Psalm 5 – Preparation to Worship

1.0 The Statement

In Psalm 5, an atmosphere of strife between the Righteous and the Wicked, such as is frequently found in the Book of Psalms. The situation is like that of Psalms 3 and Psalm 4 in both, there are dangerous Foes all about. Like Psalms 3 and Psalm 4, it is a mixture of Praise and Prayer to God combined with Complaints about Enemies and about Wicked men in General.

Psalm 5 may have been used by the Priests in their Preparation for Morning (Psalm 5:3). Sacrifice or by the Individual as he prepared for Worship. Psalm 5, is not marked by any Notes of Division, but seems to consist of Five Parts:

  1. The Morning Prayer (Psalm 5:1-3).
  2. The Warning to the Wicked (Psalm 5:4-6).
  3. The Renewed Prayer (Psalm 5:7-8).
  4. The Denunciation of Woe on the Wicked (Psalm 5:9-10).
  5. An Anticipation of Blessings and Favour for the Righteousness (Psalm 5:11-12).

The Superscription, “To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth,” is thought to mean, either, continuously, “To the Chief Musician: A Psalm upon Inheritances.” In the latter case, the respective “Inheritances” of the Wicked (Psalm 5:6) and the Righteous (Psalm 5:11, 12) are supposed to be meant.

The Title is like that of Psalm 4. Both have to do with the Chief Musician. But instead of being played on some stringed Instrument (Neginoth) this Psalm is for the Nehiloth, which may mean “flutes.”

Psalm 5, unlike Psalms 3 and Psalm 4, where some Verses are directed to the Readers, Psalm 5 in its entirety is addressed to God:

  • David’s Complaints are not to men but to God.
  • David urges not men but God.
  • He communes not with men but with God.

Even the criticism of the Wicked is put in the form of Praise: “The foolish (lit., arrogant, boastful) shall not stand in Your sight: You hates the Workers of Iniquity” (Psalm 5:5).

It is another instance of the Person praying reminding God of His (God’s) Faithfulness. Later in Psalm 5:10, David exhorts that God, who abhors unrighteousness, cast out the Transgressors. Psalm 5 reflects how the righteous man prays for deliverance not only for freedom from suffering, but to allow himself to serve God, without distraction. The NKJV entitles it: “A Prayer for Guidance.”

1.1     The Morning Prayer –

Psalm 5:1-3 “Give ear to my words, O LORD consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God; for unto Thee will I Pray. My Voice shalt thou hear in the Morning, O LORD, in the morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up.”

1.1.1 Call for Attention

Psalm 5:1 “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider the meditation.” – David opens Psalm 5, with the Personal Request: “Give ear to my Words, O LORD consider my meditation.” God is not only to be felt, but He is also to be addressed.  David’s Confidence is that his Prayer (cry) will be heard.

The words “Consider my Meditation” (“Silent musing” in Psalm 39:3, or, literally, “Groaning”) are richer if understood as Prayer that God will interpret those unintelligible noises that come from deep thoughts.

David Prays that God will understand his deep groaning that cannot be uttered in words. This Prayer (“Consider my Meditation” – Romans 8:26) is one of the most fervent and spiritual Prayer which cannot be
expressed in words, and is summed up:

  • Reality – David is not speaking into the air; or to an Infinite Impersonal Power that takes the heed; but to the Living God.  
  • Efficacy (Effectiveness) of Prayer means that Prayer has the Power to touch God’s Heart. The earnest desire and pleading request of His Children touched God. It is true that God knows what His Children need, better than we do; but Fervour (Passion) of desire, perseverance, and patient of faith, in asking, accompanied with child-like resignation to His (God’s) Will, are often the very conditions for God to grant what we ask.  
  • David’s Invocation (Prayer) to God: “Give ear…..Consider…..Hearken.”
  • David’s Desire of God’s Attention: “My Words, my Meditation, and my Cry.”
  • David’s Vocatives:“O LORD,my King, and my God.”

David expresses his anguish in the opening address of Psalm 5:1-3. David’s words to the LORD come in the pains that he (David) is experiencing. These expressions all show the urgency and energy of David’s feelings and petitions.  

1.1.2 The Covenant

Psalm 5:2 “Hearken (give heed) to the voice of my cry, my King, and my God; for to You will I pray.” David expresses to God the Covenantal relationship with the expression, of repeat “my” (3 times) in the phrase “My King and my God,” gives the Prayer firm footing.

