure is used, Psa_15:1; Psa_23:6; Psa_27:4; Psa_31:20; Psa_36:8; Psa_61:4; Psa_84:4. [Thus Ewald, Hupf., Perowne, et al. Perowne “Evil (personified) cannot be a guest or friend of Thine; cannot tarry in Thy house, as 15:1; 61:5; not merely, however, with a reference to the temple, but to that spiritual abiding in the presence of God, and in the light of His countenance, which is the joy only of them that are true of heart. To the wicked the light of God’s countenance is a consuming fire.”—C. A. B.]
Psa_5:5. In this connection it is proper in the following verse to think of the privilege of standing before the eyes of God. It may mean however not to endure the judicial glance of God, as is usual. Instead of fools comp. Psa_73:3; Psa_75:4, others translate vain-glorious and haughty, or mad, raging. For the etymology of the word and its many meanings, vid. Hupfeld in loco. [Hupfeld thinks of the privilege of the nobles and others, who stand in the presence of the King, Pro_22:29, and the angels which are said to stand before God, Job_1:6; Job_2:1. Perowne seems to favor this view. It is the privilege of the pious to stand before God as a gracious symbol of their intimate relations with Him as Sovereign and Friend. This idea makes the entire strophe harmonious and beautiful. The three negative clauses, Psa_5:4-5 a, are followed by three positive clauses, Psa_5:5 b and 6, which unfold and carry out the ideas advanced positively and emphatically. There is a beautiful gradation and correspondence in the six clauses. Thus the statement that God has no pleasure in wickedness is carried out into, “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity;” that evil cannot be a guest with Thee, that is, have Thy care and protection, and enjoy Thy hospitality passes over into, “Thou destroyest them that speak lies; that the foolish cannot stand in Thy sight,” that is, in Thy favor, regard, and affection, as Thy friends and favorite subjects, becomes, “the bloody and deceitful man doth the Lord abhor.”—C. A. B.]
Psa_5:7. Palace [“temple,” A. V.]. The preceding word “house” had already made many interpreters doubtful of the Davidic authorship of this Psalm; the expression “palace” seems to them entirely irreconcilable with it. As far as the former is concerned we know that bait (beit) in the Semitic languages denoted originally, the place where the night was passed, and that the signification afterwards became more general; but the reference to night-time, especially, passed out of use (vid. Fleischer in Delitzsch, Comm. on the Psalms.) It is in accordance with this that the place where God appeared to Jacob in the open field was named Beth-El, Gen_28:17. Accordingly every place of prayer, as the place of the Divine presence might bear this name. And is it otherwise with “palace”? As soon as God is conceived as King this reference is natural and proper. That it does not at all matter about the material, follows from the designation of heaven as the palace of God, Psa_11:4; Psa_18:6; Psa_29:9, and that we are not compelled to think of a large building, but that the reference is to the place of Jehovah’s throne, is proved from the fact that it is just the most holy place that is called the palace of the house, 1Ki_6:3. Naturally also the entire temple of Solomon might be called the palace, as well as the house of God (2Ki_23:4). But the assertion that the entire manner of the reference presupposes the temple, cannot be proved. On the contrary, the heavenly relations are throughout, the ideal and type of that which is presented on earth. Accordingly, Moses even beholds the pattern of the tabernacle (Exo_25:40; Exo_26:26 sq.; Heb_8:5), and the legal places of sacrifice were according to Exo_23:19; Exo_34:26, to be in the house of the Lord. The real sanctuary bears the same name, Jos_6:24, and at the time of David, 2Sa_12:20. What form then had the “tabernacle” which David erected over the ark, 2Sa_6:17? We have as little knowledge of this as of the form of the house of God at Shiloh, which in 1Sa_2:22 is called “tabernacle of testimony” (Luther, “tabernacle of the covenant”), but 1Sa_1:7; 1Sa_1:24,”house,” and 1Sa_1:9; 1Sa_3:3, “palace.” of Jehovah (Luther always translates hekal by temple). The same interchange of names Psa_27:4; Psa_27:6; comp. Eze_41:1. In this passage the reference is not to “prayer in the temple,” but of turning in prayer to the holy place of the throne of Jehovah. In this I agree with Hengst., but not in the statement that the object of the future coming and worship was the thanksgiving here promised on account of the deliverance wrought by the divine grace, as Psa_66:13. The reference is certainly not to the greatness of love towards God, but to the divine grace; but so that its fulness is designated by him as the accomplishment of the Psalmist’s entrance into the sanctuary. It is necessary to regard the imperfects as future, on account of the character of the Psalm as a morning prayer, but the contrast with the preceding words limits the potential coloring = I may and will (Hupf., Delitzsch, Hitzig). Oraturi quasi cœlum ingressuri et coram majestate infinita locuturi (Hugo).
Str. III. Psa_5:8. Lead me in Thy righteousness, according to some, at least Hengstenberg, refers to the attribute of God as the righteous helper and avenger, Psa_31:1; Psa_31:3. But the opponents, although not exactly called “capricious” (Aquil., Jerome, and most others), are yet described, not as oppressors threatening with external danger, but as those who prepared danger with their mouths, and this character of these persons is expressed Psa_5:9 as the reason of the petition, that God would lead the pious Psalmist in righteousness, which discloses itself in an inoffensive walk (Psa_27:11). This righteousness, however, is not merely the virtue which God demands and is well pleasing to Him (De Wette), but a characteristic of the pious, which is indeed well pleasing to God, but yet at the same time has its source and its standard in God Himself (Hupf.), whose action is in all respects righteous.
Make thy way level before me [straight before my face, A. V.).—Either make it straight before me that I may see it and find it (Hitzig), or better, make it level for me to walk. Yet this does not suppose an easy exercise of motion, without trouble, but a removal of hindrances, which are not in the person who walks, but which lie in the Divine way of righteousness, in which the Psalmist would have God lead him. In order that he may walk in safety, he requests Divine help, and indeed either by removal of the mountains of trouble, the ambushes of enemies, or the setting aside of stones of stumbling, and occasions of temptation. The decision on this point must be in accordance with the explanation of the preceding member of the verse, since this second member is added without any connecting word. Even with the latter interpretation, which we prefer, the connection with the following clause which gives the reason of the petition, although overlooked by Hupfeld, is very evident. According to another reading, approved by Grotius, the Sept., Vulg., Arab., translate: “level my path before Thee.” But Syr., Chald., Aquil., Symm., Theod., follow already the present text, and it is confirmed by the investigation of Jerome.
Psa_5:9. In their mouth.—The singular suffix among nothing but plurals, and referred to a plural, is not so much a collective as a distributive (Delitzsch) “in ore uniuscujusque eorum.” אֵין is separated from its genitive by a word which is shoved in between, as Psa_6:5; Psa_32:2.—Abyss [“very wickedness,” A. V.] either of destruction (Psa_38:12; Psa_52:4; Psa_55:11; Pro_17:4), or the wicked lust (Pro_10:13; Pro_11:6; Mic_7:3; perhaps Psa_52:7; comp. Hupf.).
Psa_5:10. By their own counsels, so that these are the cause of their fall=overthrew, as Hos_11:6, etc. (Hengst., Hupf., Camph.). Others (Olsh., De Wette, Ewald, Delitzsch), comparing Sir_14:2, refer these words to the frustration of their counsels and translate “from,” or add to it “away” [Ewald, “let them fall from their plans.”—C. A. B.], Luther even in the sense that the enemies should fall, be ruined, without being able to carry out their counsels. Hitzig maintains his explanation in accordance with the Arabic figure of “down from the counsel which they ride.” So also in the following member many translate: “owing to,” “on account of,” and understand the thrusting out [“cast out,” A. V.] as their overthrow. But since the verb in question is very frequently used for the rejection of the Israelites, and their dispersion among foreign nations, it probably means hero “their thrusting away” (Sept., Vulg., Mich., Rosenm., Delitzsch), and, indeed, whilst they thought to live in their sins, Joh_8:21; Joh_8:24—[For they have rebelled against Thee.—Perowne. “The enemies of David are the enemies of David’s God. ‘Whoso toucheth you, toucheth the apple of Mine eye,’ ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou Me?’ ”—C. A. B.]
Psa_5:11. And they will rejoice [“Let—rejoice,” A. V.].—Luther continues the imperative of petition. The imperfects may indeed be taken as optative, but it is better to regard them as future, since these clauses state the lot of the pious and their behaviour subsequent to the hearing of their prayer and the judicial act of God. “Ille placet Deo, cui placet Deus” (Augustine).
[Psa_5:12. Shield.—The צִנַּה, Tsinnah, is a large shield, larger than מָגֵן, mâgên, covering the whole body, used of the shield of Goliath, 1Sa_17:7, vid. Smith’sBib. Diet., Art. Arm.—C. A. B.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. He who sides with God, must be prepared as well for hostility and persecution on the part of the ungodly, as he is assured of protection on the part of the Almighty; but he must also hold fast to his communion with God, and cultivate it by prayer and Divine service, and show its power by walking in the ways of righteousness.
2. Walking in the way of righteousness has its difficulties, restraints and dangers ; but God makes the way level for those who fear Him ; God leads those who are devoted to Him upon it; God protects in it those who trust in Him.
3. To be reminded of the nature and Providence of God is a terror to the wicked, but a consolation to the pious; for the former are condemned, the latter saved thereby: therefore, also, the former feel that they are frightened away from the place where God reveals Himself a»d is worshipped; the latter, on the other hand, are drawn to this place ; and whilst the latter render prayer, praise and thanksgiving’; the former commit grievous sins with their tongue without shame or repentance. The frightful extent of natural corruption, since the fall of Adam, appears everywhere in essentially the same characteristics, hence the use made of this Psalm, in Rom_3:11 sq.
4. If those who blame us are to be declared liars, those who complain of us, slanderers, those who persecute us at the same time fools and evil-doers, and if our adversaries in general are the enemies of God, then we ourselves must be found in the closest communion with God and therefore we must diligently and faithfully make use of all the means of His grace.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
We cannot solemnize the morning more properly than by prayer and worship; we cannot consecrate the day better than by walking in the way of righteousness: we cannot make the evening more delightfully blessed than by praising the name of God, and by again committing ourselves with thankfulness to His protection.—The righteous government of God shows itself: 1) in the judgment with which He punishes the wicked ; 2) in the grace with which He blesses the pious.—God has revealed His name not only that we may know Him; we ought likewise to call upon Him, and praise Him, that we have not received the grace of God in vain. He who would receive grace must likewise use the means of grace. The ungodly devices of the wicked are the reason of their fall, the cause of their destruction; on the other hand, the pious are saved, not by their righteousness, but by the grace of God in which they have taken refuge by faith.—Blessed is the man, whose mind is fixed in righteousness, whose life is supported by the Divine grace, whose daily work is surrounded and penetrated with prayer.—God hears not only the cry, but also the sigh of prayer.—Pious kings regard themselves as the subjects of God.
Starke: God is righteousness and piety itself; therefore it is impossible that the ungodly should stand before Him.—It is true, that believers have sins in themselves, but they are not evil-doers, who wantonly sin and make a business of sinning.—Although the vices of lying, blood-thirstiness and deceitfulness are in the highest degree accursed and injurious, yet they are usually found together.—O man, learn to tame thy mouth and bridle thy tongue, else thou art like a wild beast in human form.—The man who is guided by God is not led astray; he who is led by God does not err or stumble, neither in faithnor in life; and this grieves his enemies.—What an abomination is an unconverted man! What a poisonous, wicked heart man has by nature I No sin is too great for him to commit, if not restrained by the grace of God.—The reason of condemnation is not the lack of grace, the love of God, and the redemption of Christ, but the guilt of wanton obstinacy. The joy of believers in the righteous judgment of God upon the ungodly, is no revengeful satisfaction in the misfortunes of their enemies, but a sacred satisfaction in the preservation of the Divine truth, holiness, righteousness, and the honor of His name.—The grace of God is the believer’s ornament and crown, but likewise his shelter, protection, and shield. Grace adorns him with righteousness, and protects him from condemnation.—Here is the labor, there is the reward; here is the conflict, there the crown ; a crown of grace instead of the crown of thorns borne in this world. Although we should pray for our enemies, who either have slandered our persons, or persecuted us from ignorance of the truth, Mat_5:44; yet we ought not to pray for those who blaspheme against known truth, or persecute those who confess it; for they sin against the Holy Ghost and unto death, Mat_12:32; 1Jn_5:6; yet we may likewise pray against them not from revengeful feelings, but from a zeal for God, Psa_59:5.
