English · KJV

Psalms 5

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

A Morning Prayer for Divine Attention 1–3

1
To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. 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. ​

God's Holiness and Hatred of Evil 4–6

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. ​

The Psalmist's Righteous Approach 7–8

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. ​

The Deceit of the Enemies 9–10

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. ​

Confidence in God's Protection 11–12

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 favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 5

Verse 1

Give ear… consider my meditation — 'Give ear' is azan, from the word for ear: to turn it toward a speaker. 'Meditation' (hagig) is a murmur or sigh, a prayer not yet put into words; the word recurs only in Ps 39:3, 'while I was musing the fire burned'. The title's Nehiloth (flutes) is found nowhere else.

Verse 2

my King, and my God — Before any request, the cry (shevaʻ) names the LORD as King; David, a king himself, joins the same titles in Ps 145:1, 'I will extol thee, my God, O king'. The verb 'pray' is palal, which also carries the sense of interceding and of judging.

Verse 3

in the morning — 'Direct' is arak, to set in order, the verb for laying the pieces 'in order' upon the altar (Lev 1:8): the prayer is set out as an offering is. 'Look up' is tsaphah, to keep watch, the watchman's word, used again in Mic 7:7, 'I will look unto the LORD'.

Verse 4

neither shall evil dwell with thee — 'Dwell' is gur, to lodge as a guest: evil is given no lodging with the LORD. Ps 11:5 states the same truth, 'the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth', and Heb 12:14 sets holiness as the condition of seeing the Lord.

Verse 5

The foolish — Halal, to boast or make a show: the loud and arrogant, the 'fools' told 'Deal not foolishly' (Ps 75:4). That they 'shall not stand in thy sight' matches Ps 1:5, 'the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment'. 'Hatest' is the verb of Prov 6:16, the things the LORD hates.

Verse 6

leasing — The old English word for a lie, kazab, as in Ps 4:2, 'seek after leasing'. 'Bloody and deceitful' joins dam, blood, with mirmah, fraud; the same pair stands in Ps 55:23, 'bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days'. 'Abhor' is taab, to loathe.

Verse 7

in the multitude of thy mercy — His entry rests on chesed, covenant love, in its abundance, as in Ps 69:13. 'Temple' (heykal) is also the word for the LORD's sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Sam 1:9; 3:3), so the word does not require Solomon's building. 'Fear' (yirah) is reverence.

Verse 8

make thy way straight — 'Lead' is nachah, to guide, the verb of Ps 27:11, 'lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies'. The road is the LORD's 'righteousness' (tsedaqah); 'straight' is yashar, the verb of Prov 3:6, 'he shall direct thy paths'.

Verse 9

an open sepulchre — Paul quotes this line among the Scriptures on the guilt of all people: 'Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit' (Rom 3:13). 'Flatter' is chalaq, to be smooth; 'faithfulness' comes from kun, to be firm, and nothing in their mouth is fixed.

Verse 10

fall by their own counsels — 'Counsels' (moetsah) are plans and devices. Ps 7:15 pictures the pattern, 'is fallen into the ditch which he made'; Paul quotes Job 5:13 in the same sense: 'He taketh the wise in their own craftiness' (1 Cor 3:19). 'Rebelled' is marah, to resist; the offence is 'against thee'.

Verse 11

put their trust in thee — Chasah is to flee for refuge, the verb of Ps 2:12, 'Blessed are all they that put their trust in him'. 'Defendest' is sakak, to cover, said of the cherubim 'covering the mercy seat with their wings' (Ex 25:20) and of Ps 91:4, 'He shall cover thee with his feathers'.

Verse 12

as with a shield — 'Bless' (barak) is followed by 'favour' (ratson), the LORD's delight, which 'compasses' (atar, encircles) the righteous. The shield is the tsinnah, the large body shield, such as the one 'bearing a shield' carried before Goliath (1 Sam 17:7).