Category: Psalms

Psalm 6 – The Psalm of Repentance

1.0 The Overview

Psalm 6 is called “the Penitential (Repentant) Psalm,” and it is first of the Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalm 6; Psalm 32; Psalm 38; Psalm 51; Psalm 102; Psalm 130; Psalm 143), that expresses the sorrow (Psalm 6:3, 6-7), the effects of grief on the body, soul, and spirit (Psalm 6:2, 4).

David Pleads for God’s Mercy (Psalm 6:2, 4), which are the unfailing marks of the Person who is broken and contrite, who turns to God for Mercy and Deliverance – Psalm 6:4 “Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save (deliver) me for Your mercies’ sake!”
Psalm 6 is sometimes called “the Personal Lament” and the classification of “trouble” and “trust” is aptly described in Psalm 6.
Psalm 51 is the best-known Penitential Psalm, the Psalm of David, when Nathan, the Prophet came to David, after he had had committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah (2Samuel Chapter 11).
Psalm 6 is the First of these “7 Penitential Psalms,” there may be no specific mention of sin, but the anguish and the language is truly that of the real Penitent (Repentant) Person, who feels the weight of the wrong which he had done.
Psalm 6 is the Psalm of David to the Chief Musician on Neginóth upon Shem’inith. David wrote a total of 73 Psalms out of the 150 Psalms; and 10 Messianic Psalms out of the 16 Messianic Psalms.
Psalm 6 is divided into Four Stanzas – The First Stanza is Psalm 6:1-3; the Second Stanza Psalm 6:4-5; the Third Stanza is Psalm 6:6-7; and the Last Stanza is Psalm 6:8-10.

“Neginóth” means “stringed instruments,” which apparently indicates that such should be used in preference to wind instruments in the “Penitential Psalm” to reflect its solemnity (gravity) of mood.

F.W.Grant’s comment is very beautiful. “The flute is silent, and the music of the stringed instruments, better fitted to express the deeper emotions of the heart, follows them: and indeed, in the bass notes upon the octave.” “Shem’inith” means “the eighth” or “an octave” or eight strings of a musical instrument or eight noted melodies to which Psalm 6 is to be sung.

Spurgeon remarks on Psalm 6: “A proof of the high antiquity of these Psalms…proofs of their being what they profess to be, the ancient writings of King David of olden times.” We cannot be certain that this Psalm belongs to the Period between David’s Sin with Bathsheba and Absalom’s Rebellion (J. Flanigan – “What the Bible teaches”).

1.1 David Appeals

Psalm 6:1-3 “O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your Anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have Mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O LORD – how long?”

David is in deep distress of body (“bones”) soul (“greatly troubled”) and obviously expecting and deserving God’s rebuke and chastisement because of some grievous sin, which were not spelled out.
David, in the spirit of true repentance, he neither denies nor refuses God’s rebuke and chastening:

1.1.1 David Submits

Psalm 6:1“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your Anger, not chasten me in Your hot displeasure.” – David submits himself to God’s rebuke and chastening – “Whom the Lord loves He chastens,” and, “No chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous” (Hebrews 12:6,11).

David requests that God’s rebuke and chastening be tempered and comes not to him {David} in His (God’s) Anger or hot Displeasure.
David understands that “I (the LORD) will not contend for ever, neither will I (the LORD) be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before Me (the LORD), and the souls which I (the LORD) had made” (Isaiah 57:16).
Jeremiah also made the same request to the LORD: “O LORD, correct me, but with judgement; not in Your Anger, lest You bring me to nothing” (Jeremiah 10:24).

Whatever the cause of David’s Plea, his focus is on God’s Anger as he begins his Prayer. He uses two basic Hebrew words for Divine Dealing: “Anger” and “Hot Displeasure:”

Anger – The word “anger” comes from the root meaning both “Anger” and “Nose;” there is a clear connection between Anger and the “blast of breath” of snorting of Psalm 18:15.
Hot Displeasure – The term, “hot displeasure” is derived from the verb “to be hot;” God’s Anger burns.