Luther: We should be pious before man, and stand in fear before God.—Calvin: God Himself will be to us such a God as we need; and we can and should make such a God of our God.—Osiander: Although God has no bodily ears, for He is a Spirit (Joh_4:24); yet He hears very sharply (Psa_94:9).—We should avoid giving our enemies occasion to blaspheme the name of God and His holy Gospel, on account of our ill treatment of them.—Arndt: The righteousness of faith and Christian life are a mighty protection and victory over bodily and spiritual enemies.—Trust in God brings blessing and grace.—Menzel: We should hold fast to the righteous God and His sure Word; come what will, it will have a good issue, as the contrary does not fail that crowd which forsakes Him.—Franke: When the children of the world are in need and misery, they run about and seek here and there for help, and leave God in the heavens. On the other hand, a true child of God lets all others go, and goes to his Father in his need.—Renschel: Sin without fear, and hypocrisy, have as their reward punishment and hate; piety has the crown of grace.—Frisch: In order to overcome the enmity of the world, David goes first to the sanctuary, then he gives himself to prayer, humiliates himself before God, and calls upon Him for help and assistance for the sake of the Messiah; finally he undertakes to walk in God’s ways, and resigns himself to the holy government of God.—Even the righteous and pious have still so many weaknesses that they cannot do without the Divine guidance.—Herberger: The more wickedly our enemies rage, the riper are they for punishment, the nearer their ruin.—What God roots out and casts away you should not plant, cherish, and praise.—What we lack in our houses, we may seek in the house of God.—As the wagon goes on two tracks so Christianity runs on in two parts, in pure faith and irreproachable life.—It is better that God should precede us with his favor, than follow us with the sharp rod.—He who is to dwell in the heavens, God crowns with four crowns: (1) With the crown of grace and mercy, Psalms 5.; (2) with the crown of virtue and piety (Sirach 1.); (3) with the crown of the cross and adversity, Isa_22:17; (4) with the crown of life, of honor, and of everlasting bliss (Jam_1:12).—Rieger: To walk before the eyes of our heavenly Father is very desirable.—The more we know and experience of the world and human wickedness the more we desire the gracious government of God.—Taube: A model of a prayerful life for the children of God. Notice (1) how devout David’s soul is towards God; (2) how well acquainted he is with God; (3) how humble before God; (4) how bold towards his God; (5) how happy in his God.
[Matt. Henry: Four things David here promiseth, and so must we. (1) That he will pray; that he will make a conscience of it, and make a business of it; “unto Thee will I pray.” Others live without prayer, but I will pray. Kings on their thrones must be beggars at God’s throne. (2) That he will pray in the morning. Morning prayer is our duty; we are the fittest for prayer when we are in the most fresh, lively, and composed frame, got clear of the slumbers of the night, revived by them, and not yet filled with the business of the day. (3) That he will have his eye single, and his heart intent on the duty. As a marksman directs his arrow to the white; or as we direct a letter to a friend at such a place. (4) That he will patiently wait for an answer of peace. We must look up or look out, as he that has shot an arrow looks to see how near it has come to the mark.—Spurgeon: There are two sorts of prayers—those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings which abide as silent meditations. Words are not the essence, but the garments of prayer.—Here is a grand argument why God should answer prayer—because He is our King and our God. We are not aliens to Him: He is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to Him; we are His worshippers, and He is our God; ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by blood.—While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul. Let us give to God the morning of our days, and the morning of our lives. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening star.—We should be careful to keep the stream of meditation always running; for this is the water to drive the mill of prayer. It is idle to pull up the flood-gates of a dry brook, and then hope to see the wheel revolve.—Neither on earth nor in heaven shall evil share the mansion of God. Oh, how foolish are we if we attempt to entertain two guests so hostile to one another as Christ Jesus and the Devil! Rest assured Christ will not live in the parlor of our hearts if we entertain the Devil in the cellar of our thoughts.—Spurgeon’s Treasury of David.—Gurnall: For want of looking up, many a prayer is lost. If you do not believe, why do you pray? And if you believe, why do you not expect? By praying you seem to depend on God; by not expecting, you again renounce your confidence. What is this, but to take His name in vain? O, Christian, stand to your prayer in a holy expectation of what you have begged upon the credit of the promise.—Haldane: What proceeds out of their mouth is infected and putrid; and as the exhalation from a sepulchre proves the corruption within, so it is with the corrupt conversation of sinners.—C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[15][“Meditation” is the better translation adopted by Ewald, Hupfeld, Perowne, Delitzsch, et al.—C. A. B.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–12 Hearken--incline the ear (Psa 10:17; compare Psa 61:2) --give…
Hearken--incline the ear (Psa 10:17; compare Psa 61:2) --give close attention.
my cry--that is, for help (Psa 61:2; Jer 8:19).
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my King--thus by covenant relation interested in my cause.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–11 1. Meditation—Literally, my deep sighing or moaning, such as…
1. Meditation—Literally, my deep sighing or moaning, such as one in profound thought and trouble would make—hence meditation. But it is here the meditation of a soul in distress and perplexity talking to itself in sighs, and is in contrast to words in the previous hemistich. To his words David asks God to “give ear;” to his meditations, a discriminating attention, in order to know his thoughts. See Rom_8:27
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 1. my meditation] The Heb. word, which occurs again…
1. my meditation] The Heb. word, which occurs again only in Psa_39:3, may denote either the unspoken prayer of the heart (cp. the cognate verb in Psa_1:2); or the low, murmuring utterance of brooding sorrow. Cp. Isa_38:14. So Jerome, murmur meum.
1–3. Introductory petitions for a favourable hearing.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (1) Meditation.—From a root cognate with the word translated…
(1) Meditation.—From a root cognate with the word translated meditate in Psa_1:2, with primary sense of mutter or murmur. Here “whispered prayer,” in contrast to “words” in first clause, and to “voice of my cry” in the next. It echoes clause 1: “while unto thee will I pray” corresponds to “meditation.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–12 THIS psalm is assigned by some to the time…
THIS psalm is assigned by some to the time of Manasseh, but contains nothing that is really opposed to the superscription Psalm of David since, before the temple was built, the tabernacle was called "the temple". (Jos_6:24 1Sa_1:9 1Sa_3:3 2Sa_12:20) It is thoroughly "Davidic in style, concise, vigorous; with rapid transitions of thought and feeling" ("Speaker"s Commentary"). With respect to the time in David"s life whereto it should be assigned, there are no very distinct indications. It was not while he was in exile, for he had ready access to the house of God (ver. 7); nor was it in the later years of his life, when he had no open adversaries. Perhaps "a short time before the revolt of Absalom, when David was aware of the machinations of conspirators against him under a bloodthirsty and treacherous chief" is the most probable date. The psalm is not marked by any notes of division, but seems to consist of five parts:
(1) a morning prayer (vers. 1-3);
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(2) a warning to the wicked (vers. 4-6);
(3) a renewed prayer (vers. 7, 8);
(4) a denunciation of woe on the wicked (vers. 9, 10); and
(5) an anticipation of blessings and favour for the righteous (vers. 11, 12).
The superscription, "To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth," is thought to mean, either, continuously, "To the Chief Musician, for an accompaniment of wind instruments;" or, discontinuously, "To the Chief Musician: a Psalm upon inheritances." In the latter case, the respective "inheritances" of the wicked (ver. 6) and the righteous (vers. 11, 12) are supposed to be meant.
Give ear to my words, O Lord. (comp. Psa_66:1 Psa_86:6) Cries of this kind are common with the psalmists, even when they do not express the purport of their prayer. Consider my meditation; or, my silent musing (Kay); comp. Psa_39:3, where the same word is used.
Vers. 1-3. Prayer.
"Give ear," etc. There are prayers, some of the most fervent and spiritual, which refuse words, and need not language. (Rom_8:26) But God, who hath given speech as the glory of our nature and the principal instrument of human progress, will have us consecrate it to this highest use-converse with our Maker, the Father of our spirits.
I PRAYER IS PERSONAL CONVERSE WITH GOD. "My voice shalt thou hear" (ver. 3). On this turns the whole reality, efficacy, spiritual benefit, of prayer.
1. Reality. We are not speaking into the air; or to an Infinite Impersonal Power that takes no heed; but to the living God. "He that planted the ear," etc. (Psa_94:9) To the Father of spirits. (Luk_11:13)
2. By efficacy of prayer we mean, not that prayer has a virtue or power of its own, not that God needs instructing what to give, or persuading to give. The very power to pray comes from him. But the earnest desire and pleading request of his children have real value in his sight; as they must have, if "God is love." True, God knows what we need, better than we do; but fervour of desire, perseverance and patient faith in asking, accompanied with childlike resignation to his will, are often the very conditions of its being wise and right (and therefore possible) for God to grant what we ask.
3. The spiritual benefit of prayer is no doubt its chief blessing. Nothing else could bring the soul so near to God. But this benefit turns on its reality and efficacy. God might have given promises without inviting or permitting us to pray; but faith claims and pleads his promises in prayer.
II PRAYER SHOULD HAVE ITS SET SEASONS, though it should not be confined to any. "In the morning," i.e. every morning. Our day should begin with God. (comp. Psa_55:17 Dan_6:10)
III THE HABIT OF PRAYER MUST BE MAINTAINED BY HOLY PURPOSE, STEADFAST RESOLVE. "Will I direct," etc.; order and arrange it, gathering up all my powers to this great employment, this glorious privilege, as happy as holy. God"s ear is not chained to a careless prayer, of which the offerer himself makes no account.
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE Vers. 1-12. A morning prayer: for sanctuary service: in evil times.
This psalm seems to have been written for, or handed to the leader of a special choir, that he might adapt music for its use in sanctuary worship; not necessarily that of the temple for its composition was probably anterior to the erection of that building but for use in the services of that temporary structure which preceded it, and which, though but temporary, and even fragile in a material sense, was nevertheless in a high and holy sense the dwelling-place of God, yea, "the palace of the great King."Note: No material splendours of gold, silver, and precious stones can make a temple without the Real Presence; but however humble the structure, the Real Presence therein will make it a temple of God. Whether David was actually the penman of this psalm or no, matters not. It is evidently the composition of a true saint of God, and reflects in its several verses the spirit of the time and circumstances under which it was written. And not only so. But it shows us that the saints of olden time were wont to regard the house of God as a house of prayer, and to let their prayers be an unburdening of the heart to God on every matter of immediate and pressing concern. Note: In our prayers in God"s house we have no need to include everything in one service. Nor are we bound to use the words of another"s prayers, except as far as they suit our case at the line. Still less need we rack and tear such a psalm as this to find in it the whole gospel.
That would not only be a strange anachronism, but we should even lose very much by missing the historic setting and aim of the psalm. Who cannot find comfort in the obvious fact that the Old Testament saints, in their prayers, used to tell God everything, just as it seemed to them, and as they felt about it? There is no greater boon in life than to have a friend who will never misunderstand us, and to whom we can tell anything, knowing that he will hide all our folly in his loving forgetfulness, and sympathize with all our cares. Such perfection of friendship is found in God alone. And we have in this psalm a beautiful illustration of the use which the psalmist made thereof.
I THE PSALMIST LAYS THE ENTIRE SITUATION BEFORE GOD. (Vers. 8, 9, "mine enemies," equivalent to "those that lie in wait for me.") The whole of the ninth verse shows the treachery and hollowness that mark the hostile bands, and the consequent peril in which the people of God were on that account. (This verse is one of those quoted by the Apostle Paul in proof of human depravity. Nor is there any contrariety to reason in his so doing. For while the psalm speaks of all this wickedness in its relation to society, St. Paul speaks of similar wickedness in its relation to the Law of God and to the God of law. And it is because the psalmist knows how foreign to the nature of God all this iniquity is, that he brings it before God in prayer, and asks him to put it to shame.) Note: Let us learn to pray minutely, and not to lose ourselves in generalities.
II IN DOING THIS HE RECOGNIZES AN ENDEARING RELATION. (Ver. 2) "My King," "my God." God was not a far-distant Being, only remotely related. The name "Jehovah" brought him near as Israel"s redeeming God; and that very name, which removes us infinitely from anthropomorphism, was the one in which the saints of old found their joy and glory. They could call God flair God. Under the New Testament our thoughts of God may be more sweet and endearing still.
III HE OBSERVES A DEVOUT AND WISE METHOD IN HIS PRAYER. "In the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. The meaning is I will order it accurately, and then look out to see whether it has sped, and when the answer will come. (Many of the old divines are very felicitous in their treatment of these two words.) Sometimes, indeed, the yearning Godward is too deep for outward expression (see ver. 1, "consider my meditation, i.e. understand my murmuring). "Lord, read the desires of my heart by thine all-piercing eye and interpret my petitions in thine own loving-kindness before they rise to my lips." Happy they who know that they have a God with whom they can thus plead, and who have learned the blessed art of thus pleading with God!
IV HE SETS HIS APPLICATION ON SUBSTANTIAL GROUNDS. (Vers. 4-6) The psalmist knows the character of God, and the righteousness of his administration; and in these verses he shows us how real was the revelation on these great themes which God had given in his Law. (see Psa_103:6, Psa_103:7) All these glorious disclosures of the holiness of God are reiterated and confirmed in the teaching and redemption of the Son of God. (For the specific phrases, see the Exposition; also Perowne and Cheyne) It is because we know what God is, and the principles of his government, that we can under all circumstances commend ourselves, the Church, and the world to him.
V ON SUCH GROUNDS THE PSALMIST OFFERS VARIED PETITIONS.
1. For himself. (Ver. 8) Beautiful! He wants
(1) to go along God"s way, not his own;
(2) to be shown clearly what that way is; and then
(3) to be led along that way.
He who thus puts himself into God"s hand, wanting only to be led aright, shall never be put to shame.
2. For the people of God. (Ver. 11) He prays that in the midst of the whirl and tumult which surround them, the righteous may ever ring out a peal of joy because of God"s protecting care and love.
3. For evil ones. (Ver. 10) He prays that they may be held guilty and condemned for their transgressions. Yea rejected by God, even as they had themselves rejected God.
We are not bound to imitate the psalmist in such petitions. Jesus Christ tells us that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest of Old Testament prophets. They could not rise above the level of their inspiration, nor advance in prayer beyond the point their understanding had reached in those days. For us it would be far more appropriate to pray for the conversion of God"s enemies by the power of his love and grace.
