Psalm 5
David prays in the morning. He recalls God’s loving kindness. He bows toward the Tent of Meeting. He is surrounded with favor as with a shield.
MORNING PRAYER
For the Chief Musician, with the flutes. A Psalm by David.
VERSE 1. Give ear to my words, LORD. Consider my meditation.
VERSE 2. Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for I pray to you.
VERSE 3. LORD, in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.
in the morning. David’s first thoughts in the morning were prayer. This reminds us of the Lord Jesus:
The Lord Jesus had a time for prayer each day. He arose early in the morning, and went to a place where he could be alone. There, he was absorbed in prayer. Read more »
VERSE 4. For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you.
VERSE 5. The arrogant shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
VERSE 6. You will destroy those who speak lies. The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
VERSE 7. 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.
loving kindness. The Hebrew word is khesed. It means “loyal love.”
your house. Some people interpret this to mean “the temple.”
And they reason that because Solomon built the temple after David died, David could not have written this psalm.
However, the Hebrew word is heikal. It simply means “house.” It can be used for the Tent of Meeting.
I will bow. The Hebrew word is שָׁחָה (“shachah”). It signifies prostrating oneself.
This denotes the proper inner attitude toward the LORD God in worship.
VERSE 8. Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.
VERSE 9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.
In the Philokalia, St. Isaiah the Solitary refers to this verse.
VERSE 10. 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.
VERSE 11. 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.
VERSE 12. For you will bless the righteous. LORD, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Psalms and from the entire Bible.
NLT translation: “For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.”
the righteous. That is, godly people.
surround him with favor as with a shield. God clothes his people with spiritual armor, to protect them and keep them safe. See also:
PSALMS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150
Deuterocanonical chapter: 151
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, David’s Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.