Psalm 6, God’s “Anger” and “Hot Displeasure” are remedial rather than punitive and destructive. When David asks that God not “rebuke” him, it is in the sense of “correct” him in His Anger or “chasten” (“discipline”) him in His “Hot Displeasure.”

1.1.2 David Pleads

Psalm 6:2a “Have Mercy (“unfailing love” – NIV) upon me, O LORD; for I am weak (withering).” – David pleads for God’s Mercy and understanding of his frailty (weak = withering).Bodily ailment (illness) seems certainly to be implied.

It is that sort of bodily ailment which is often produced by mental distress – a general languor [laziness}, weariness, and distaste for exertion (Psalms 31:10; Psalm 38:3; Psalm 102:3). David does not follow the example of:

Adam & Eve hid themselves amongst the trees of the Garden (Genesis 3:8).
King Saul turned to the Witch (1Samuel 28:7).
Jonah ran to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3).

David’s request shows the recognition of the disciplinary side of suffering. He does not deny his guilt, nor claim innocence.

David appeals for God’s Mercy (“Unfailing Love” – NIV) from an Angry God, from Himself to Himself.
David appeals from God’s Virtue, Justice, Mercy. David does not plead what he is or what he has done for God but appeal out of his “weakness (withering).”

1.1.3 God’s Mercy

Psalm 6:2a “Have Mercy (“unfailing love” – NIV) upon me, O LORD; for I am weak (withering),” is sought from God for Davids physical well-being (Psalm 6:2), as well as his emotional (soul) and spiritual well-being (Psalm 6:2-4). The basis of appealing for God’s Mercy is twofold:

God’s Mercy (“Unfailing Love” – NIV) transcends (rise above) over His Anger (Psalm 6:1).
David’s Physical Condition – “I am Weak” (Withering – Psalm 6:2a).

1.1.4 David acknowledges

Psalm 6:2b “O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.” –David acknowledges his wrongdoing and recognises the extent of this grief has affected his physical well-being (bones = bodily frame).

David requests God for “healing of his bones (bodily frame) and release from agony.” David is withered and troubled in his “bones.” Bones also frequently indicates the Person’s inmost being.

1.1.5 David Realises

Psalm 6:3a “My soul is very vexed.” – David realises that the grief and the vexation (trouble) is now beginning to affect his emotional life (“soul”), deeply (“very vexed” = very troubled = terrified). The “Soul” implies the strength and fortitude. Soul troubled is the very Soul of trouble (Spurgeon). David is sick in his whole being:

His Bones = “Physical being” is vexed (“trouble = terrified” – Psalm 6:2b).
His Soul {Mind} = “Emotional being” is very vexed (“very troubled = terrified” – Psalm 6:3a).
His Mind is on death (Psalm 6:5).
He Groans and Cries all night as depression set-in (Psalm 6:6).
His eyesight dimmed and he aged (Psalm 6:7).

David’s Anguish is so severe that both his body (bones – bodily frame), and soul, his inner resources of mind and spirit, are on the verge of breakdown. Of them both {body & mind}, David says that they {body & mind} are vexed (“troubled = terrified”). David’s condition is one of the utmost terrors, felt physically {body}, mentally {soul}, and spiritually {spirit}.

1.1.6 David Calls

Psalm 6:3b “But You O LORD, how long?” – David calls for “God’s Mercy” is punctuated with the declaration of “O LORD” (mentioned five times in Psalm 6:1-4), with a desperate cry of “how long” (Psalm 6:3b). David’s cry is that of the Person wearied out with long suffering (Psalm 90:13) “The how long” (domine usuequo) is the favourite cry of John Calvin when he faced intense grief.