VI THERE IS HERE A CONFIDENT ASSURANCE EXPRESSED. (Ver. 12, "Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous... as with a shield.") The word means, not a small shield which may be held out to ward off a dart, but a large buckler which can cover one around as with armour. So effective are the Divine protection and care with which he guards his own. May such protection ever be ours!
VII IT IS WORTHY OF NOTE AT WHAT HOUR OF THE DAY THIS PRAYER IS OFFERED. We are twice told in the third verse, "in the morning." The early morn, when the frame is freshest and the spirit freest, is the best time for devotion. The early hours, when sanctified by prayer, will help us to sanctify the whole day for God. Before ever we look upon the face of man, let us catch a morning smile from our Father in heaven; and we shall find how true it is that"His morning smiles bless all the day. C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-12. A morning prayer.
Every new day the priests began anew the service of God in the temple. The altar was set in order, the lamb was made ready, and as soon as the sign of day was given the morning sacrifice was offered. (Lev_6:5 Num_28:4) In this there was a lesson for all times. Every new day calls for a fresh consecration of ourselves to God. "When first thine eyes unveil, give thy soul leave to do the like" (Vaughan). In this morning prayer we find
I FAITH IN GOD"S FATHERLY CHARACTER. The cry, "Give ear," is that of a child to its father. The priests stood for others. They offered sacrifices not only for themselves, but for the people. But for us there is but one Priest and one Sacrifice. Through Christ we have access to God as our Father, and can cry to him for help in every time of need. (Eph_2:16 Heb_4:16)
II CONFIDENCE IN GOD"S HOLY RULE. (Vers. 3-7) The psalmist speaks of what he knows. God is just and holy. The more we think, the more will our confidence grow. We rise from the faith that God is our Father, to the grand belief that he is "King," and that he will defend the right. But let us keep in mind what sin is. Some in these days make light of sin. It is an inherited weakness, a necessary evil for which circumstances are to be blamed more than the sinner. These and such-like excuses are made, and, if this is not enough, it is said, "Somehow things will come right. If not here, yet in the future world all will be well. To such the "wrath" of God is but a figure of speech, and "hell" the invention of our slavish fears. Against all such dangerous teaching, let us place the wholesome doctrine of the psalmist and of our Lord.
III EXPECTATION OF GOD"S GRACIOUS INTERPOSITION. (Vers. 8-10) Help is needed, and earnestly implored. The cry is not for mere personal ease or comfort, but for such deliverance as shall be for God"s glory. The soul is in sympathy with God, and can not only pray, but "look up" with the patience of hope.
1. Guidance. (Ver. 9) We confess our weakness; hut we east ourselves on God for help. He is our Shepherd. We trust his love, and surrender ourselves to his leading. It is for him to go before; it is for us as his sheep to hear his voice and follow him.
2. Defence. (Ver. 11) When Luther was asked at Augsburg where he should find shelter if his patron, the Elector of Saxony, deserted him, his answer was, "Under the shield of Heaven" This shield is for all. Other defences may fail; but here we are safe from all the assaults of the enemy.
3. Blessedness. (Ver. 12) God is pledged to his people by his character as well as by his covenant. Trust in him awakens joy pure, ardent, comforting, not like the joy of the fool, (Ecc_7:6) but real and abiding, as God"s Name. Trust also calls forth praise. What Jeremiah said in the pit, God"s people say in the sunshine, O Lord, there is none like unto thee. They are as Naphtali, "satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord". (Deu_33:23) Therefore they sing, "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy Refuge". W.F. (Deu_33:26, Deu_33:27)
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-7. Prayer for deliverance from wicked men.
The psalmist prays to be delivered from, not open persecution, but the scoff and scourge of the tongue at all goodness and service to God. When irreligion prevails, it is difficult to resist it and stand firm in our allegiance to God.
I THE CRY FOR HELP AGAINST THE PREVAILING IMPIETY.
1. He prays God as the Highest to hearken to his meditations, his words, and his cry. All true prayer begins in thought or meditation, goes on to express itself in uttered words, and rises at last into an earnest cry. Not till we muse on our own needs and difficulties does the fire of devotion burn; then do we break into earnest pleading, and deep, if not loud, cries.
2. The urgency and eagerness of his suit. In the morning, at the earliest opportunity, at the time of the morning sacrifice in the temple, do I wait upon thee with my prayer. Urgent matters take precedence of all others, and we cannot rest till we set about them.
3. He waited expectant for the answer to his prayer. (Ver. 3) "Watched or looked out, not "up to see what came of it, and how it would be answered. This is both natural and reasonable; for God has promised to answer true prayer.
II THE GROUND OF HIS PRAYER. God is the righteous God, and as such:
1. He has no sympathy with the ways of the wicked. (Ver. 4) Not when they seem to prosper in trade, politics, or open irreligion. And they seem to prosper only for a time.
2. God has no fellowship with the irreligious. (Ver. 5) The foolish shall not stand in thy sight;" or before thee, as favoured courtiers stand in the presence of a king. God has no gracious intercourse or communion with wicked men. Therefore I can ask for his help with confidence; for he is gracious to the righteous.
3. The false and the cruel are doomed to perish. (Ver. 6) Their own devices destroy them; that is God"s appointment. God"s action is commonly by law, anti not by personal interference; he abhors and destroys men by the opposition of his laws to all deceit and cruelty.
III THE FREEDOM AND AWE OF THE PSALMIST IN DRAWING NIGH TO GOD. (Ver. 7, "I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy loving-kindness.") The wicked cannot stand in thy sight; but I can. Note:
1. The freedom and confidence of trite worship. He feels the infinite mercy and privilege of enjoying access to God.
2. The arm of God felt in all true worship. "In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple." When freedom and reverence are blended, then is our worship the truest and most acceptable. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 "To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of…
"To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David." The Hebrew word Nehiloth is taken from another word, signifying "to perforate;" "to bore through," whence it comes to mean a pipe or a flute; so that this song was probably intended to be sung with an accompaniment of wind instruments, such as the horn, the trumpet, flute, or cornet. However, it is proper to remark that we are not sure of the interpretation of these ancient titles, for the Septuagint translates it, "For him who shall obtain inheritance," and Aben Ezra thinks it denotes some old and well known melody to which this Psalm was to be played. The best scholars confess that great darkness hangs over the precise interpretation of the title; nor is this much to be regretted, for it furnishes an internal evidence of the great antiquity of the Book. Throughout the first, second, third, and forth Psalms, you will have noticed that the subject is a contrast between the position, the character, and the prospects of the righteous and of the wicked. In this Psalm you will note the same. The Psalmist carries out a contrast between himself made righteous by God's grace, and the wicked who opposed him. To the devout mind there is here presented a precious view of the Lord Jesus, of whom it is said that in the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.
The Psalm should be divided into two parts, from the first to the seventh verse, and then from the eighth to the twelfth. In the first part of the Psalm David most vehemently beseeches the Lord to hearken to his prayer, and in the second part he retraces the same ground.
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Ver. 1. There are two sorts of prayersthose expressed in words, and the unuttered longings which abide as silent meditations. Words are not the essence but the garments of prayer. Moses at the Red Sea cried to God, though he said nothing. Yet the use of language may prevent distraction of mind, may assist the powers of the soul, and may excite devotion. David, we observe, uses both modes of prayer, and craves for the one a hearing, and for the other a consideration. What an expressive word!
Consider my meditation. If I have asked that which is right, give it to me; if I have omitted to ask that which I most needed, fill up the vacancy in my prayer. "Consider my meditation." Let thy holy soul consider it as presented through my all-glorious Mediator: then regard thou it in thy wisdom, weigh it in the scales, judge thou of my sincerity, and of the true state of my necessities, and answer me in due time for thy mercy's sake! There may be prevailing intercession where there are no words; and alas! there may be words where there is no true supplication. Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer which is even better than the habit of prayer. There may be seeming prayer where there is little devotion. We should begin to pray before we kneel down, and we should not cease when we rise up.
Ver. 1. Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. It is certain that the greater part of men, as they babble out vain, languid, and inefficacious prayers, most unworthy the ear of the blessed God, so they seem in some degree to set a just estimate upon them, neither hoping for any success from them, nor indeed seeming to be at all solicitous about it, but committing them to the wind as vain words, which in truth they are. But far be it from a wise and pious man, that he should so foolishly and coldly trifle in so serious an affair; his prayer has a certain tendency and scope, at which he aims with assiduous and repeated desires, and doth not only pray that he may pray, but that he may obtain an answer; and as he firmly believes that it may be obtained, so he firmly, and constantly, and eagerly urges his petitions, that he may not flatter himself with an empty hope. Robert Leighton, D.D.
Ver. 1-2. Observe the order and force of the words, my cry, the voice of my prayer; and also, give ear, consider, hearken. These expressions all evince the urgency and energy of David's feelings and petitions. First we have, "give ear;" that is, hear me. But it is of little service for the words to be heard, unless the "cry," or the roaring, or the meditation, be considered. As if he had said, in a common way of expression, I speak with deep anxiety and concern, but with a failing utterance; and I cannot express myself, nor make myself understood as I wish. Do thou, therefore, understand from my feelings more than I am able to express in words. And, therefore, I add my "cry;" that what I cannot express in words for thee to hear, I may by my "cry" signify to thine understanding. And when thou hast understood me, then, O Lord, Hearken unto the voice of my prayer, and despise not what thou hast thus heard and understood. We are not, however, to understand that hearing, understanding, and hearkening, are all different acts in God, in the same way as they are in us; but that our feelings towards God are to be thus varied and increased; that is, that we are first to desire to be heard, and then, that our prayers which are heard may be understood; and then, that being understood, they may be hearkened unto, that is, not disregarded. Martin Luther.
Ver. 1. Meditation fits the soul for supplication; meditation fills the soul with good liquor, and then prayer broaches it, and sets it a-running. David first mused, and then spake with his tongue, "Lord, make me to know mine end." #Ps 39:3-4. Nay, to assure us that meditation was the mother which bred and brought forth prayer, he calls the child by its parent's name, Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Meditation is like the charging of a piece, and prayer the discharging of it. "Isaac went into the field to meditate." #Ge 24:63. The Septuagint, the Geneva translation, and Tremellius, in his marginal notes on it, read it to "pray;" and the Hebrew word (ggh) used there signifieth both to pray and meditate; whereby we may learn that they are very near akin; like twins, they be in the same womb, in the same word. Meditation is the best beginning of prayer, and prayer is the best conclusion of meditation. When the Christian, like Daniel, hath first opened the windows of his soul by contemplation, then he may kneel down to prayer. George Swinnock.
Ver. 1-2. Prayer in its threefold form. Words, meditation, cry. Showing how utterance is of no avail without heart, but that fervent longings and silent desires are accepted, even when unexpressed.
Ver. 2. The voice of my cry. In another Psalm we find the expression, "The voice of my weeping." Weeping has a voice a melting, plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God; and crying hath a voice a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God's heart. Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a loving father his children's cries are music, and they have a magic influence which his heart cannot resist.
My King, and my God. Observe carefully these little pronouns, "my King, and my God." They are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God should answer prayer because he is our King and our God. We are not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by blood.
For unto thee will I pray. Here David expresses his declaration that he will seek to God, and to God alone. God is to be the only object of worship: the only resource of our soul in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the godless, and let the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. "Unto thee will I pray." He makes a resolution, that as long as he lived he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the answer should not come.
Ver. 1-2. Observe the order and force of the words, my cry, the voice of my prayer; and also, give ear, consider, hearken. These expressions all evidence the urgency and energy of David's feelings and petitions. First we have, "give ear;" that is, hear me. But it is of little service for the words to be heard, unless the "cry," or the roaring, or the meditation, be considered. As if he had said, in a common way of expression, I speak with deep anxiety and concern, but with a failing utterance; and I cannot express myself, nor make myself understood as I wish. Do thou, therefore, understand from my feelings more than I am able to express in words. And, therefore, I add my "cry;" that what I cannot express in words for thee to hear, I may by my "cry" signify to thine understanding. And when thou hast understood me, then, O Lord, Hearken unto the voice of my prayer, and despise not what thou hast thus heard and understood. We are not, however, to understand that hearing, understanding, and hearkening, are all different acts in God, in the same way as they are in us; but that our feelings towards God are to be thus varied and increased; that is, that we are first to desire to be heard, and then, that our prayers which are heard may be understood; and then, that being understood, they may be hearkened unto, that is, not disregarded. Martin Luther.
Ver. 1-2. Prayer in its threefold form. Words, meditation, cry. Showing how utterance is of no avail without heart, but that fervent longings and silent desires are accepted, even when unexpressed.
Ver. 3. Observe, this is not so much a prayer as a resolution,
My voice shalt thou hear; I will not be dumb, I will not be silent, I will not withhold my speech, I will cry to thee for the fire that dwells within compels me to pray." We can sooner die than live without prayer. None of God's children are possessed with a dumb devil.
In the morning. This is the fittest time for intercourse with God. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul. Let us give to God the mornings of our days and the morning of our lives. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening star.