  • David uses the anthropomorphic (humble like) language keeps his (David’s) Prayer Personal.
  • David lifts his Prayer to the Personal God, Yahweh, who is David’s King, the Source of David’s Help in adversity.

Here is David’s Personal submission and confidence, as God Reigns. David comes to Him (God) when he is in trouble. “My King and my God” are also the pith (most important part) and marrow of David’s Plea. Here is a grant argument why God should answer Prayer – because He is our King and our God. We are not Strangers to Him:

  • The King is expected to hear the Petitions of His own People.
  • We are His Worshippers, and He is our God.
  • Our relationship with Him is by Covenant, by Promise, by Oath, and by Blood of Christ (Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7).

The use of the word King puts David’s own Kingship into its right context – David is King over Israel; but God is King over David. David accepts that he is the man under authority, not one who struggle for his own ends by his own means.

1.1.3 Worship

– Psalm 5:3a “My (David’s) voice You (God) shall hear in the morning, O LORD.” – “In the Morning,” indicates that the Psalm may have been composed for Morning Worship (c/f Psalm 3:5). In parallels form, the time is specified, probably connecting the David’s Prayer with the Morning Sacrifice.

The emphasis on “the morning” suggests that this by its possible allusion to the Daily Sacrifice at God’s Threshold, “Where I will meet with you, to speak there to you” (Exodus 29:42).

David, it seems, puts his Praying into such a context (as in Psalm 141:2) to express the Assurance of Atonement and the total commitment with which he comes before God. But he also comes expectantly. If not, it may simply indicate that David considered Prayer important enough to put early in his daily schedule.  

1.1.4 Preparation

Psalm 5:3b “In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.”It is the phrase that is used for the laying in order the wood and the pieces of the Sacrifice upon the altar (Leviticus 1:7, 8, 12; Leviticus 6:5; Numbers 28:4), and it is used also for the putting of the Showbread upon the Table.

Prayer is viewed as the Sacrificial Act. Prayer also means just this: “I will arrange my Prayer before You (God);” I will lay it out upon the Altar in the morning, just as the Priest lays out the Morning Sacrifice. I will arrange my Prayer; or, as the Old Master Trapp has it, “I will marshal up my Prayers,” I will put them in order, call up all my Powers, and bid them stand in their Proper Places, that I will Pray with all my might, and Pray acceptably.”  

1.1.5 Expectant

Psalm 5:3c “And will look up” or, as the Hebrew might better be translated, “I will look out,’ I will look out for God’s Answer. After we have Prayed, we will expect that God’s Answer shall come. This exhortation: “And I look up” (Psalm 5:3c) is the Words that are used in another place where we read of those who “Watched for the Morning.” So will I watch for Thine Answer, O my LORD! I will spread out my Prayer like the Sacrifice on the Altar, and I will look up and expect to receive God’s Answer.

It is Prayer with fervency and preparation of expected result. Prayer should not be flashes of a hot and hasty brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire. David directs his Prayer to God and look up for the Answer.

Story: During the Second World War a U.S. Arms Plant was producing defective bomb sights. Sabotage was suspected. It was discovered, however, that the defects came because the employees were working so carefully on a small part that their eyes went out of focus. The remedy was for them to break periodically and look away at a distance to rest their eyes. Then their work became flawless. As a rest our souls, looking up to our King and God, whose ear is open to us, we have clear vision to face the battles of the day.

1.2 The Warning to the Wicked

Psalm 5:4-6 “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all Workers of Iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

1.2.1 God’s Character

Psalm 5:4“For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. David knows what God Character is like and he Prayed according to God’s Character, as he (David) knows that he cannot expect God to do anything that is against His {God’s} own Character. This is bold intimacy expressed – “For You are not a God who hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee” (Psalm 5:4). It is biblical for God’s People to remind God of Who He is. When the LORD threatens judgement upon Israel, Moses recalls God’s Past Dealings by praying: “Pardon the iniquity of this people…..according to the Greatness of Your Mercy, just as You have forgiven this People, from Egypt even until now” (Numbers14:19).

Certainly, God does not have amnesia (loss of memory), and in His Character He has every right to judge Wickedness and Sin. However, when we recall His Mercy in our Prayer, we establish in our hearts the basis upon which we seek and expect God’s Favour. Nevertheless, by stressing God’s Character, David calls upon the LORD to stand with him against his Enemies. One by one those whom God Opposes are listed in Psalm 5:4:

  • God does not take “pleasure” in or delight in “Wickedness” – Psalm 5:4a “For You are not a God who has pleasure in Wickedness.” The noun here means “Criminal Acts.” God opposes Lawbreakers. God stands on the Side of Justice.  
  • God does not allow evil in His Presence: Psalm 5:4b “Nor shall evil dwell with You.” The Hebrew word used here for “Evil” denotes the broad concept including “distress, injury, misery, calamity.” Evil is anything other than God’s Holiness and Perfection, and it is excluded from Him by definition. Light has no fellowship with Darkness.