1.1.7 David Prays

(Psalm 6:1-3) – David’s Prayer is an effective antidote to his trouble because it leads him to repose (rest) on God’s “Unfailing Love (NIV) = Mercy (KJV)” (Psalm 6:2). David pleads on God’s Character, whose attitude towards His {God’s} People is one of “Steadfast Love” (Mercy -Psalm 6:2) – Psalm 6:2a “Have Mercy (“unfailing love” – NIV) upon me, O LORD; for I am weak (withering).”

David demonstrates 7fold attitudes of true repentance: (1) David submits (Psalm 6:1); (2) David Pleads (Psalm 6:2a); (3) David looks to God’s Mercy (Psalm 6:2a); (4) David Acknowledges (Psalm 6:2b); (5) David Realises Sin affects (Psalm 6:3a); (6) David Calls on God (Psalm 6:3b); (7) David Prays (Psalm 6:1-3).

Trouble is “the Teacher of Prayer.”In trouble even the Person who does not Pray will begin to Pray. Prayer in trouble is like an arrow shot from a full-bent bow – straight at the mark. David’s Prayer was intensely:

Personal – “My Supplication” (Psalm 6:9).
Urgent – “The Voice of my Weeping” (Psalm 6:8b).
Persistent – “All the Night” (Psalm 6:6a).
Seizing hold on God’s Mercy as his {David’s} Plea (Psalm 6:4b).
Pattern according to our blessed Lord Jesus’ example (Hebrews 5:7).

David’s Prayer is the cry of an anguished Person. He {David}longs that God’s chastisement should be over and done.

David is suffering Physically (“bones are vexed = “troubled”) and Emotionally (“soul is very vexed = very troubled”), due to the extent of the LORD (Jehovah’s) Anger and Hot Displeasure (Psalm 6:1).

Story:In one of those moods of despondency, which at times sweep over all of us, it is in the language of Psalm 6 that Jane Welsh Carlyle utters her cry for help. On March 24^th, 1856, she had resolved, in spite of weakness and ill-health, neither to indulge in vain retrospect nor to gaze into vague distances of the future, but to find the duty nearest to hand, and do it. Two days later she had learned how much she was the creature of external conditions. “One cold, rasping, save March Day,” aided by the too tender sympathy of a friend brought back all her troubles, and she writes (March 26^th, 1856):

“Have Mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am Weak.
O LORD heal me, for my bones are vexed.
My soul is also sore vexed; but You O LORD, how long!
Return, O LORD, deliver my soul.
O save me for Your Mercies’ sake.”

1.2 David Travails and Tears

Psalm 6:4“Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: Oh, save me for Your Mercies’ sake. – David grieves at God’s Absence, and pleaded: “Return, O LORD.” It is consistent and understandable fact, that Sin causes God’s Presence to depart. This is evident in Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8, 23).

We cannot have both Sin and God’s Presence – Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear.” David makes the 3fold Requests. Notice the sequence:

1.2.1 God’s Presence

Psalm 6:4a “Return O LORD.” – David seeks the Return of God’s Presence. He comes from the Deprecatory {Disapproving – “Rebuke me not”- Psalm 6:1} to the Supplicatory {Mercy, Healing, Deliverance, Salvation – Psalm 6:2, 4}.

David believes in “God’s Faithfulness.” Not that God will do nothing against him, but that He would do something for him.
David’s Prayer is to “Take hold on God (Psalm 6:1), Rests on God’s Mercies (Psalm 2), Moves God because of His {God’s} Fatherly Love (Psalm 6:1-4), Prevails against the circumstances with God (Psalm 6:1-4).”

1.2.2 Deliverance

Psalm 6:4b “Deliver my Soul.” – David Pleads for “Deliverance” (Salvation) because he believes in the “Steadfast Love” of God. He (David) Prays for release from the Sickness of body (Physical {bones are troubled – Psalm 6:2b}and soul (mental, emotional healing – Psalm 6:3a}.