If we merely read our English version, and want an explanation of these two sentences, we find it in the figure of an archer,
I will direct my prayer unto thee, I will put my prayer upon the bow, I will direct it towards heaven, and then when I have shot up my arrow, I will look up to see where it has gone. But the Hebrew has a still fuller meaning than this "I will direct my prayer." It is the word that is used for the laying in order of the wood and the pieces of the victim upon the altar, and it is used also for the putting of the shewbread upon the table. It means just this: "I will arrange my prayer before thee;" I will lay it out upon the altar in the morning, just as the priest lays out the morning sacrifice. I will arrange my prayer; or, as old Master Trapp has it, "I will marshall up my prayers," I will put them in order, call up all my powers, and bid them stand in their proper places, that I may pray with all my might, and pray acceptably.
And will look up, or, as the Hebrew might better be translated, "`I will look out,' I will look out for the answer; after I have prayed, I will expect that the blessing shall come." It is a word that is used in another place where we read of those who watched for the morning. So will I watch for thine answer, O my Lord! I will spread out my prayer like the victim on the altar, and I will look up, and expect to receive the answer by fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice.
Two questions are suggested by the last part of this verse. Do we not miss very much of the sweetness and efficacy of prayer by a want of careful meditation before it, and of hopeful expectation after it? We too often rush into the presence of God without forethought or humility. We are like men who present themselves before a king without a petition, and what wonder is it that we often miss the end of prayer? We should be careful to keep the stream of meditation always running; for this is the water to drive the mill of prayer. It is idle to pull up the flood-gates of a dry brook, and then hope to see the wheel revolve. Prayer without fervency is like hunting with a dead dog, and prayer without preparation is hawking with a blind falcon. Prayer is the work of the Holy Spirit, but he works by means. God made man, but he used the dust of the earth as a material: the Holy Ghost is the author of prayer, but he employs the thoughts of a fervent soul as the gold with which to fashion the vessel. Let not our prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire.
But, furthermore, do we not forget to watch the result of our supplications? We are like the ostrich, which lays her eggs and looks not for her young. We sow the seed, and are too idle to seek a harvest. How can we expect the Lord to open the windows of his grace, and pour us out a blessing, if we will not open the windows of expectation and look up for the promised favour? Let holy preparation link hands with patient expectation, and we shall have far larger answers to our prayers.
Ver. 3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord.
When first thy eyes unveil, give thy soul leave To do the like; our bodies but forerun The spirit's duty: true hearts spread and heave Unto their God, as flowers do to the sun; Give him thy first thoughts, then, so shalt thou keep Him company all day, and in him sleep.
Yet never sleep the sun up; prayer should Dawn with the day, there are set awful hours 'Twixt heaven and us; the manna was not good After sun-rising, for day sullies flowers. Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sins glut, And heaven's gate opens when the world's is shut.
Walk with thy fellow creatures; note the hush And whisperings amongst them. Not a spring Or leaf but hath his morning hymn; each bush And oak doth know I AM canst thou not sing? O leave thy cares and follies! Go this way, And thou art sure to prosper all the day.
Henry Vaughn, 1621 - 1695.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 Give ear to my words, O Lord.
Psa_5:1-12
Give ear to my words, O Lord.
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The inward and outward sides of the Divine life
The Psalm falls into two main parts-- Psa_5:1-7, and Psa_5:8-12. The inward comes first; for communion with God in the secret place of the Most High must precede all walking in His way, and all blessed experience of His protection, with the joy that springs from it. The Psalm is a prayerful meditation on the inexhaustible theme of the contrasted blessedness of the righteous, and misery of the sinner, as shown in the two great halves of life: the inward of communion, and the outward of action. A Psalmist who has grasped the idea that the true sacrifice is prayer, is not likely to have missed the cognate thought that the house of the Lord, of which he will presently speak, is something other than any material shrine. But to offer sacrifice is not all which he rejoices to resolve. He will keep watch; that can only mean that he will be on the outlook for the answer to his prayer, or, if we may retain the allusion to sacrifice, for the downward flash of the Divine fire, which tells his prayers acceptance. The confidence and resolve ground themselves on Gods holiness, through which the necessary condition of approach to Him comes to be purity. Gods holiness shuts out the impure. The Psalmists vocabulary is full of synonyms for sin, which witness to the profound consciousness of it that law and ritual had evoked in devout hearts. In Psa_5:7 the Psalmist comes back to the personal reference, contrasting his own access to God with the separation of evil-doers from His presence. But he does not assert that he has the right of entrance because he is pure. The second part may be taken as his prayer when in the temple, whether that be the outward sanctuary or no. The whole of the devout mans desires for himself are summed up in the prayer for guidance. He breaks into prayer which is also prophecy. We come into the sunshine again at the close of the Psalm, and hear the contrasted prayer, which thrills with gladness and hope. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Prayer to God
This Psalm hath two parts--
1. The prophet prayeth the Lord to hear his prayer; which thing the wicked cannot, or may not hope for.
2. He beseecheth the Lord to direct him, that the enemies might take no advantage of him; whose nature he describeth, praying God to overthrow them; comforting, on the other side, the godly with excellent promises. Verse 1 teacheth that Gods children many times use words in their prayers, many times not. So did Moses, and Anna the mother of Samuel. Gods children should strive to earnestness in prayer, and should pray unto none but to Him alone. Verse 3 teacheth that we should break our sleep in the morning, to the end we might pray unto the Lord. Seeing God cannot away with wickedness, His children should abhor it likewise. In Psa_5:6 are comprehended judgments against the ungodly, namely, against liars, cruel persons, and deceitful men. We may not appear before God in the trust of our own merits, which indeed we have not, but of His mercies only. Also that with reverence we should repair to the places of Gods service, and reverently also there behave ourselves. Unless God guide us, we shall go out of the way; the strength of our corrupted nature carrying us headlong thereto. Also we should pray for a holy life, and to this end, that the mouths of our enemies may be stopped from evil speech. Verse 9 is a lively description of the qualities of the ungodly: they are inconstant, they imagine mischief, they are given to cruelty and to flattery. It is lawful to pray against the enemies of the Church, that their counsels and desires may be scattered. The faithful may rejoice at the overthrow of Gods enemies. From Psa_5:12 we learn in what assuredness they are, whom the Lord defendeth; those who repose themselves upon the rock of His almighty protection cannot miscarry. (Thomas Wilcocks.)
Davids state of mind in relation to God and society
I. In relation to God. Here are revealed--
1. His beliefs of God. In His omniscience the Eternal knows our meditation. In Gods moral holiness, Gods being is the foundation, Gods will the standard, and Gods influence the fountain, of all moral excellence in the universe. In the administrative rectitude of God. The holy God must punish unrepenting sinners, wherever they are found. There is administrative justice in the universe which will righteously balance the affairs of humanity one day.
2. His feelings towards God. The feeling of personal interest. My King. He felt that the Guardian of the universe was in a high sense his; his Guardian, his Father, and his Friend. A feeling of earnest supplication. And the feeling of practical expectancy. David looked up expecting.
3. His purpose in relation to God. He purposed early prayer; orderly prayer; there is a becoming order in worship.
II. In relation to society.
1. He regards all who are his enemies as enemies to God. See in Davids conduct the common mistake of bigots, and the persecuting spirit of bigots.
2. He regards all who were Gods friends as his own. Gods friends should be our friends, His people our people. (Homilist.)
The prayerful and unprayerful
I. The address and manner of prayer (1-3). Uttered words tell not all the heart meditates. These meditations are the groanings which cannot be uttered, but which the Spirit understands (Rom_8:26-27). As soon as we awake at early dawn let Us speak to God, direct, set in order, our prayer. We are not to pray without method; and having prayed, look out for the answer (Hab_2:1). We miss many answers, because we get tired of waiting on the Quays for the returning ships.
II. Contrasted characters (4-7). There are here severe expressions for the ungodly. They may not even sojourn with God, as a wayfaring man (2Jn_1:10). They speak leasing, an old English word for lying. Not in the spirit of boasting, but of humble gratitude does David turn to himself (1Co_15:10). Thy holy temple (Dan_6:10; 1Sa_1:9; 1Sa_3:3).
III. The prayer (8-12). We may appeal to Gods righteousness to vindicate His righteous ones. Because He is what He is, we may count on Him (2Ch_16:9). How terrible is the description of the ungodly (9), yet it is almost entirely concerned with the sins of the tongue. Wicked men are like sepulchres, fair without, corruption within, and exhaling pestilential vapours. Verse 11. Trust, and with it goes joy and love (Deu_33:23). (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The oratory gate
This Psalm is a prayer. And while the subject matter is of great interest, the Psalm is peculiar in setting forth the characteristics of prayer in general.
A suggestion of the variety of prayer (Psa_5:1-2). Prayer is a provision for a universal need, and must therefore be capable of a large variety of adaptations. If a man is to pray without ceasing, he must pray under an endless variety of circumstances. That is prayer which is denoted by the word meditation; that which lies in the heart as unexpressed desire or aspiration; which indicates a state or habit of mind quite as much as an act. Meditation, says Gurnall, is prayer in bullion; prayer in the ore--soon melted and run into holy desires. The souls unexpressed aspiration is often more truly prayer than the well-rounded formula. Distinguish between the spirit and the habit of prayer. The spirit can be the result only of the life of God in the soul; the habit of prayer may be the result of education merely. Another variety of prayer is suggested by the word cry--the passionate outburst of a soul in distress, or dejection, or danger; throwing out a prayer like a strongly-shot dart, which gives to such prayer the name of ejaculatory. These darts may be shot to heaven without using the tongues bow. Such prayer as this links itself closely with meditation. Verse 2 directs thought to the appropriating power of prayer. God is addressed as my King, my God. Our Lords model of prayer strikes at all unselfishness in our petitions. But it does not exclude the personal element. Verse 3 points out the statedness and decency of prayer. It is well that prayer should be spontaneous; but also well that it should be properly regulated. A rich soil is a good thing; but its richness is no reason why its fruits and grasses should be allowed to grow up in confusion. The suggestion of decency in the act of prayer is furnished by the Word direct. The original word is used of arranging the wood and the sacrifice upon the altar day by day. Read, I will pray, setting forth my supplication in order. In this there is nothing to repress spontaneity or to fetter liberty. It merely teaches that prayer should be decorous and well pondered and marked by an intelligent purpose. We should do well to cover less ground in our prayers, and to ponder their details more carefully. Verse 3 gives another characteristic of prayer--expectancy. I will watch, or look up. He who has thoughtfully and reverently set forth his prayer before God, should expect the answer. We are to watch unto prayer--with reference to prayer. Someone has pithily said that the man who does not look after the prayers he has put up, is like the ostrich, which lays her eggs and looks not for her young. Verse 7 gives another characteristic--confidence. The Psalmist speaks as one who has a right to come into Gods house. It is his house because it is Gods. This confidence by no means excludes humble reverence. It is of free grace, of undeserved compassion, of abounding love, that I am permitted to come. And such an approach to God must involve the last element of prayer suggested by the Psalm--joy. On earth, the intercourse of love is often marred by danger; but he who talks with God in His own house, always communes in safety. Thus this Psalm is a great lesson on prayer. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)
The poverty of speech in prayer
The power of language has been gradually enlarging for a great length of time, and I venture to say that the English language at the present time can express more, and is more subtle, flexible, and at the same time vigorous, than any of which we possess a record. So writes Richard Jefferies in one of his latest essays. But, notwithstanding all this, he recognises that we have still thoughts and feelings beyond expression. How many have said of the sea, he exclaims, it makes me feel something I cannot say. And how much more does this feeling possess us as we commune with Him who made the sea. Words fail to express the thoughts, and thoughts fail to fathom the truth.
Consider my meditation.--
The unspoken part of prayer
And not only must his tongue be listened to, his thought must be interpreted as well. He implores, Understand my meditation. This is the old Prayer Book rendering, and seems to come nearest the Hebrew (bin). A parallel passage is, Thou understandest my thought afar off; for there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. The petition Understand my meditation coming after Give ear unto my words is deeply suggestive. It implies that there was a voiceless meaning in his prayer which was not only more than he could express, but more than he himself could, even to himself, perfectly explain. In the profoundest prayer not only more is meant than meets the ear, but more is meant than the mind itself can quite decipher. And expansion in Rom_8:1-39 is very wonderful, very touching, and encouraging: We know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. (B. Gregory, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 5
Psalms 5
THE reference to the temple in Psa_5:7 is not conclusive against the Davidic authorship of this psalm, since the same word is applied in 1Sa_1:9; 1Sa_3:3 to the house of God in Shiloh. It means a palace, and may well be used for any structure, even if a hair tent, in which God dwelt. No doubt it is oftenest used for the Solomonic temple, but it does not necessarily refer to it. Its use here, then. cannot be urged as fatal to the correctness of the superscription. At the same time, it does create a certain presumption against it. But there is nothing in the psalm to determine its date, and its worth is quite independent of its authorship. The psalmist is surrounded by foes, and seeks access to God. These are constant features of the religious life, and their expression here fits as closely to the present time as to any past.
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The psalm falls into two main parts: Psa_5:1-7 and Psa_5:8-12. The former division deals with the inner side of the devout life, its. access to God, to whom sinful men cannot approach, the latter with the outward side, the conduct, "the way" in which the psalmist seeks to be led, and in which sinful men come to ruin because they will not walk. Naturally the inward comes first, for communion with God in the secret place of the Most High must precede all walking in His way and all blessed experience of His protection, with the joy that springs from it. These two halves of the psalm are arranged in inverted parallelism, the first verse of the second part (Psa_5:8) corresponding to the last verse of the first (Psa_5:7) and being, like it, purely personal; Psa_5:9-10 corresponding similarly to Psa_5:4-6 and like them, painting the character and fate of evil-doers; and, finally, Psa_5:11-12, answering to Psa_5:1-3 and representing the blessedness of the devout soul, as in the one case led and protected by God and therefore glad, and in the other abiding in His presence. The whole is a prayerful meditation on the inexhaustible theme of the contrasted blessedness of the righteous and misery of the sinner as shown in the two great halves of life: the inward of communion and the outward of action.