1.2.2 God Hates Pride

Psalm 5:5a “The boastful (literally arrogant) shall not stand in Your (God’s) sight.” – God does not allow the boastful Person to stand in His (God’s) Gaze “for God resists the Proud but gives grace to the Humble” (1Peter 5:5; Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6). Dwight L. Moody used to say, “In heaven there will be NO self-made Individuals.”

1.2.3 God Hates Iniquity

– Psalm 5:5b “You hate all workers of iniquity (lawlessness).” God’s hatred is not an irrational outburst, but God’s moral response to lawlessness (iniquity) or to those who do evil. There is a different between human’s hatred and God’s hatred.

  • Hatred in human beings is generally thought of in terms of strong emotional distaste or dislike for someone or something.
  • Hatred in God is a judicial act on the part of the righteous Judge who separates the Sinner from Himself. This is not contradictory to God’s love, for on His love for Sinners, God has made it possible for sin to be forgiven, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that all can be reconciled to God. However, if the Sinner chooses not to repent, he/she will reap the harvest of God’s hatred in eternal separation from Him.  

The phrase “Workers of Iniquity (Lawlessness)” appears often in the Individual Psalms of Lament. As a rule, it means Groups of People who scheme together, boast together, and use words as their evil weapons:

  • Psalm 64:2-4 “Hide me from the secret plots of the Wicked, from the rebellion of the Workers of Iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows – bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the blameless; suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.”
  • Psalm 5:9 “For there is no faithfulness in their (Wicked) mouth; their inward part is destruction; their throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongues.”

1.2.4 God Destroy Liars

Psalm 5:6a “You shall destroy those who speak falsehood.” –  In the context of Psalm 5:5 “The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all Workers of Iniquity.” – These are the Workers of Iniquity. The Hebrew verb for “destroy” is commonly used for destroying Enemies in battle and the destruction of Heathen Cults.

God takes up Arms in judgement against “Those who speak falsehood.” (Psalm 5:6a). The ultimate Source of the Lie is Satan himself, as Satan is the Liar and the father of Lies (John 8:44); in destroying Liars, God rolls back Satan’s Evil Kingdom.

Psalm 5:6a declares that God will destroy those who speaks lies (falsehood), highlighting God’s attitude towards falsehood and deceit. The LORD, who is the epitome (personification) of truth and justice, stands against lies and deceitful Person.

Psalm 5:6a emphasises the consequences that awaits the Person who engages in falsehood, indicating that God will not tolerate dishonesty.

1.2.5 God Detests Deception

Psalm 5:6b “The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” – The verb “abhors” refers to both ritual and ethical rejection. The term “blood-thirsty” may be murderers but most likely the Person involved in “character-assassination.”

  • Psalm 5:6b teaches that God abhors (detests) the Individual who engages in character assassination (bloodthirsty) and in deception, thus, revealing God’s moral stance, underscores God’s desire for righteousness and His opposition to wickedness.
  • Psalm 5:6b affirms the importance of truth and honesty in our words and actions. As Followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to reflect God’s character, which includes walking in truth and integrity.
  • Psalm 5:6b challenges us to examine our own lives and evaluate whether our words and actions align with God’s standard of truth and righteousness.
  • Psalm 5:6b shows that God’s abhorrence of lies reminds us of the inherent value of truthfulness and the need to align our lives with God’s Written Word.
  • Psalm 5:6b prompts us to evaluate our own speech, ensuring that we speak truthfully and avoid deceitful practices.
  • Psalm 5:6b emphasizes God’s justice and His opposition to violence and bloodshed. It reminds us that God’s character is inherently just and righteous.
  • Psalm 5:6b states that God stands against those who inflict harm and engage in acts of violence. This verse serves as a reminder that God’s desire is for His People to pursue righteousness, seeking justice and peace in all our dealings.
  • Psalm 5:6b calls us to be God’s People of integrity, avoiding deceit and violence in all our interactions. Instead of participating in lies or engaging in acts of harm, we are called to pursue truth, justice, and peace.
  • Psalm 5:6b reminds us of the consequences of dishonesty and wickedness.
  • Psalm 5:6b underscores the reality that God will hold us accountable who engage in deceit and violence.
  • Psalm 5:6b encourages us to live with the awareness of God’s Presence and judgment, making choices that honour Him and align with His (Gode’s) character.
  • In Psalm 5:6a is the only instance, in this Psalm, of David’s speaking to God in the third Person. There David mentions what God Himself already Knows, which in fact it is known to God, as He (God) is Omniscience (Psalm 139:1-6).