1.2.3 Salvation

Psalm 6:4c “Oh, Save me for Your Mercies’ Sake.” – David could not plead for justice because justice would condemn him.

David Pleads for God’s Mercies {Unfailing Love, NIV – Psalm 6:2a 4b} – The Abundant of God’s Mercies {Unfailing Love}, expresses the Greatness, Vastness, and Magnanimity (Generous Spirit – Psalm 51:12) of God’s Mercies {1Peter 1:3 – “Abundant Mercy”}.
David Turns to God’s Mercies {Unfailing Love, NIV}, and continued to cry to Him (God), notwithstanding the Greatness of his {David’s}Guilt.
Communion with God {“Return – Psalm 6:4a}, Deliverance from Sickness {Heal me, bones are troubled – Psalm 6:2b} and Salvation {Deliver me,…Save me – Psalm 6:4b} involves the whole Person and is grounded on God’s Mercies (Unfailing Love, NIV).
Salvation, as we have seen in Psalm 6:1-4, is not merely release from Sin but includes the restoration of the whole Person (our spirit {Relationship with God}, soul {mental, emotional health}, and body {physical health} – 1Thessalonians 5:5:23).
David’s Call for Healing has both the terror of sickness and the confidence in God’s Mercy {Unfailing Love, NIV} to Deliver.

In our mortality we know the terror, but in our faith, we can know God’s Power to restore us. Prayer is the Power Point, bringing the Healing by God’s Spirit to the wounds of our lives.

1.2.4 Living

Psalm 6:5 “For in death there is no remembrance of You; in grave (shoel) who shall give You thanks? – David feels his burden is so great, it will soon bring him to his death (grave), if his burden is not removed.

David appeals for Healing (Psalm 6:2) because of God’s Mercy {Unfailing Love, NIV – Psalm 6:2, 4}.
David Needs {Healings of his spirit, soul {mind, mental}, and body {physical} – Psalm 6:2-4}, but because of the finality of Physical Death (Psalm 6:5).
David is not denying consciousness after death, but he reasons that his death (Psalm 6:5) does not glorify God with two Facts:

First, No Remembrance of God (Psalm 6:5a) – Remembrance is more than mental recollection. It is recounting of experiences of God’s Great Mercy {Unfailing Love, NIV – Psalm 2a, 4b} in an Act of Worship:

Psalm 71:15 “My mouth shall tell of Your Righteousness and Your Salvation all day, for I do not know their limits.”
Isaiah 63:7 “I will mention the lovingkindness of the LORD and the Praises of the LORD according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the Great Goodness towards the House of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His Mercies (Unfailing Love), according to the multitude of His Loving kindnesses.”

Second, No Praise or Giving of Thanks in the Grave. The Hebrew word “Sheol” (Grave – Psalm 6:5b).

David is not addressing himself to the question of the question of “afterlife;” rather, he is pleading with God to spare his life.

Psalm 32, particularly verses 3 and 4, indicate that David was so affected physically by his remorse and regret that he lived in fear of death? – Psalm 32:3-4 “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer, Selah.”

1.3 David’s Weariness

Psalm 6:6-7 “I am weary with my groaning; all the night makes I my bed to swim; I drench (water) my couch with my tears. Mine eye wastes away because of grief; its growth old because of all mine enemies.

1.3.1 Emotional Health

In Psalm 6:6-7, David elaborates on his emotional condition and introduces a new aspect (enemies). Not only does he {David} experienced sickness (Psalm 6:2b – “Bones are troubled”); he has Enemies as well {Psalm 6:7b}.