In the first part (Psa_5:1-7) the central thought is that of access to Gods presence, as the desire and purpose of the psalmist (Psa_5:1-3), as barred to evildoers (Psa_5:4-6), and as permitted to, and embraced as his chief blessing by, the singer (Psa_5:7). The petition to be heard in Psa_5:1-2 passes into confidence that he is heard in Psa_5:3. There is no shade of sadness nor trace of struggle with doubt in this prayer, which is all sunny and fresh, like the morning sky, through which it ascends to God. "Consider [or Understand] my meditation"-the brooding, silent thought is spread before God, who knows unspoken desires, and "understands thoughts afar off." The contrast between "understanding the meditation" and "hearkening to the voice of my cry" is scarcely unintentional, and gives vividness to the picture of the musing psalmist, in whom, as he muses, the fire burns, and he speaks with his tongue, in a "cry" as loud as the silence from which it issued had been deep. Meditations that do not pass into cries and cries which are not preceded by meditations are alike imperfect. The invocation "my King" is full of meaning if the singer be David, who thus recognises the delegated character of his own royalty; but whoever wrote the psalm, that expression equally witnesses to his firm grasp of the true theocratic idea.
Noteworthy is the intensely personal tone of the invocation in both its clauses, as in the whole of these first verses, in every clause of which "my" or "I" occurs. The poet is alone with God and seeking to clasp still closer the guiding hand, to draw still nearer to the sweet and awful presence where is rest. The invocation holds a plea in itself. He who says, "My King and my God," urges the relation, brought about by Gods love and accepted by mans faith, as a ground for the hearing of his petition. And so prayer passes into swift assurance; and with a new turn in thought, marked by the repetition of the name "Jehovah" (Psa_5:3), he speaks his confidence and his resolve. "In the morning" is best taken literally, whether we suppose the psalm to have been composed for a morning song or no. Apparently the compilers of the first Psalter placed it next to Psalms 4, which they regarded as an evening hymn, for this reason. "I will lay me down and sleep" is beautifully followed by "In the morning shalt Thou hear my voice." The order of clauses in Psa_5:3 is significant in its apparent breach of strict sequence, by which Gods hearing is made to precede the psalmists praying. It is the order dictated by confidence, and it is the order in which the thoughts rise in the trustful heart. He who is sure that God will hear will therefore address himself to speak. First comes the confidence, and then the resolve. There are prayers wrung from men by sore need, and in which doubt causes faltering, but the happier, serener experience is like that of this singer. He resolves to "order" his prayer, using there the word employed for the priests work in preparing the materials for the morning sacrifice. Thus he compares his prayer to it, and stands at the same level as the writer of Psalms 4, with whose command to "offer the sacrifices of righteousness" this thought again presents a parallel.
A psalmist who has grasped the idea that the true sacrifice is prayer is not likely to have missed the cognate thought that the "house of the Lord," of which he will presently speak, is something other than any material shrine. But to offer the sacrifice is not all which he rejoices to resolve. He will "keep watch," as Habakkuk said that he would do, on his watchtower; and that can only mean that he will be on the outlook for the answer to his prayer, or, if we may retain the allusion to sacrifice, for the downward flash of the Divine fire, which tells his prayers acceptance. Many a prayer is offered, and no eyes afterwards turned to heaven to watch for the answer, and perhaps some answers sent are like water spilled on the ground, for want of such observance. The confidence and resolve ground themselves on Gods holiness, through which the necessary condition of approach to Him comes to be purity-a conviction which finds expression in all religions, but is nowhere so vividly conceived or construed as demanding such stainless inward whiteness as in the Psalter. The "for" of Psa_5:4 would naturally have heralded a statement of the psalmists grounds for expecting that he would be welcomed in his approach, but the turn of thought, which postpones that, and first regards Gods holiness as shutting out the impure, is profoundly significant. "Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness" means more than the simple "Thou hast not pleasure" would do; it argues from the character of God, and glances at some of the foul deities whose nostrils snuff up sensual impurity as acceptable sacrifice. The one idea of absolute contrariety between God and evil is put in a rich variety of shapes in Psa_5:4-6 which first deal with it negatively in three clauses (not a God; not dwell; not stand in Thy sight) and then positively in other three (hatest; shalt destroy; abhorreth). "Evil shall not sojourn with Thee." The verb is to be taken in its full meaning of sojourning as a guest-friend, who has the right to hospitality and defence. It thus constitutes the antithesis to Psa_5:7. Clearly the sojourning does not mean access to the temple, but abiding with God. The barriers are of the same nature as the communion which they hinder, and something far deeper is meant than outward access to any visible shrine. No one sojourned in the temple. In like manner, the "standing in Thy sight" is a figure drawn from courts, reminding us of "my King" in Psa_5:2 and suggesting the impossibility of evil or its doers approaching the Divine throne.
But there is more than a negative side to the relation between God and evil, which the psalm goes on to paint in sombre colours, for God not only does not delight in sin, but hates it with a hatred like the physical loathing of some disgusting thing, and will gather all His alienation into one fatal lightning bolt. Such thoughts do not exhaust the truth as to the Divine relation to sin. They did not exhaust the psalmists knowledge of that relation, and still less do they exhaust ours, but they are parts of the truth today as much as then, and nothing in Christs revelation has antiquated them.
The psalmists vocabulary is full of synonyms for sin, which witness to the profound consciousness of it which law and ritual had evoked in devout hearts. First, he speaks of it in the abstract, as "wickedness" and "evil." Then he passes to individuals, of whom he singles out two pairs, the first a more comprehensive and the second a more specific designation. The former pair are "the foolish" and "workers of iniquity." The word for "foolish" is usually translated by the moderns "arrogant," but the parallelism with the general expression "workers of iniquity" rather favours a less special meaning, such as Hupfelds "fools" or the LXXs "transgressors." Only in the last pair are special forms of evil mentioned, and the two selected are significant of the psalmists own experience. Liars and men of blood and craft are his instances of the sort of sinners most abominable to God. That specification surely witnesses to his own sufferings from such.
In Psa_5:7 the psalmist comes back to the personal reference, contrasting his own access to God with the separation of evil-doers from His presence. But he does not assert that he has the right of entrance because he is pure. Very strikingly he finds the ground of his right of entry to the palace in Gods "multitude of mercy." not in his own innocence. Answering to "in Thy righteousness" is "in Thy fear." The one phrase expresses Gods disposition to man which makes access possible, the other mans disposition to God which makes worship acceptable. "In the multitude of Thy mercy" and "in Thy fear," taken together, set forth the conditions of approach. Having regard to Psa_5:4, it seems impossible to restrict the meaning of "Thy house" to the material sanctuary. It is rather a symbol of communion, protection, and friendship. Does the meaning pass into the narrower sense of outward worship in the material "temple" in the second clause? It may be fairly taken as doing so (Hupfeld). But it may be maintained that the whole verse refers to the spiritual realities of prayer and fellowship, and not at all to the externalities of worship, which are used as symbols, just as in Psa_5:3 prayer is symbolised by the morning sacrifice. But probably it is better to suppose that the psalmists faith, though not tied to form, was fed by form, and that symbol and reality, the outward and the inward worship, the access to the temple and the approach of the silent soul to God, are fused in his psalm as they tended to be in his experience. Thus the first part of the psalm ends with the psalmist prostrate (for so the word for "worship" means) before the palace sanctuary of his King and God. It has thus far taught the conditions of approach to God, and given a concrete embodiment of them in the progress of the singers thoughts from petition to assurance and from resolve to accomplishment.
The second part may be taken as his prayer when in the temple, whether that be the outward sanctuary or no. It is likewise a further carrying out of the contrast of the condition of the wicked and of the lovers of God, expressed in terms applying to outward life rather than to worship. It fails into three parts: the personal prayer for guidance in life, the contemplation of evil-doers, and the vehement prayer for their destruction, corresponding to Psa_5:4-6, and the contrasted prayer for the righteous, among whom he implies his own inclusion.
The whole of the devout mans desires for himself are summed up in that prayer for guidance. All which the soul needs is included in these two: access to God in the depths of still prostration before His throne as the all-sufficient good for the inner life; guidance, as by a shepherd, on a plain path, chosen not by self-will but by God, for the outward. He who has received the former in any degree will in the same measure have the latter. To dwell in Gods house is to desire His guidance as the chief good. "In Thy righteousness" is capable of two meanings: it may either designate the path by which the psalmist desired to be led, or the Divine attribute to which he appealed. The latter meaning, which is substantially equivalent to "because Thou art righteous," is made more probable by the other instances in the psalm of a similar use of "in" (in the multitude of Thy mercy; in Thy fear; in the multitude of their transgressions). His righteousness is manifested in leading those who seek for His guidance. {compare Psa_25:8; Psa_31:1, etc.} Then comes the only trace in the psalm of the presence of enemies, because of whom the singer prays for guidance. It is not so much that he fears failing into their hands as that he dreads lest, if left to himself, he may take some step which will give them occasion for malicious joy in his fall or his calamity. Wherever a man is earnestly God fearing, many eyes watch him, and gleam with base delight if they see him stumble. The psalmist, whether David or another, had that cross to carry, like every thorough going adherent of the religious ideal (or of any lofty ideal, for that matter); and his prayer shows how heavy it was, since thoughts of it mingled with even his longings for righteousness. "Plain" does not mean obvious, but level, and may possibly include both freedom from stumbling blocks ("Lead us not into temptation") and from calamities, but the prevalent tone of the psalm points rather to the former. He who knows his own weaknesses may legitimately shrink from snares and occasions to fall, even though, knowing the wisdom of his Guide and the help that waits on his steps, he may "count it all joy" when he encounters them.
The picture of the evil-doers in Psa_5:9 is introduced, as in Psa_5:4, with a "for." The sinners here are evidently the enemies of the previous verse. Their sins are those of speech; and the force of the rapid clauses of the picture betrays how recently and sorely the psalmist had smarted from lies, flatteries, slanders, and all the rest of the weapons of smooth and bitter tongues. He complains that there is no faithfulness or steadfastness in "his mouth"-a distributive singular, which immediately passes into the plural - nothing there that a man can rely on, but all treacherous. "Their inward part is destruction." The other rendering, "engulfing ruin" or "a yawning gulf," is picturesque; but destruction is more commonly the meaning of the word and yields a vigorous sense here. They plot inwardly the ruin of the men whom they flatter. The figure is bold. Down to this pit of destruction is a way like an open sepulchre, the throat expanded in the act of speech; and the falsely smoothed tongue is like a slippery approach to the descent (so Jennings and Lowe). Such figures strike Western minds as violent, but are natural to the East. The shuddering sense of the deadly power of words is a marked characteristic of the Psalter. Nothing stirs psalmists to deeper indignation than "Gods great gift of speech abused," and this generation would be all the better for relearning the lesson.
The psalmist is "in the sanctuary," and there "understands their end," and breaks into prayer which is also prophecy. The vindication of such prayers for the destruction of evil-doers is that they are not the expressions of personal enmity ("They have rebelled against Thee"), and that they correspond to one side of the Divine character and acts, which was prominent in the Old Testament epoch of revelation, and is not superseded by the New. But they do belong to that lower level; and to hesitate to admit their imperfection from the Christian point of view is to neglect the plain teaching of our Lord, who built His law of the kingdom on the declared relative imperfection of the ethics of the Old. Terrible indeed are the prayers here. Hold them guilty-that is, probably, treat them as such by punishing; let them fall; thrust them out-from Thy presence, if they have ventured thither, or out into the darkness of death. Let us be thankful that we dare not pray such prayers, but let us not forget that for the psalmist not to have prayed them would have indicated, not that he had anticipated the tenderness of the Gospel, but that he had failed to learn the lesson of the law and was basely tolerant of baseness.
But we come into the sunshine again at the close, and hear the contrasted prayer, which thrills with gladness and hope. "When the wicked perish there is shouting." The servants of God, relieved from the incubus and beholding the fall of evil, lift up their praises. The order in which the designations of these servants occur is very noteworthy. It is surely not accidental that we have them first described as "those that trust in Thee," then as "all them that love Thy name," and finally as "the righteous." What is this sequence but an anticipation of the evangelical order? The root of all is trust, then love, then righteousness. Love follows trust. "We have known and believed the love which God hath to us." Righteousness follows trust and love, inasmuch as by faith the new life enters the heart and inasmuch as love supplies the great motive for keeping the commandments. So root, stem, and flower are here, wrapped up, as it were, in a seed, which unfolds into full growth in the New Testament. The literal meaning of the word rendered "put their trust" is "flee as to a refuge," and that beautifully expresses the very essence of the act of faith; while the same metaphor is carried on in "defendest," which literally means coverest. The fugitive who shelters in God is covered by the shadow of His wing. Faith, love, and righteousness are the conditions of the purest joy. Trusts joy; love is joy; obedience to a loved law is joy. And round him who thus, in his deepest self, dwells in Gods house and in his daily life walks, with these angels for his companions, on Gods path, which by choice he has made his own, there is ever cast the broad buckler of Gods favour. He is safe from all evil on whom God looks with love, and he on whom God so looks is he whose heart dwells in Gods house and whose feet "travel on lifes common way in cheerful godliness."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 “A morning prayer of David, appealing to God as…
INTRODUCTION
“A morning prayer of David, appealing to God as his king, against whose sovereignty his own enemies were really in rebellion.”—Kay. “This psalm must have been composed at Jerusalem, since David had access to the house of God (see Psa_5:7); probably a short time before the open revolt of Absalom, when the king was aware of the machinations of conspirators under a bloodthirsty and treacherous chief (Psa_5:6). Like Psalms 3, it is a morning song (Psa_5:6).”—Speaker’s Commentary.
