(To the chief Musician. Upon Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.) Give ear to my words, O Jehovah; consider my meditation.
Psalm 5 opens with a man asking God to listen twice over: to his spoken words, and to the thoughts underneath them. Behind that opening lies the question the whole psalm answers — what makes anyone sure God will hear? (The ESV reads "consider my groaning"; the writers below use the older wording, "consider my meditation.")
The verse asks God to attend to two things: the words a man speaks, and the thoughts beneath them. One writer draws out what that does to prayer.
Psalm 5 brings this before us: "Give ear to my words, O Lord." This is not a general request. The words are weighed before Him, and the thoughts too. The soul's thinking goes on in His presence — "Consider my meditation." Self-will has no room to press its own aim on the Lord when the prayer is, as in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight."
The same writer goes on to the state of heart behind such praying.
The point here is not so much the act of directing prayer to the Lord. It is the ordered, watchful state of soul that claims His ear and attention. Evil may be all around, and the soul knows that "He has no pleasure in wickedness." But the soul is not taken up with the evil. It is taken up with the Lord, and this produces holy fear.
The psalm addresses God twice over in the next breath, and each title carries its own weight.
The psalm opens by expressing the soul's daily dependence on God. The appeal to God as "my King" involves the government of God, just as "my God" suggests the character of God.
Another writer sets that title beside the psalms just before it, and beside Christians today.
The third Psalm expresses trust in God as a shield; the fourth prays to the God of righteousness. "Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God." This is a fresh and more intense prayer, because evil increases and abounds. The cry is to God as King. David calls Him King, as the Jewish remnant will pray to the King and look for the coming of the King. The Church looks for the Lord, for the Bridegroom.
His confidence of being heard rests on something outside himself.
Psalm 5 presents the cry of the godly. It appeals to the character of God, which must answer to the character of the godly, as the very reason He must hear him and judge the wicked. If the godly love godliness, surely the Lord does; if the godly hate wickedness, surely He does.
Another writer asks the plain question and answers it from the same ground.
Can David have confidence that God hears him? Yes indeed, for he bases his confidence on the very character of God, who takes no pleasure in wickedness, and cannot allow evil any place in His presence (v. 4). His patience with evil is not by any means indulgence, nor indifference.
What this psalm goes on to ask for is not what a Christian prays today.
It expresses the cry of the godly to God for judgment — a feeling that belongs to the Jewish position, and wholly right when the day draws near for God to vindicate His people... In due time He will hear, and He will judge the wicked on the earth when His kingdom comes in open power. We who are one with Christ in heaven look for Him to take us to be where He is, and we pray for grace as He did, even for His blinded murderers.
But is it ever right to ask God to destroy anyone?
If it is right for God to destroy, as it surely is, it is not wrong in itself to ask Him to do so. More than that: here it is a Spirit-taught prayer, and God answers it. As the Lord says, "And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them? I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily."
- Weighed — the psalm hands God both the words and the thoughts behind them. Prayer here is measured, not casual.
- Watchful — what claims His ear is not the act of praying alone. It is a soul taken up with the Lord, not with the evil around it.
- King — "my King" appeals to God's rule, "my God" to His character. This is the cry of one who waits for a King to come and reign.
- Character — confidence rests on what God is. He takes no pleasure in wickedness, and His long patience with evil is not indulgence.
- Timing — the call for judgment is a Spirit-taught prayer, and God answers it. Its hour is the coming kingdom. Until then the Christian prays for grace, as Christ did for His murderers.
Hearken unto the voice of my crying, my king and my God; for to thee will I pray.
After asking God to hear his words, the psalmist now asks Him to hear the sound of his cry, naming Him twice — as King and as God. Why does prayer under pressure reach for those two titles, and who is David really speaking to?
The two titles pull in two directions: one toward how God rules, the other toward what God is like.
The psalm opens by expressing the soul's daily dependence on God... Calling God "my King" brings in the government of God, just as "my God" points to the character of God.
God uses that title of Himself often, and one writer draws the obvious conclusion:
God has spoken of Himself as King so often. We cannot think He would have done that unless it mattered for us to know Him in this character.
Set beside the psalms just before it, this prayer is more urgent. The title David chooses also separates Israel's hope from the Church's.
It is a fresh and more intense prayer, because evil increases and abounds. The cry is to God as King. David calls Him King, as the Jewish remnant will pray to the King and look for the coming of the King. The Church looks for the Lord, for the Bridegroom. Scripture never calls the Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Church.
Read on in the psalm and you find what this cry asks for — and why Christians find its later words hard to pray as their own.
It voices the cry of the godly to God for judgment. That was a typically Jewish feeling, and it is wholly right when the day draws near for God to vindicate His people... In its due time He will surely hear and judge the wicked on the earth when His public kingdom comes... We, who are one with Christ in heaven, look for Him to come and take us to be where He is, and we pray for grace as He did, even for those who blindly murdered Him.
So is such a prayer wrong? One writer answers with two fires from heaven — one granted, one refused:
If it is right for God to destroy, and it surely is, then asking Him to do so is not wrong in itself... So, when Elijah asked for fire from heaven to consume those that were sent to take him, the fire came. God put His seal upon that prayer, terrible as it was. Yet the disciples asked the same thing about the Samaritans: "Lord, shall we call down fire from heaven to consume them, as Elijah did?" The Lord rebuked them instead of backing them: "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of."