Through this catalogue (character-assassination and deception) of Evil, we have the strong ethical sense of God’s Character and Judgement against Human Wickedness. God says no to “Wickedness, boastful, workers of iniquity, liars, and those who kill by deceit or character-assassination.” Their Prayers are not heard, and God’s Judgement on them is certain.

God’s Rejection of those who speak falsehood and deceive shows forth to the exposition of the liars of Psalm 5:9 who are David’s enemies and the subject of his (David’s) lament. We too need to take moral inventory as we come before God. What separates us from Sinners, however, is not our righteousness but God’s Mercy.

God hears us, not because we are good, but because we have received His Goodness of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. David’s Prayer now takes shape as a Plea for Justice. The crescendo from the mild negatives of Psalm 5:4 “For You are not a God who has pleasure in Wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with You,” to the expression of Divine Wrath in Psalm 5:5b-6 “You hate all Workers of Iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

God is David’s integrity and refuge when he (David) is under wrongful attack. This is shown in Psalm 143:2 “Do not enter into judgement with Your Servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous.” –  Where David the Plaintiff (as he is in Psalm 5) pauses to acknowledge that if God is to test his (David’s) Character instead of his (David’s) case, he (David) would be undone. This is taken for granted in the David’s Protestations of Innocence.

1.3 The Renewed Prayer

Psalm 5:7-8 “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your Mercy; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. Lead me O LORD, in Your Righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.”

1.3.1 The Worship

Psalm 5:7 “But as for me (David), I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your Mercy; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.” This contrasts with the debauchery (depravity) and deceit of the Wicked described in the Psalm 5:5-6. David’s entrance into God’s House, God’s Presence, in worship, is based on Divine Grace {“multitude of Your (God’s) Mercy” – hesed (Psalm 5:7a)}, or, through the abundance of Your (God’s) Mercy (Psalm 69:13,16).

It is God’s Mercy that David is Preserved. The theological significance of Psalm 5:7 lies in its teachings on approaching God’s Presence with humility, gratitude, and reverence, as well as acknowledging His Loving Kindness (Mercy) towards us. We need to remind ourselves of the privilege of coming into God’s Presence.

  • At the same time, God’s “Abundant {multitude} Mercy” is no grounds for presumption: Psalm 5:7b “In fear (reverence) of You I will worship toward Your holy Temple.” David’s Worship is never without Fear (reverence) – the reverent sense of God’s Presence.
  • This “Fear (reverence)” is before God’s Holiness and Wonder before His (God’s) luminous (glowing) Power and Awesome Works – Psalm 5:7b “In fear (reverence) of You I will worship toward Your holy Temple.” John, the Apostle, experienced this Fear (reverence) when he saw the Vision of the Risen Christ and “fell at His feet as dead” (Revelation 1:17).
  • The word “Worship” literally means “to bow down” in reverence and submission. Worship is an act of surrender. In both Hebrew and English, Psalm 5:7 is a chiasmus, although Translators have somewhat revised the structure. Literally it would read: 

But I, In the multitude of You Mercies, I will come to Your House
I will worship at Your holy Temple. In Your Fear (Reverence).

Worship is the utmost virtue of the Redeemed, and coming to the LORD, coming to His House, to worship Him is the great privilege.

1.3.2 David’s Desire

– Psalm 5:8 “Lead me O LORD, in Your Righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.” David’s enemies seek to kill him (2Samuel 15:13-1`4), so David needed to follow God’s Guidance to stay safe and to persevere in righteousness. Believers, too, need God’s Guidance as we navigate through the world that seeks to conform us to its philosophy and conduct.

In the beginning, David desire is that his Prayer be heard (Psalm 5:1-2), and he declared that he would begin his Prayer in the morning (Psalm 5:3), and before God’s Temple (Psalm 5:7).

