Mystical Psalter: Psalm 5

Psalm 5

1 Give ear to my words, Yahweh, consider my meditation.
2 Hearken to the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for to You will I pray.
3 My voice shall You hear in the morning, Yahweh; in the morning will I present to You, and will look up.
4 For You are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with You.
5 The foolish shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy them that speak falsehood: Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your House in the multitude of Your mercy: and in Your fear will I worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, Yahweh, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is destruction; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Judge them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because You will tabernacle among them: let them also that love Your Name be joyful in You.
12 For You, Yahweh, will bless the righteous; with favour will You compass him as with a shield.

This psalm is David’s meditation offered during a night of prayer for help, to be crowned with the offering of sacrifice when the morning comes (v. 3). (It is this reference to early morning which led to the psalm’s inclusion in the office of the First Hour, prayed at 7.00 a.m.) David was surrounded by his foes, and he denounces them to God as he asks for His help against them. Whatever curses his foes might invoke on him—let God not hear them, but instead let Him grant to David the defence he needs!

David has been troubled by threats of his enemies, which have been the subject of his meditation (v. 1). This meditation was not a devotional exercise, but rather David’s constant murmuring, his constant half-audible complaint. (The Hebrew word here is related to the word hagah, used for the low moaning of a dove in Is. 38:14.) The picture is of David haunted and obsessed by this threat, and his continual muttering about it.

Instead of simply worrying over it though, David brings his fears to God. He asks Him to hearken to the voice of his cry, and to answer him. Though David was King over Israel, he addresses God as his own King and God, acknowledging that God was the true King of Israel, and that David’s own authority was simply a trust given to him. David tells God that he will pray all through the night, so that God will hear David’s voice in the morning dawn, for in the morning David will present his sacrifice to God at the altar and will look up expectantly for help. (The word rendered here present is the Hebrew arak, used for the arranging of a sacrifice on the altar.)

David is confident of God’s help, for his foes are evil and unscrupulous men. They are full of wickedness and evil, and Yahweh is not a God that has pleasure in wickedness. He does not tolerate that in His devotees. Evil men may not dwell or sojourn with Him. The morally foolish and degenerate shall not stand in His sight, but will collapse before His scrutiny, for He hates and rejects all workers of iniquity. Indeed, Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man who comes before Him with hypocritical prayers, and He will destroy them that speak falsehood.

Despite God’s rejection of the guilty, David knows that he may come into God’s House, and with holy fear and piety, will be accepted as he worships towards God’s holy Temple. (The word rendered Temple is the Hebrew hekal; it is used of the Tent in Shiloh in 1 Sam. 1:9; at the time of this psalm, Solomon’s temple had not yet been built.) Though God in His righteousness will not let the evil draw near to receive blessing, David knows that he is innocent, and that his cause is just. His sacrifice, and his plea, will be accepted. He prays that God may lead him to safety, making His way straight to a place of vindication.

In making his case before God, David denounces his enemies. There was no faithfulness in their mouth, he says, nothing they said could be trusted. Their heart was destruction itself, and their throat was an open sepulchre, waiting for the innocent to fall into it to his death. Let God judge them, let Him pronounce the sentence of doom upon them! Let all their plans to destroy the innocent backfire, so that they would fall by their own counsels and plans. They had not merely schemed to hurt men, they had rebelled against God as well by their evil designs—let them be cast out from God’s presence in the land of Israel, thrust out of the light of life.

But let all those that put their trust in God (like David) rejoice in His help. Let all who love Yahweh’s Name, and invoke His power be joyful when He vindicates them. For God will tabernacle among them (the Greek Septuagint translation reads kataskenoseis), pitching His tent in their midst, protecting them with His presence. His favour will compass and surround them as with a shield; He will watch over the righteous man to save him from his mighty adversaries.

Portions of this psalm (v. 7ff) are recited as parts of the priest’s entrance prayers when he enters the church temple. This is a reminder that we come to Church, the place where God pitches His tent and manifests His presence, to receive His blessing and help. But in order to receive this blessing, we must come with clean and penitent hearts. If we harbour sin in our inward parts, so that our weekday living gives the lie to what we say in our Sunday prayers, God will not hear us. God is not mocked, and He cannot be conned by a false show of piety. He requires a commitment to righteousness from those who would experience His power and blessing.