Notice the timing. The psalmist does not fight the evil off, argue it away, or endure it alone. He turns to God at the start of the trouble.
Notice that these early psalms, like others, picture the godly under the pressure of evil all around them. They turn to the Lord because of it — not as a last resort, but as their first thought... Evil may be everywhere, and they know that "He has no pleasure in wickedness." Yet the soul is taken up not with the evil but with the Lord, and this produces holy fear.
Commentators read the "King" of this verse in more than one way. One writer goes further and names the One David speaks to:
David may not have grasped the full meaning of all he wrote. Yet verse 2 shows that he is really speaking to the Lord Jesus, who is both his King and his God. The same truth is often clear in the Psalms.
The closing clause — "for to you do I pray" — is the simplest part of the verse and the easiest to forget in practice.
You need to remember that in prayer you are speaking to God... Prayer is the heart turned toward God in earnest requests for the blessing we need... He is God as well as Father. So a spirit of reverence fits us, and no true prayer is without it. We should not forget that the privileges of grace never remove or wipe out our responsibilities as creatures.
- Two names. "My King" brings in God's government; "my God" brings in His character. The one praying leans on both at once.
- One cry. Evil is increasing, so the prayer grows more urgent — and David reaches for the title of King.
- First thought. The godly turn to the Lord at the start of trouble, not as a last resort. The soul then stays taken up with Him, not with the evil.
- One Person. One writer holds that David is really speaking to the Lord Jesus, his King and his God — a truth often clear in the Psalms.
- Two hopes. Israel's remnant cries to the King for judgment. Those one with Christ in heaven wait for Him to take them home, and pray for grace as He did.
Jehovah, in the morning shalt thou hear my voice; in the morning will I address myself to thee, and will look up.
In Psalm 5 a godly man prays while evil people press in around him. Verse 3 gives that prayer a time, a shape and a direction: morning, ordered words, and eyes that keep watching.
Evil presses in around the psalmist. What stands out is not that he turned to God, but when.
Notice that these early psalms, like others, picture the godly under the pressure of evil all around them. They turn to the Lord because of it. This is not a last resort but their first thought: "In the morning You will hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I will order my prayer to You, and will watch." (See the Revised Version.) The thought here is not so much the fact of directing the prayer to the Lord. It is the ordered, watchful state of soul that claims His ear and attention. Evil may be all around, but the soul is not occupied with evil. It is occupied with the Lord, and that produces holy fear.
The psalmist does not just pray; he arranges his words. One writer ties that ordering to the God who hears them.
God is who He is, so the prayer of the one who asks must take account of His character. The words become "ordered" words, spoken as in His presence. There is earnestness, and expectancy of the mercy he asks for.
Translations differ over the second half. Some read "look up," others "watch." One writer takes it as watching, and sets it beside a prophet waiting on his tower for God's answer:
The Psalmist's words give the meaning, "In the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and will watch" (Ps. 5:3). So do the prophet's words: "I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint." (Hab. 2:1.) This watching comes from two things together: a sense of our own weakness, and a sense of His wise and holy guardianship and guidance.
Prayer here ends with eyes lifted up. A troubled person could look two other ways, and the order matters: he looks up only after he has prayed.
Someone has written somewhere, 'Look in — distress; look out — distraction; look up — delight'. The psalmist knew where to look. He did not look up until he had first looked to the One his heart desired, in absolute confident prayer. That prayer was the expression of complete, utter dependence on Him.
The psalmist calls God "my King and my God" as he prays. Each title says something different.
The psalm opens with an expression of the soul's daily dependence on God. The appeal to God as "my King" involves the government of God, just as "my God" suggests the character of God.
Another writer says who those titles point to:
David may not have understood the significance of all he wrote. Yet verse 2 shows that he is really addressing the Lord Jesus, who is both his King and his God. This same truth is often evident in the Psalms.
The same writer links this morning prayer to the night that came before it.
Verse 8 of the previous psalm spoke of David lying down to sleep in peace, confident of the Lord's safekeeping. Now in the morning (v. 3) he commits himself again to the Lord's preserving mercy. He looks up, above the level of the circumstances that surrounded him.
One writer turns the verse into a daily habit, and points to the example of Jesus.
It is a very good habit to have our hearts and thoughts occupied with the Lord and His Word from the moment we wake in the morning… You will always recognise a spiritual and fruitful believer. His lifestyle is an organised lifestyle. Many men of God in the Bible got up early in the morning to do what the Lord required of them. Of the Lord Jesus we read that He rose "very early in the morning, while it was still dark," to pray. This is indeed the secret of the victorious life — a life of prayer and study of the Word of God.
- Morning — prayer is the first thought under pressure, not the last resort.
- Ordered — he arranges his words as in God's presence, shaped by who God is, and expects the mercy he asks for.
- Watch — some read the second half "look up," some "watch." He stays at his post for the answer, like a prophet on his tower.
- Upward — looking in brings distress, looking out brings distraction. He looks up, and rises above his circumstances.
- Addressed — he prays to "my King and my God". His government and His character are both the ground of what he asks.