Psalm 5

Many of us ask for guidance from the Lord, as does the Psalmist in this Psalm (v8).  But what do we mean when we ask this of our God?  Compare your answer to that question with that of David the King.

After pleading with God to hear him (v1-3), David is reminded that God is holy and will have no connection at all with sin (v4-6).  David then contrasts his own approach to God (v7-8) with that of his foes (v9-10), ending with a prayer that the righteous will rejoice in God’s blessing (v11-12). 

Consider these few thoughts verse-by-verse.

·        v1: “”Consider my meditation”: perceive, understand my murmuring. In Ps. 39:3 this word speaks of a strong, burning thought within that he shares with no one else.  God knows our hearts; we can trust His ability to understand our hearts accurately, with more precision that we know ourselves.

·        v2: “My King and my God”: “King” refers to rulers or chiefs at a variety of levels, though most often used of the King.  Other Semitic languages had a similar term.  For the Ammonites their chief god was “Moloch”.  For God’s people the King was not the one chosen and thus empowered by the people.  He was God’s Anointed (Ps. 2:2; 18:50).  Thus the King had one ultimate allegiance, one Sovereign.  God (Elohim) was his King!  Certainly you can see the connection between David and the greater Son of David, Messiah (the Anointed One).  The Davidic king was to be God’s “Son” (Ps. 2:7), God’s Firstborn (Ps. 89:27).  These titles in Psalms of David were not merely figurative; they were anticipatory, predictive of the Eternal Son.

·        v3:  This is a morning prayer.  It seeks God’s guidance and blessing.  Thus the first thing God’s people do, at beginning of day, is to “look up” to God for the day’s needs.  How do our days begin?  Does anyone think that the answer to that question is not important?  Coffee?  Newspaper? Breakfast?  Jogging?  In the presence of your King?

·        v4-6: In a negative way David describes the holiness of God.  God IS the absence of evil; it shall not dwell with or be at home with God.  It has no standing with Him.  He hates and abhors and will destroy those who are defined by evil. 

·        v4: “You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness”: Evil is never funny or enjoyable to God.  He is not “a God” like that, indicating there are gods who do gain pleasure from sin.  

·        v5: “workers of iniquity”: Iniquity is a term that indicates trouble, the aftermath of sin.  These workers  are frequently spoken of in the Psalms (15X).  They do those things that result in trouble.  And yet they worship the gods that take pleasure in wickedness.  This is important to consider in this Psalm.  In the end the Psalmist will ask for God’s blessing that results in great joy and rejoicing.  Thus there is a contrast between those who take pleasure in sin and those the righteous who are blessed by God (v12).

·        v7-10:  Therefore David calls on God to hear his prayer (v7-8) and to judge the workers of iniquity (v9-10).

·        v7: David does not come in the sense of deserving God’s blessing.  He rather acknowledges his only basis to seek God is mercy and the only way he will enter God’s presence is in fear (reverence, with trembling).  Note that by mercy we have entrance into the “house” of God!  In fear we enter into His holy temple.  For many this is a necessary clarification.  We love to think of God and His house of delights or blessing.  It is true, very true, that God desires to abundantly bless His people.  So when we come let us come knowing it is of His mercy.  But when we come to God let us remember we enter a “holy temple” as well.  It is a relationship of worship characterized by the holiness of God referred to in v4-6.  We do not, we cannot, come into his presence as people who find pleasure in wickedness.  He is a merciful and holy God.

·        v8: When we come to God in this way we are truly prepared to ask for His leading.  We will not ask, “lead me to what I want.”  We will instead ask, “Lead me in Your righteousness.”  We will seek HIS way.

·        v9-10: David reminds God of the nature of the workers of iniquity.  What he describes is the depravity into which every human is born.  The Apostle Paul understood this.  In Romans 3 he drew from a collection of Old Testament passages to describe the sinfulness of all men.  One of the quotes is the last half of Psalm 5:9.  Their throat is an open tomb or sepulcher.  Think of the stench, the filth of an “open tomb”.  That is the nature of the natural man.  Thus, as is the case in Rom 3, so here, they are declared guilty.

·        v11-12:  There is a question that must be considered in the move from v9-10 to v11-12.  If v9-10 describes all mankind, it includes David.  It includes those on whom he prays God’s blessing.  This “enigma” is of course clarified perfectly in Romans (and all the New Testament) in the salvation provided through the Lamb of God.  Those “who put their trust in You” (v11) are those who are trusting God for salvation.  They are those whose faith will be credited as righteousness (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4).  Remember, David knew his sinfulness, that he too was depraved.  He came to God in reverential fear, and he came “in the multitude of Your mercy”.  Remember, “Not by works of righteousness we have done but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

May we begin our mornings, every morning, in the house of God, His holy temple.  You need not leave your house or even your bedroom.  Access into His presence has been opened wide by the blood of Christ.  But come, not in the pleasure of wickedness, but in mercy and fear.  Not mere human pleasure but deep joy will be yours as He surrounds you with His favor.
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Additional thought on Psalm 5:
In v7 David acknowledges he can only come to God on the basis of His "multitude of mercies."  In v10 the problem with the workers of iniquity is their "multitude of transgressions."  These phrases contain the same word "multitude" (Heb. rob).  The word refers to abundance, what is common, excellence.  Think of each of those synonyms.  God is filled with mercy; it is common to Him; He is really good (excellent) at it!  The same can be said of the wicked and their transgressions.

But now we ask, how can the wicked come to avail themselves of God's mercy?  David was a sinner by birth just like every other person.  So am I a sinner.  Those who excel at transgressing God's law are in for a lot of difficulty, the judgment of God as David prays for here.  But what if I want to turn from my transgressions?  What if I want to be assured of God's mercy?  Well the answer is also found in David!  In Psalm 51:1 David came to God in the aftermath of his horrendous sin in the matter of Bathsheba.  He prayed: "According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions." 

To the wicked the LORD says: 1) Confess your transgressions; own up to them.  Quit making excuses for them.  2) Then plead God's "tender mercies" ... not the same word although certainly related to mercies in 5:7.  It's God's compassion, the thing that moves Him to be merciful.  It is a call to God to pity us, and when you use that word pity you are confessing your sin, owning up to it, agreeing with God's view of what you have done!