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MORNING PRAYER
(Psa_5:1-4.)
We are taught here some great truths concerning prayer.
I. True prayer is personal
“My words,” “My meditation,” “My cry,” “My King,” “My God.” David was a king, yet was he his own chaplain. We must pray for ourselves. A parent’s prayer, a minister’s prayer, will not do for us. No one can become deputy for us before the throne of grace. And in prayer we must realise our personal relation to God. He is “My Father,” “My King,” “My God.”
II. True prayer is profound and passionate.
1. It begins with words. “Give ear to my words.” Many have an idea that words are not necessary to prayer, that the finest prayer does without words. When Curran asked Grattan if he ever prayed; “No,” said Grattan, “but I have aspirations all the day long.” There is a subtle danger here. True prayer cannot indeed fully express itself, but it will labour to do so. If our sense of need is real and intense, we shall speak out in broken, burning words. Robert Hall, in his private devotions prayed aloud, lest his prayers should become vapid and wandering. If there is no audible, verbal prayer, the “aspirations” will become ever more shadowy and vague. “None of God’s children are possessed with a dumb devil.”—Spurgeon.
2. True prayer deepens into sighs. “O Lord, consider my sighs.” “Understand my sighing.”—Horsley. “Meditation—moanings of that half-uttered form to which deep feeling gives rise—groanings,” as Rom_8:26-27.—Jamieson. If language could express all we feel, ours could hardly be a true prayer; language breaks off into groanings.
3. True prayer rises into cries. “Hearken unto the voice of my cry.” It rises into a cry, and a cry has a voice which pierces heaven. Prevailing prayer comes from the profound of the bosom and is heard in the high places of the firmament.
III. True prayer is resolute.
“For unto Thee will I pray.” “There is a holy boldness here. God, as the King of His people, could not deny them His protection, and they asked no other. For to Thee, and Thee only, will I pray. As if he had said, it is in this capacity that I invoke Thee, and I therefore must be heard.”—Alexander.
IV. True prayer is obedient.
Psa_5:3. “In the morning will I set in order for Thee, and will look out.”—Kay. David speaks of himself, figuratively, as a ministering priest, setting in order the altar wood and the morning sacrifice. Now the Levite acted according to the law of God in presenting the sacrifices, and they were accepted only as they were so offered. In prayer we must recognise the word and will of God. Prayer is not, as some suppose, a wild, arbitrary, lawless overriding of Divine law; but, on the contrary, it profoundly consults the mind of God; it regulates its petitions by the revealed will of God, and seeks to conform all life to the purpose and plan of God.
V. True prayer is expectant.
“And will look up,” or look out. “Look out expectantly for the thing prayed for.”—Kay. Alexander says: “The image presented is that of one looking from a wall or tower in anxious expectation of approaching succour.” Horsley says: “I will watch for Thee—i.e., watch for some usual signal of God’s favour, some appearance in the flame of the sacrifice, or a ray of the Shekinah issuing from the sanctuary.” Let us look for answers to our prayers. When a man has lodged his prayers with God he may look up, he ought to look up, and God will not disappoint him.
Let us then each morning thus draw nigh unto God. We cannot tell what a day shall bring forth, but if we greet the morning sun with prayer, we shall see the setting sun with praise.
THE RELATION OF GOD TO THE WICKED
(Psa_5:4-6.)
It is a relationship of direct and passionate antagonism. Observe the gradations of the text.
I. God has no pleasure in wickedness.
Psa_5:4. The Psalmist seems to say, There are such gods in other nations, gods delighting in blood and lust; but Thou dost not delight in iniquity. The gods of Greece and Rome found pleasure in licentiousness; but, however Christianity may be a ‘civilised heathenism,’ it sets before us Deity in another light than that.
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II. God does not tolerate wickedness.
“Neither shall evil dwell with Thee.” Many would teach us that God does tolerate evil—that He employs it to perfect man, to develop the universe. No; He cannot dwell with it, cannot tolerate it. Remember this in the Church. History relates that Redwald, King of East Anglia, built a church, at one end of which was an altar for the sacrifice of the mass, and at the other end an altar for sacrifice to the old British idols. How frequently the Church is in danger of making analogous compromises, allowing certain evils to exist within its borders for the sake of gold, or popularity, or peace. It must not be, or God will not dwell with us. And we must remember this in our personal life. “Rest assured, Christ will not live in the parlour of our hearts if we entertain the devil in the cellar of our thoughts.”—Spurgeon. God does not tolerate wickedness. It is no part of His pleasure, no part of His policy, that evil should be found in the human heart or in the world.
III. God hates wickedness.
“Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity” (Psa_5:5-6). “The Lord abhors the wicked.” He “will destroy them.” It is unspeakably repugnant to Him. “God perfectly hateth wickedness and wicked persons. God hateth sin worse than He doth the devil; for He hateth the devil for sin’s sake, and not sin for the devil’s sake.”—Trapp.
We see here the condemnation of whatever speaks lightly or tolerantly of sin. Of the philosophy which does—the philosophy which pleads for evil as necessary to effect God’s purposes; as one of our poets speaks of the devil—
“Existing for some good,
By us not understood.”
Of the morality which does—the morality which regards sin as an inconvenience or impolicy, rather than as damnable in its essence. Of the Christianity which does—Antinomianism; Roman Catholicism, with its division of sin into venial and mortal; and that general Christian experience which has no burning hatred to evil.
In our personal life, in the Church, in all departments of worldly action, we must look upon foulness with horror, or with horror God will look upon us “Ye that love the Lord hate evil.”
THE RELATION OF GOD TO THE SAINTS
(Psa_5:7-12.)
“Throughout the psalm there breathes a strong feeling that God is pledged by His very character as a righteous God to defend and bless the righteous.”—Perowne.
I. God is their Shepherd.
“Lead me, O Lord,” &c. As a shepherd leads his flock. “Make Thy way straight,” &c. “Do not let me choose my own way, but Thine; and do Thou make Thy way level and manifest before me.”—Wordsworth. Is God your Shepherd? Are you following obediently in His way? Then you need fear no pit or wolf.
II. God is their Shield.
In the 12th verse the Psalmist recognises that God is a shield. In the 9th and 10th verses we see the greatness of the Psalmist’s peril. His enemies are profoundly depraved. “Their inward part is an abyss.” They are altogether corrupt. And yet his enemies are most plausible. “They flatter with their tongue.” “I have my doubts whether ‘flattery’ be the thing meant by the Hebrew words. Is it not rather that the persons in question, by plausible arguments and an ensnaring eloquence, contrived to set a fair appearance upon mischievous maxims and pernicious practices? Libertines, in all ages, have not wanted excuses for their riot and debaucheries. The idolaters of antiquity contrived to give an air of mysterious sanctity to the idlest fables and the foulest rites; and the philosophical atheists of modern times throw an air of wisdom over the most absurd doctrines and the most wicked principles. Thus the words of the wicked are fair while their practices are abominable, and they promise well with the worst intentions.”—Horsley. The enemies of the Psalmist were vicious and guileful, and he felt the need and blessedness of God’s shield. So the opposition which the saints have to overcome is similar to that encountered by David. Corrupt and plausible—such is the world, such the devil, such the flesh. God is our Shield, let us press close to its shelter!
III. God is their Song.
Psa_5:11-12. Enemies throng, but the saints can sing.
1. It is the privilege of the saint to rejoice. “Rejoice.” “Shout for joy.” “Be joyful in Thee.”
2. It is the privilege of all saints thus to rejoice. “Let all those who trust in Thee rejoice.”
3. It is their blessed privilege always to rejoice. “Let them ever shout for joy.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Worship a sight of God.
Psa 5:7
Worship a sight of God.
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Belief in God is the great regenerating force in the world. Not to believe in God is to be without the grandest idea which can exalt the mind and the noblest motive for moral attainment. But faith in God depends upon culture. We are born capable of believing in God, but we are not born believers in God. When a man begins to neglect his church or his place of worship, he loses one of the things which keep faith in God alive within him. The man who attends, even if it be but as a matter of form, cannot so much resist the influences around him but that he will be more refined and less sordid as well as being in the way of something still higher than if he did not attend. But if faith in God is to be a power elevating and ennobling a man’s life, it must have some finer education than can be had from mere formal attendance at church; it must, in very fact, be a sight of God.
I. By worship I do not mean all sorts of religious services. There is one particular state of mind which is properly called worship. There are states of mind and feeling which primarily look within upon self, and there are other states which primarily look without upon something which is not self, something which attracts the mind by its own intrinsic worth or worthiness. And this is the real meaning of the word "worship." In worship the prime thought is not the profit or pleasure which may come to me, but the worth or worthiness of that which I see.
II. Of the self-regarding states we may take as illustrations the different appetites and passions with which we are endowed. Prayer as we understand and practise it belongs to the class of self-regarding states. It looks to God, but it does not seem to stay fixed upon Him, but comes back upon itself with the answers to its petitions. Prayer looks to God that it may get something from Him; worship looks to Him, and is entranced, and fascinated, and spell-bound by what He is in Himself. Thus worship implies a sight of God.
III. Such rare moments of worship are not to be had without effort. We cannot drop into a grand view of God as we drop into our seats at church. To such an elevation we must climb, and not until this high communion is reached can the full ravishment of worship hold fast in its attraction the self-forgetting soul.
W. Page-Roberts, Law and God, p. 27.
Reference: Psa 5:8.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 257.
Psalm 5
This Psalm is peculiar in setting forth the characteristics of prayer in general.
I. In the first and second verses we have a suggestion of the variety of prayer. (1) "Give ear to my words "—formal prayer; (2) "Consider my meditation"—unexpressed prayer; (3) "Hearken unto my cry"—ejaculatory prayer.
II. The second verse directs our thoughts to the appropriating power of prayer. God is addressed as "my King," "my God."
III. By the third verse we are pointed to the statedness and decency of prayer: "My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning."
IV. Expectancy is suggested by the third verse: "I will watch" or "look up."
V. A fifth element of true prayer appears in the seventh verse—confidence. The Psalmist speaks as one who has a right to come to God’s house.
VI. This confidence by no means excludes humble reverence: "I will come in the multitude of Thy mercy."
VII. Such an approach must involve joy: "Let them that love Thy name be joyful in Thee."
M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 39.
I. Taking this Psalm as an example of personal waiting upon God, what may we learn of personal worship? Mark (1) the directness, (2) the earnestness, (3) the intelligence, of the speech. The Psalmist shows intelligence (a) by his conception of the character of God, and (b) by his view of the character and deserts of the wicked.
II. If this is the kind of prayer which the Lord will hear, then let us gladly learn that one man will be heard; that every man will be heard in his own way; that no man who loves wickedness will be heard; that those who are heard and answered should be enthusiastic in their joy.
III. Regarding this as an acceptable prayer, we may correct some modern notions of worship; for example, (1) that we may not tell God what He already knows; (2) that we may not make a speech to God; (3) that in prayer we should be continually asking for something. Our worship should distinctly express our personality of sin, trouble, and necessity; then it will be always new, vigorous, and profitable.
Parker, The Ark of God, p. 130.
References: Psalm 5—I. Williams, The Psalms Interpreted of Christ, p. 126. Psa 6:2.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xx., p. 87.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 The holiness of God’s presence.
The holiness of God’s presence.
To the chief musician upon the flutes. A psalm of David.
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The fifth psalm is, in many respects, the converse, and in some the opposite of the fourth. He who has set apart the godly for Himself, of necessity "hateth all the workers of iniquity." And here, for the first time, the pleading is against, and no longer with, them. It is one of those psalms whose language most Christians have found difficulty in appropriating as their own. No wonder that they should not be able to assimilate "Destroy thou them, O God," with their Lord’s "Father, forgive them," or with Stephen’s "Lay not this sin to their charge"! Judaism and Christianity are, in this matter, essentially different; and however people may try to blend them together, their own consciences will bear witness against the attempt. Alas, that the law which says "eye for eye and tooth for tooth" should be brought back to contravene the contrasted words of the Master," But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: . . . love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you."
But the question will be asked, why should that be right and according to God upon the lips of a Jew, which would be wrong and to be condemned upon the lips of a Christian? The answer is, first, the prayer, "Destroy thou them, O God; for they have rebelled against thee," is not wrong as measured by the test of intrinsic morality. If it be right for God to destroy, as it surely is, it is not wrong in itself to ask Him to do so. Nay, this is here a Spirit-taught prayer, and answered of God, as the Lord says: "And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily." (Luk 18:7-8.) So, when Elijah asked for fire from heaven to consume those that were sent to take him,
the fire came. God put His seal upon that prayer, terrible as it was. Yet, when the disciples asked, in the case of the Samaritans, "Lord, shall we call down fire from heaven to consume them, even as Elias did?" they met with rebuke, not sanction: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." But why should that which was right in Elias be wrong in them? On this account: "for the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them."