Now David’s desire is that God will lead him in the Path of God’s Righteousness (Psalm 5:8a), because of his (David’s) Enemies (Psalm 5:8a), or, of “those that lie in wait for him” (RV, margin), lest, if he (David) makes a false step, his Enemies would triumph over him, and thus, bring discredit upon the cause of God and His People. When we are surrounded by Liars and Deceivers, it is only God’s Guidance that we do not fall prey to the Enemies.  

God’s Mercy, then, results in Worship and Worship results in David’s Desire – “Lead me, O LORD, in Your Righteousness because of my Enemies.” Here is what David desired and prayed for.

1.3.3 David’s Pathway

Psalm 5:8b “Make Your way straight before my face.” – God’s Righteousness is revealed in the straight way, He (God) makes before us. According to Romans 12:1-2, when we offer our bodies to the Lord Jesus, as Living Sacrifices in Worship, we then know God’s Will, that which is “Good (Moral),” “Acceptable (Agreeable),” and Perfect (Growing us into Maturity).”       

1.4 Denunciations

Psalm 5:9-10 “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (tomb); they flatter with their tongue. Pronounce them guilty (Destroy You them), O God! Let them counsels’ own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.”

1.4.1 Indictment

Psalm 5:9 “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (tomb); they flatter with their tongue.” Now in Psalm 5:9, the general indictment of Psalm 5:4-6 becomes specific. Psalm 5:9, describes the Enemies and brings us to the central issue of Psalm 5.

Psalm 5:9 contains David’s assessment of those that are against him. It is as if David becomes the Prosecuting Attorney whose central charge against the guilty is lying.

  • No Faithfulness in their mouth = No Steadfastness = “No Sincerity” (Psalm 5:9a).
  • Their attitude is only Wickedness (Psalm 5:9b).
  • Their throat is an open Sepulchre (Tomb – Psalm 5:9c).
  • They flatter with their tongue (Psalm 5:9d)– Literally, “they make smooth their tongues,” which may, perhaps, include flattery, but points rather to smooth arguments, specious reasoning, and the habit of making the worse appear the better cause.    

The “mouth,” the “inward part,” the “throat,” and the “tongue,” are all named as vehicles of Deception. The absence of “faithfulness” or steadfastness is covered up by flattery. The interior destruction and death, the depths of depravity, represented by the jolting metaphor of the throat as “an open tomb,” are all disguised by smooth words. We are reminded of Jesus’ rebuke on the Pharisees and His description of them as “whitewashed tombs…..full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27).

Paul used elements of Psalm 5:9 in Romans 3:13 where he, too, describes the Wickedness of men. This description of depraved man as used by Paul as being an accurate description of humans, not of David’s Enemies only, but of humans by nature. Verbal violence is as much an epidemic for us as it was for Ancient Israel, and we, too, fail to see the depths behind the cunning.

1.4.2 Deception

Psalm 5:9b “They flatter with their tongue,” warns us against this deception of flattery, the violent abuse of words, the costumes that veil the heart’s intentions. We live in an age of flattery. Manipulation and deception are all encompassing. People trained in Social Sciences mould People’s values, tastes, and behaviours through the media and advertisement. With the “marrying” of Psychology to Mass Communications, we are all subject to the exploitation of our fears, for economic gain. It was Hitler who fused technology and propaganda to become the last 20th Century European to command world history. His field general, Rommel, always travelled with a camera crew that sent daily newsreels back to the Third Reich. Hitler built an empire by deceiving untold millions. He made flattery an art, promising Germany a one-thousand-year empire.  

1.4.3 Call for Judgement

Psalm 5:10 Pronounce them guilty (destroy You 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.” – The Call for God’s Judgement is in order: “Pronounce them guilty (destroy You them”), O God.” It is God alone who can see the heart, and God is Righteous in declaring His Judgements.

The Prosecutor (David) asks a sentence of ultimate irony: that the guilty “Fall by their own Counsels.” Those who deceive will thus become the Prisoners of their own deception as they begin to believe their own lies and their own counsel cannot hold them up. This same passive Wrath of God is described in Romans 1. God gives them up to their own desires as the Sign of His (God’s) “No” against them.

  • First, comes the Sentence: “Guilty” = “Destroy You them, O God” (Psalm 5:10a).
  • Second, the Execution follows = “Let them fall by their own counsels” (Psalm 5:10b) – David’s Prayer against Ahithophel (2Samuel 15:31), and its remarkable outcome.
  • Third, the active Wrath of Final Expulsion = “Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions.” (Psalm 5:10c).

