Psalm 5

2/27/13-3/4/13

Psalm 5^[a]

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

¹ Listen to my words, Lord,
    consider my lament.
² Hear my cry for help,
    my King and my God,
    for to you I pray.

³ In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.
⁴ For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people are not welcome.
⁵ The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
⁶     you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
    you, Lord, detest.
⁷ But I, by your great love,
    can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
    toward your holy temple.

⁸ Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies—
    make your way straight before me.
⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
    with their tongues they tell lies.
¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
    for they have rebelled against you.
¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

¹² Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1-12 is numbered 5:2-13.

In verse one of psalm five, David asks God to listen to his regrets and to listen to his problems. He continues to plea God in verse two. In verse three David puts down his request the next morning and he waits expectantly. In the next few verses, David describes things God dislikes. God dislikes evilness, wickedness, arrogance, wrong doings, blood thirstiness, and liars. David continues to brings our attention to the fact that he is allowed into the house of God, and is able to bow to him because God loves him. David asks God to declare those people guilty, because those who have sinned are against God. Only the righteous are protected by God. David asks God to banish them for their sins, because they have rebelled against God, but the ones who seeks refuge in God should be glad and sing for joy.

The tone of voice in this passage is very straight forward and casual. This particular psalm is really interesting because in my mind verse 7, 10, and 11 form a deeper meaning. Verse seven is David proclaiming his ability to go to the house of the Lord, and worship- but reflecting on who David is- he is a sinner who has committed wrongs. Yet, he is able to walk into the house of the Lord to worship. Verse ten, and eleven are very different. Verse ten is about banishing those who rebel, and verse eleven speaks of protecting those who take refuge in the Lord. In many ways I feel that David could walk into the house of the lord despite being a sinner is reflected by eleven because he is able to rejoice in the Lord through the act of worship.