In other words, they were out of sympathy with the mind of God. When Christ had come to save, how altogether unsuited a prayer for judgment! The Lord does not speak of any comparative difference between the Samaritans and the Israelitish companies of old, but reminds them that God was showing grace. How strange and sad that they should not enter more into the spirit of what He was doing, and rejoice in this grace being shown to men. On the other hand, were the day of grace passed, and the time come for judgment to take its course upon the despisers of that grace, what more evident than that the invoking of judgment would be the only right thing, and the prayer for grace itself totally unsuited?
Thus, when the Rider on the white horse comes out to smite the nations, the very saints now praying for God’s mercy upon men will come out after Him as the "armies in heaven" to the judgment of the earth, and there is not, and could not be, a solitary cry of intercession.
If Christians, then, are with Christ in the mercy that is now being shown, they will find it difficult indeed to pray, "Destroy thou them, O God"; but when judgment is at the doors, and the foredoomed followers of the beast and of his prophet are arrayed in open, blasphemous opposition to the Most High, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the prayer of the Jewish remnant of that future day will be in accordance with God’s mind, "Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee."
These considerations may account also for the change of tone in the fifth psalm as compared with the fourth. There there was, as we have seen, an appeal to the sons of men to consider. Here that is over, and they are treated as having definitely taken their place in rebellion against Jehovah. Entreaty lasted while it might avail. That being found in vain, judgment takes its course. The very purposes of love and goodness, against which the evil is arrayed in opposition, call for the unsparing removal of what hinders the display of that goodness. The "Lamb" will thus be the "Lion." (Rev 5:1-14.) The Great Shepherd will "shepherd with an iron rod." Love will smite, and yet be love: yea, because it is.
The Psalm therefore has the governmental character, and the twelve verses which speak of this; in general, also, the 4 x 3 structure which 12 ordinarily has. Yet there is a difference, the third section being divided again, so that the psalm has five divisions instead of four: all which must be in harmony with the theme. In fact, though showing governmental numbers the psalm is not in the governmental place: it is a psalm of the sanctuary; and its subject, therefore, is the holiness of God, which indeed necessitates the judgment of evil, but the main bearing of it is upon the education of the remnant themselves, as suits the place it has in this series; and this we must go on to consider.
1. The first part is a cry to God the King: the power of evil manifesting itself continually more, the heart rises above it for relief to the divine supremacy. God has not yielded to man the sceptre of His omnipotence. It is Jehovah the Unchangeable on whom he relies as hearkening to his words, and invites to consider even the heart-musing from which they spring. How man, the creature of a moment, sinks into nothing here, in presence of the Eternal!
Yet in this very contrast faith finds its claim upon God. The appeal of our weakness to His strength, of our ignorance to His wisdom, of our sinfulness to His grace, can never be in vain. To those that wait upon the Lord as such, how many are the promises! And here, "if patience has its perfect work," we are "perfect and entire, lacking nothing." (Jas 1:4.) Thus the plea is here only that of dependence -"I am Thy suppliant"; and there is no sense of its inadequacy: man taking his place before God, -God, too, has His, and relationship is owned between them.
But God being such as He is, the prayer of the suppliant has respect necessarily to His character; the words become "ordered" words, as in His presence: there is earnestness, and expectancy of the mercy sought.
2. In the second part, His nature as against evil is dwelt upon. He is not like one of the mighty ones of the nations, in whom power is conjoined with pleasure in wickedness: not for the briefest moment can evil dwell with Him; even the boaster, with his pretension to more than what is true, cannot maintain himself before the searching eyes of omniscience; and the doers of what is unprofitable and vain He hates. In the issue the actors of a lie perish, and the violence with which men associate their deceit is shown as the abhorrence of the righteous Judge.
3. The third section, or what would have been that in the ordinary division of the number 12, is here divided, as already said, so that only the first verse remains to it; the two others being detached as a plain fourth section. In this one verse the personal assurance of the worshiper expresses itself; but briefly, and without the joyousness that has marked the previous psalms when God’s revelation of Himself to the soul has been the theme; and this seems a sign of transition to the psalm that follows. The sense of the divine holiness induces fear of the Holy One, and it is abundant mercy to be permitted to come unto God’s house. He worships "toward" it. A certain shadow seems to pass over the soul, rather than the "thanksgiving" being heard, which we have elsewhere "at the remembrance of His holiness." And this agrees well with the abrupt shortening of the section already noticed, if it be not rather the explanation of it. And how, indeed, shall we have "boldness to enter into the holiest," or to draw near to God at all, save "by the blood of Jesus"? It is this, I doubt not, toward which God is bringing His people in this psalm; and for this there is just beginning, and no more, that self-revelation of the soul that must come, for the need and efficacy of the blood to be known aright.
4. At present there is but an intimation of this. The psalmist is still too much in the presence of others whose wickedness, which is evident, comforts him, as it were, with the consciousness of his own uprightness. Yet he feels his weakness under the gaze of those keen and sinister eyes that watch for his halting, and prays to be led in God’s path as made straight before his face, the only way of security and peace and power, for God is in it.
Around lie these enemies of the righteous, with a smooth but slippery tongue, their throat a yawning sepulchre, abysses within that none can fathom. Such is the divine picture -we may be very sure, therefore, no exaggerated one -of man away from God. What a morass to engulf the unwary! What a contradiction to the fixed clear certainty of the truth of God!
But let us notice again that all this, right as it is in desire, is nevertheless an intrusion into the third or sanctuary part of the psalm. What would have been completely in place as a proper fourth part, -that is, in the last three verses, -here takes away the larger part of the third, while it is itself diminished also in this way. How perfect is the very disorder that seems here! How full of meaning, and evidently designed! For with a soul not at rest, and for which the abiding presence of the Lord is not known, is it not just the walk, the practical conduct, that is the disturbing element; and that to its own damage? Where Christ is not thus rightly known, self is sure to intrude; and with peace holiness is marred, and God is little honored, though we desire it.
The enemies and hindrances here loom large also invariably, while the sanctuary has not power because not in truth enjoyed -to shut them out. From how many exercises -only needed because we must be driven to it, if without this we do not lay hold of it -would the apprehension of the perfect grace of God deliver the soul!
5. And God must interfere for His own. Can it be a question, when wickedness is leagued against the righteous, with which side He will be? Can He give up the world to riot and misrule? No: He has promises to fulfill, blessings for the earth itself, which can only consist with the destruction of the wicked out of it. These promises are Israel’s, as the apostle has very plainly told us. (Rom 9:4.) These blessings the faithfulness of God, spite of their present condition, will fulfill to them. Let us not wonder, then, at the cry for judgment which we hear in this psalm: all the interests of man himself are bound up with the answer. The last verse gives once more the reason for this governmental interference, as well as the ground for the joy that He does thus interfere: "for Thou, Jehovah, wilt bless the righteous: with favor wilt Thou compass him as with a shield."
Yet, when God’s terrible judgments are at hand, not theirs, -righteous in a true sense as these Jewish saints may be -not theirs the attitude of the white-robed elders, peacefully seated on their thrones amid the lightnings and thunderings of the Throne which they surround. Needful, however painful, is the exercise of heart to which we shall find them now subjected. They are under His hand for good and not for evil; and though He lead the blind by a way they know not, He will at length make darkness light before them. The shadow of death shall be turned to morning, -"a morning without clouds."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v11 Psa 5:11 - Psa 5:12.
Psalms
A STAIRCASE OF THREE STEPS
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Psa 5:11 - Psa 5:12.
I have ventured to isolate these three clauses from their context, because, if taken in their sequence, they are very significant of the true path by which men draw nigh to God and become righteous. They are all three designations of the same people, but regarded under different aspects and at different stages. There is a distinct order in them, and whether the Psalmist was fully conscious of it or not, he was anticipating and stating, with wonderful distinctness, the Christian sequence-faith, love, righteousness.
These three are the three flights of stairs, as it were, which lead men up to God and to perfection, or if you like to take another metaphor, meaning the same thing, they are respectively the root, the stalk, and the fruit of religion. ‘They that put their trust in Thee . . . them also that love Thy Name . . . the righteous.’
I. So, then, the first thought here is that the foundation of all is trust.
Now, the word that is employed here is very significant. In its literal force it really means to ‘flee to a refuge.’ And that the literal signification has not altogether been lost in the spiritual and metaphorical use of it, as a term expressive of religious experience, is quite plain from many of the cases in which it occurs. Let me just repeat one of them to you. ‘Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusteth in Thee; yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge.’ There the picture that is in the words is distinctly before the Psalmist’s mind, and he is thinking not only of the act of mind and heart by which he casts himself in confidence upon God, but upon that which represents it in symbol, the act by which a man flees into some hiding-place. The psalm is said in the superscription to have been written when David hid in a cave from his persecutor. Though no weight be given to that statement, it suggests the impression made by the psalm. In imagination we can see the rough sides of the cavern that sheltered him arching over the fugitive, like the wings of some great bird, and just as he has fled thither with eager feet and is safely hidden from his pursuers there, so he has betaken himself to the everlasting Rock, in the cleft of which he is at rest and secure. To trust in God is neither more nor less than to flee to Him for refuge, and there to be at peace. The same presence of the original metaphor, colouring the same religious thought, is found in the beautiful words with which Boaz welcomes Ruth, when he prays for her that the God of Israel may reward her, ‘under the shadow of whose wings thou hast come to trust.’
So, as a man in peril runs into a hiding-place or fortress, as the chickens beneath the outspread wing of the mother bird nestle close in the warm feathers and are safe and well, the soul that trusts takes its flight straight to God, and in Him reposes and is secure.
Now, it seems to me that such a figure as that is worth tons of theological lectures about the true nature of faith, and that it tells us, by means of a picture that says a great deal more than many a treatise, that faith is something very different from a cold-blooded act of believing in the truth of certain propositions; that it is the flight of the soul-knowing itself to be in peril, and naked, and unarmed-into the strong Fortress.
What is it that keeps a man safe when he thus has around him the walls of some citadel? Is it himself, is it the act by which he took refuge, or is it the battlements behind which he crouches? So in faith-which is more than a process of a man’s understanding, and is not merely the saying, ‘Yes, I believe all that is in the Bible is true; at any rate, it is not for me to contradict it,’ but is the running of the man, when he knows himself to be in danger, into the very arms of God-it is not the running that makes him safe, but it is the arms to which he runs.
If we would only lay to heart that the very essence of religion lies in this ‘flight of the lonely soul to the only God,’ we should understand better than we do what He asks from us in order that He may defend us, and how blessed and certain His defence is. So let us clear our minds from the thought that anything is worth calling trust which is not thus taking refuge in God Himself.
Now, I need not remind you, I suppose, that all this is just as true about us as it was about David, and that the emotion or the act of his will and heart which he expresses in these words of my text is neither more nor less than the Christian act of faith. There is no difference except a difference of development; there is no difference between the road to God marked out in the Psalms, and the road to God laid down in the Gospels. The Psalmist who said, ‘Trust ye in the Lord for ever,’ and the Apostle who said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’ were preaching identically the same doctrine. One of them could speak more fully than the other could of the Person on whom trust was to be rested, but the trust itself was the same, and the Person on whom it rested was the same, though His Name of old was Jehovah, and His Name to-day is ‘Immanuel, God with us.’
Nor need I do more than point out how the context of the words that I have ventured to detach from their surroundings is instructive: ‘Let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice because Thou defendest them.’ The word for defending there continues the metaphor that lies in the word for ‘trust,’ for it means literally to cover over and so to protect. Thus, when a man runs to God for His refuge, God
‘Covers his defenceless head With the shadow of His wings.’
And the joy of trust is, first, that it brings round me the whole omnipotence of God for my defence, and the whole tenderness of God for my consolation, and next, that in the very exercise of trust in such defence, so fortified and vindicated by experience, there is great reward. All who thus flee into the refuge shall find refuge whither they flee, and shall be glad.
II. Then the next thought of my texts, which I do not force into them, but which results, as it seems to me, distinctly from the order in which they occur in the context, is that love follows trust.
‘All those that put their trust in Thee-they also that love Thee.’ If I am to love God, I must be quite sure that God loves me. My love can never be anything else than an answer to His. It can only be secondary and derived, or I would rather say reflected and flashed back from His. And so, very significantly, the Psalmist says, ‘Those that love Thy Name,’ meaning by ‘Name,’ as is always meant by it, the revealed character of God. If I am to love God, He must not hide in the darkness behind His infinity, but must come out and give me something about Him that I know. The three letters G O D mean nothing, and there is no power in them to stir a man’s heart. It must be the knowledge of the acts of God that brings men to love Him. And there is no way of getting that knowledge but through the faith which, as I said, must precede love. For faith realises the fact that God loves. ‘We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.’ The first step is to grasp the great truth of the loving God, and through that truth to grasp the God that loves. And then, and not till then, does there spring up in a man’s heart love towards Him. But it is only the faith that is set on Him who hath declared the Father unto us that gives us for our very own the grasp of the facts, which facts are the only possible fuel that can kindle love in a human heart. ‘We love Him because He first loved us,’ and we shall never know that He loves us unless we come to the knowledge through the road of faith. So John himself tells us when he says, in the words that I have already quoted, ‘We have known and believed.’ He puts the foundation last, ‘We have known,’ because ‘we have believed’ ‘the love that God hath to us.’