The Motivation for this Appeal for Judgement is not Personal: ultimately the Rebellion is not “against me” but “against You (God).” This is the awful destiny of those who cover the tome (work) of their hearts by flattery. Then Psalm 5:10, with Strong Passion, David as much as exhorts God to destroy his Enemies, let them Fall, and to Cast them out.   

1.5 Blessings and Favours

Psalm 5:11-12 “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your Name be joyful in You. For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favour You will surround (compass) him as with a shield.”

1.5.1 David Rejoices

(Psalm 5:11) – David focuses on the Righteous and Prays that they might have cause to rejoice, to shout, and to be joyful (Psalm 5:11). In the Book of Psalms, the exhortation of “joy,” joyful,” “glad,” “gladness,” “rejoice,” occurs more than 90 times.  Psalm 5 ends on a note of joy. In contrast to the “fall” of the Wicked (Psalm 5:10a), David is joyful (Psalm 5:11).

True joy, a spontaneous expression of the heart and comes from those who “Put their trust in the LORD.” (Psalm 5:11a). The Person rejoices because “He trusts in God” and “Loves God’s Name” (Psalm 5:11).   The Reason for Rejoicing and Trust is threefold:

  • God defends David/Us (Psalm 5:11b).
  • The LORD blesses the Righteous (Psalm 5:12a).
  • The LORD compasses round about him as with the Shield (Psalm 5:12b. The Righteous needs do not fear what his Enemies can do to him because he (David/Us) has Divine Assistance and Protection.

David/Us can shout for joy despite troubles because he (David/Us) is defended (literally, “Covered”) by the Living God. “You do cover him” (“compass him”), is one whose only other occurrence is in 1Samuel 23:26, where it describes a hostile force “closing in” on David, only to find itself quietly deflected by God’s encircling, Providential care of him (David). Then, to trust in God is:

  • To have the joyful expectation. It lights up the future with a certain hope, our hope in God – Psalm 5:11a “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You.”
  • To have the joyful experience. If it is a joy to trust God, it is double joy to find by experience that God accepts the trust He invites; rewards the faith that lays hold on His promise – Psalm 5:11b “Because You defend them; let those also who love Your Name be joyful in You.”  

God Protects us from our Enemies Deception (Psalm 5:11b). This leads us to perpetual, expansive, vocal delight: “Let them ever shout for joy.” (Psalm 5:11a). True joy comes from God’s Faithfulness and God’s Protection, all summed up in God’s Name (Psalm 5:11c). God’s Name Reveals:

  • The Character of God.
  • The Nature of God.
  • The Personhood of God.

To Call on God’s Name in Prayer is to actualise His Presence, and to be in His Presence is Fullness of Joy – Psalm 16:11 “You (God) will show me the path of life; in Your Presence is Fullness of Joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”   

1.5.2 God Blesses

Psalm 5:12 gives the grounds for loving the Name of God: “For You, O LORD, will bless the Righteous; with favour You will surround (compass) him as with a shield.” All the joy of the Righteous springs from the fact that God’s Blessing is upon him. The sense of God’s favour fills the Psalmist’s heart with rejoicing. Psalm 5:12 concludes the Psalm on the Note of Assurance, with complete Faith that God, the Judge of all the Earth will do right (c/f Genesis 18:25). From experience, and simply because David believes in the God to whom he Prays, he boldly says, “With favour will You compass (the righteous) as with a shield” (c/f Psalm 3:3):

  • All of God’s Bounty is for the Righteous (Psalm 5:12a).
  • For the Individual who receives His (God’s) Mercy and respond in Worship and Obedience (Psalm 5:7-8).

Like “the shield” of Protection, “the favour” of the LORD will “surround” the Person who puts his trust in Him (God). Blessing and “favour” are for those who love the Name of the LORD. The Shield (tsinnah) is the large, long Shield that protected the whole body, is not for the defence of any part of the body, as almost all the other pieces are, but it is a piece that is intended for the defence of the whole body. The shield does not only defend the whole body, but it is the defence to the Soldier’s Armour also. Thus, Faith it is Armour upon Armour, God’s Grace that preserves all the other Graces. God’s Favour, thus encompassing a Person effectually Secured him against all dangers – Psalm 5:12b “You will surround (compass) him as with a shield.”  

1.6 Summary

Psalm 5, then, is the Prayer for Protection from Deception. It is only before the true God, in submission, to Him, and in Worship, that the Individual Person will find the Truth and be defended from the Deception of our Enemies. It is God who by His Spirit crushes the Lies about us, establishing us steadfastly in Himself. Since God is reality, He makes us real. This is the favour which surrounds us “as with a shield.”

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