And so faith is the only possible means by which any of us can ever experience, as well as realise, the love that kindles ours. It is the possession of the fact of redemption for my very own and of the blessings which accompany it, and that alone, that binds a man to God in the bonds of love that cannot be broken, and that subdues and unites all vagrant emotions, affections, and desires in the mighty tide of a love that ever sets towards Him. As surely as the silvery moon in the sky draws after it the heaped waters of the ocean all round the world, so God’s love draws ours. They that believe contemplate, and they that believe experience the effects of that divine love, which must be experienced ere our answering love can be flashed back to heaven.
Students of acoustics tell us that if you have two stringed instruments in adjacent apartments, tuned to the same pitch, a note sounded on one of them will be feebly vibrated upon the other as soon as the waves of sound have reached the sensitive string. In like manner a man’s heart gives off a faint, but musical, little tinkle of answering love to God when the deep note of God’s love to him, struck on the chords of heaven up yonder, reaches his poor heart.
Love follows trust. So, brethren, if we desire to be warmed, let us get into the sunshine and abide there. If we desire to have our hearts filled with love to God, do not let us waste our time in trying to pump up artificial emotions or to persuade ourselves that we love Him better than we do, but let us fix our thoughts and fasten our refuge-seeking trust on Him, and then that shall kindle ours.
III. Lastly, righteousness follows trust and love.
The last description here of the man who begins as a believer and then advances to being a lover is righteous. That is the evangelical order. That is the great blessing and beauty of Christianity, that it goes an altogether different way to work to make men good from that which any other system has ever dreamed of. It says, first of all, trust, and that will create love and that will ensure obedience. Faith leads to righteousness because, in the very act of trusting God, I come out of myself, and going out of myself and ceasing from all self-admiration and self-dependence and self-centred life is the beginning of all good and has in it the germ of all righteousness, even as to live for self is the mother tincture out of which we can make all sins.
And faith leads to righteousness in another way. Open the heart and Christ comes in. Trust Him and He fills our poor nature with ‘the law of the Spirit of life that was in Christ Jesus,’ and that ‘makes me free from the law of sin and death.’ Righteousness, meaning thereby just what irreligious men mean by it-viz. good living, plain obedience to the ordinary recognised dictates of morality, going straight-that is most surely attained when we cease from our own works and say to Jesus Christ, ‘Lord, I cannot walk in the narrow path. Do Thou Thyself come to me and fill my heart and keep my feet.’ They that trust and love are ‘found in Him, not having their own righteousness, but that which is of God by faith.’
And love leads to righteousness because it brings the one motive into play in our hearts which turns duty into delight, toil into joy, and makes us love better to do what will please our beloved Lover than anything besides. Why did Jesus Christ say, ‘My yoke is easy and My burden is light’? Was it because He diminished the weight of duties or laid down an easier slipshod morality than had been enjoined before? No! He intensified it all, and His Commandment is far harder to flesh and blood than any commandments that were ever given. But for all that, the yoke that He lays upon our necks is, if I may so say, padded with velvet; and the burden that we have to draw behind us is laid upon wheels that will turn so easily that the load is diminished, inasmuch as for Duty He substitutes Himself and says to us, ‘If ye love Me, keep My Commandments.’
So, dear brethren! here is a very easily applied, and a very far-reaching test for us who call ourselves Christians: Does our love and does our trust culminate in practical righteousness? We are all tempted to make too much of the emotions of the religious life, and too little of its persistent, dogged obedience. We are all too apt to think that a Christian is a man that believes in Jesus Christ. ‘Justification by faith alone without the works of the law’ used to be the watchword of the Evangelical Church. It might be so held as to be either a blessed truth or a great error, and many of us make it an error instead of a blessing.
On the other hand, there is only one way by which righteousness can be attained, and that is: first by faith and then by love. Here are three steps: ‘we have known and believed the love that God hath to us’; that is the broad, bottom step. And above it ‘we love Him because He first loved us,’ that is the central one. And on the top of all, ‘herein is our love made perfect that we keep His Commandments.’ They that trust are they also who love Thy Name, and they who trust through love are, and only they are, the righteous.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 This is a morning prayer before going to the…
This is a morning prayer before going to the sanctuary. The chief difficulty in ascribing it to David lies in the reference (Psa_5:7) to 'thy holy temple.' The word means a 'palace,' and is not strictly applicable to the tent which David provided for the ark (2Sa_6:17). But it was used of the sanctuary at Shiloh. (1Sa_1:9), and may have been poetically transferred to David's humbler tent; or it may be figuratively employed to denote the heavenly temple. The Psalmist appeals to God for hearing (Psa_5:1-3), contrasts the exclusion of the wicked from God's presence with his own access (Psa_5:4-7), asks for guidance in the midst of his enemies (Psa_5:8-9), and prays for their overthrow and for the triumph of the righteous (Psa_5:10-12). This is one of the Pss. for Ash Wednesday.
Title.—Nehiloth] RM 'wind instruments.'
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1. My meditation] the thoughtful desire of the heart which hardly finds expression in words. It is in contrast with the 'cry' of Psa_5:2.
2. My King] If the writer is David he forgets his own royalty in the presence of the heavenly King. Will I pray] RV 'do I pray.'
3. In the morning] emphatic and twice repeated. Direct] RV 'order,' arrange, perhaps, as a sacrifice (Gen_22:9; Lev_1:7-8). But see Job_23:4; Job_32:14; Job_33:5; Job_37:19. Look up] RV 'keep watch' for an answer.
4. Neither shall evil dwell] RM 'the evil man shall not sojourn.'
5. Foolish] RV 'arrogant.' Stand in thy sight] endure the holiness of thy presence.
6. Leasing] RV 'lies.' Will abhor the bloody] RV 'abhorreth the bloodthirsty.'
7. The two features of access to God are (1) God's grace, and (2) the worshipper's reverence. Toward] The worshipper in the Temple court prostrated himself towards the sanctuary.
8. Straight] RV 'plain,' level, easy to walk in.
9. The heart and the speech of the wicked are alike corrupt. See Rom_3:13, where this v. is quoted. The throat of the flatterer is compared to an open grave, ever clamouring for fresh victims—a very suggestive figure.
10. Destroy.. them] RV 'hold them guilty.'
Against thee] The Psalmist identifies God's cause with his own.
11. Love thy name] thy revealed character. A name comes to be the equivalent of all that we know about the person who bears it: cp. 'Hallowed be Thy name.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 11 Nehiloth is not a musical instrument, but means "inheritance,"…
Nehiloth
Nehiloth is not a musical instrument, but means "inheritance," and indicates the character of the Psalm. The righteous are the Lord’s inheritance.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Psalm 5
Psalm 5
1.The cry to God the King (Psa 5:1-3)
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2. Hating iniquity and trusting in mercy (Psa 5:4-7)
3. Prayer for guidance and judgment (Psa 5:8-12)
Psa 5:1-3. In the third Psalm trust is expressed in God as shield; in the fourth the prayer is to the God of righteousness. “Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God.” It is a fresh and more intense prayer, because evil increaseth and abounds. The cry is to God as King. David calls Him King, as the Jewish remnant will pray to the King and look for the coming of the King. The Church looks for the Lord, for the Bridegroom. Nowhere is the Lord Jesus Christ spoken of as the King of the Church.
Psa 5:4-7. The holiness of God is recognized and shared by the godly in hating iniquity. His confidence is in a sin--and iniquity--hating God, a holy God. He has no pleasure in wickedness or in folly. Falsehood He hates and liars He will destroy. Such are the enemies of God and his enemies also. The bloody and deceitful man mentioned in verse 6 is the first mention of the man of sin, the false Christ, who will persecute Jewish saints in the future. And how beautiful it is to see faith breaking through the gathering storm clouds again--”But as for me I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy, in Thy fear I will worship toward Thy holy temple.” The final victory is seen by faith.
Psa 5:8-12. Prayer for guidance stands first. “Lead me, Jehovah, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies.” What these enemies, especially the future enemies of Israel will be, their character, is described and this is followed by prayer for judgment. Here is the first imprecatory prayer (verse 10). This and the other imprecatory prayers will be prayed during the final days of this age, when the wicked are ripe for judgment. It will be answered and then the righteous will be delivered and have joy (Psa 5:11-12). All this we shall find very much more prominent in the Exodus section of the Psalms.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Morning Prayer before Worship.
Morning Prayer before Worship.
To the chief musician, for use in the liturgical service, upon Nehiloth, flutes or wind instruments of the Temple-orchestra, a psalm of David. David was at this time in Jerusalem and composed the hymn before attending divine worship.
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v. 1. Give ear to my words, O Lord, for the purpose of answering his prayer speedily; consider my meditation, hearing his sighs, his gentle complaints.
v. 2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, his loud and insistent clamoring for help, my King, the special Ruler of Israel, and my God, for whose protection David pleads, expecting it with all confidence; for unto Thee will I pray, that being the proper attitude of the Christian at all times, and especially when he draws near to the Lord in worship.
v. 3. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, will I direct my prayer unto Thee, laying it on the altar as a sacrifice to God, for without true prayer neither the wood nor the burnt offering has any value, and will look up, carefully watching for every token of divine favor. David now gives the reason for his confident approach to the Lord.
v. 4. For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, God’s holiness cannot abide godless meanness; neither shall evil dwell with Thee, not being accepted as a guest of God, not abiding in His presence.
v. 5. The foolish, the boasters, the vain mockers, shall not stand in Thy sight, be in any way regarded with favor, regard, and affection; Thou hatest all workers of iniquity, those who make wrong-doing a practice.
v. 6. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing, engaging in falsehood and lying; the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. All the ungodly people, as here described, are an abomination before the Lord, and all their service is blasphemy before Him, Rev 21:8; Rev 21:27. In opposition to them stands David, who knows himself to be sincere in his relation toward Jehovah.
v. 7. But as for me, I will come into Thy house, the Tabernacle, whose place was to be taken by a fine permanent structure, in the multitude of Thy mercy, the riches of the grace of God in the Messiah; and in Thy fear, in the proper childlike awe and reverence, will I worship toward Thy holy Temple, the place of Jehovah’s throne, for the lowly Tabernacle was soon to be replaced with a magnificent palace dedicated to God. It is in the spirit of true worship that David now makes his plea.
v. 8. Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness, in the virtue of true piety, which is a gift of God, because of mine enemies, the adversaries who were carefully watching, who would have been more than pleased with any misfortune which might have befallen David; make Thy way, the path which accorded with the will of God, straight before my face, so that he might walk without hindrance and without the danger of losing his way. This is so very necessary for all believers because of the occasions of temptation and the ambushes which beset their path.
v. 9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth, they are not steadfast and of one mind in their speech, they cannot be depended upon in what they say; their inward part, their entire heart and mind, is very wickedness, an abyss of destruction; their throat is an open sepulcher, held wide apart, in order to grab and to devour; they flatter with their tongue, they hide their real intentions under the guise of flattery. This description is used also by Paul in his description of the godless, Rom 3:13. David now calls down upon all such the anger of Jehovah.
v. 10. Destroy Thou them, O God, letting them expiate their guilt by a well-merited destruction; let them fall by their own counsels, the foolishness of their own planning being the cause of their overthrow; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, thrusting them aside from the midst of the congregation of believers, to whom they do not rightfully belong; for they have rebelled against Thee, this rebellion showing also in their refusal to turn to the Lord in true penitence.
v. 11. But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice, this sentence being the statement of a definite fact, for all believers rejoice in the Lord of their salvation; let them ever shout for joy, in an ecstasy of pleasure, because Thou defendest them, the protection of Jehovah being their safeguard against all attacks of the enemies; let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee, Php 4:4.
v. 12. For Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous, with such spiritual blessings as make for eternal happiness; with favor wilt Thou compass him, surround him on all sides, as with a shield, the large buckler which covered the whole body being meant. That is the blessed assurance of the believers of all times, the certain protection of God against all wicked designs of all opponents, no matter how numerous and how mighty they may be. The believer trusts in Jehovah, the God of his salvation, and worships Him in holy fear, knowing that he is safe in His care.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 7, 9, 11 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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For the chief musician
"This is for the director of music to use in worship"
with wind instruments
"This song should be accompanied by people who play wind instruments."
A psalm of David
Possible meanings are 1) David wrote the psalm or 2) the psalm is about David or 3) the psalm is in the style of David's psalms.
Listen to my call to you
This is a call for help. AT: "Listen to me as I call to you for help" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
groanings
low sounds that people make with the voice when they are suffering
in the morning you hear my cry ... in the morning I will bring my petition to you
These two phrases are very similar in meaning. (See: Parallelism)
I will bring my petition to you
"I will make my request" or "I will ask you for what I need"
wait expectantly
"wait, expecting you to do what I ask you to do"
translationWords
chief
psalm
David
Yahweh
king
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Ps 5 This morning prayer (5:3) expresses unwavering confidence…
Ps 5 This morning prayer (5:3) expresses unwavering confidence in the Lord’s help and protection. The psalmist asks for and awaits God’s response (5:1-3). He describes the schemes of the wicked in detail but does not get lost in his circumstances. The psalmist also knows that the wicked cannot coexist with God (5:4-6, 9; see 1:5). He keeps returning to the Lord (5:7-8, 10; see 5:1-3), and then he prays for the godly community (5:10-12; see 3:8).
5:1-2 The request hear me appears in several prayers as a call for God’s attention during a time of trouble (39:12; 84:8; 143:1), as does pay attention (17:1; 54:2; 130:2). The needy ask their God, “Are you listening?”
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.