“The Weak” (“Withering”) of Psalm 6:2 because of his (David’s) profuse and bitter weeping (Psalm 6:6-7):

Depression and Exhaustion as complete as this are beyond “self-help” or “Counsellor’s Advice” – “I am weary with my groaning.” (Psalm 6:6a). God’s People may groan but we are not to grumble, as grumbling is ungodliness (Jude 15-16).
Sleepless Weeping is added to his (David’s) Groans – Psalm 6:6b “All the night makes I my bed to swim; I drench (water) my couch with my tears.” Day and night, sleeplessly, David wept and groaned and prayed, until physically, was drained of strength and energy.
David’s tears watered his bed by night and bedewed his cough by day and there is no respite (break, rest – Psalm 6:6-7a).
Sleep Depredation – His (David’s) eyes sunken with sleep depredation – “My eyes are consumed” (Psalm 6:7a). His (David’s) Eyes fall in, becomes dull, and, as it were “waste away” through long-continued grief (Psalm 6:7a; Psalm 31:9).
David had aged prematurely and, sadly his enemies know it – “Its growth old because of all mine enemies.” It becomes due and heavy and sunken, like the eyes of an old man. How often has it not been noted that nothing so many ages a Person as grief!
Penitent is David that he expresses: “I water my cough with my tears.” (Psalm 6:6c). Night after night he drenches his bed because of the realisation of his sin. He is truly remorseful (regretful).
Weeping is the eloquence (expressiveness) of sorrow. Tears “as liquid” of Prayers and of Weeping as a constant dropping of importunate intercession which will wear its way right surely into the very heart of mercy, despite the stony difficulties which obstruct the way (Charles H Spurgeon).
Contrite – It is not the weeping eyes God respects as the broken heart – “God stood looking on Hezekiah’s tears” and added 15 years to his life (Isaiah 38:5).

David’s Physical Sickness (Psalm 6:2) and deep emotional distress (Psalm 6:3) has come from the sense of God’s Absence, the consuming illness (Psalm 6:2-3).

The Enemies used David’s debilitation (weakened) to attack him (Psalm 6:7b). It is ironic that when we are down, others exploit the situation. Psalm 6:6-7 Portrays the emotional Anatomy of all illness:

Groaning (Psalm 6:6a).
Crying (Psalm 6:6b).
Sleepless Nights (Psalm 6:6)
Outside Attacks (Psalm 6:7b).

1.3.2 The Lordship

What else can David do but Prays and Calls upon the LORD (the Call of “O LORD” – five times in Psalm 6:1-4 and total = 8 times throughout Psalm 6).

Martin Luther said: “Prayer is the Leech of the Soul that sucks out the venom and swelling thereof.”
John Trapp said: “How oft hath Prayer found me despairing almost but left me triumphing and well assured of pardon!”

1.4 Prayer Answered

Psalm 6:8-10 “Depart from me all you Workers of Iniquity; for the LORD has heard the Voice of my Weeping. The LORD has heard my Supplication; the LORD will receive my Prayer. Let all mine Enemies be ashamed and greatly (very) Vexed; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.”

1.4.1 Prayer Answered

David’s tears and Prayers have not been for nothing. David suddenly shifts in tone and his shout: “Depart from me, all you Workers of Iniquity,” (Psalm 6:8a), indicates that David’s Plea for Mercy (“Unfailing Love,” NIV) has been heard by God. This sudden display of Confidence in God, is found in almost every Suppliant (Pleading) in the Book of Psalms, is most telling evidence of an answering touch from God – “The LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.” (Psalm 6:8b).

1.4.2 David the King

The context of our Lord Jesus’ quotation of “Depart from me, all you Workers of Iniquity” in Matthew 7:23 implies His {God’s} Judgement that David is speaking here as King.

This is not merely “a hard-pressed” David rounding on his Enemies, but the Sovereign (King David) asserting his Power to rebuke his Enemies.
David’s Enemies are called “Workers of Iniquity” (Psalm 6:8a), are the People who harm a sick man for their own advantage.

David has complete Assurance by quoting the Name “the LORD” (Jehovah) three times and twice. David uses the phrase “The LORD hath heard.” (Psalm 6:8b, 9a). He makes three Statements in anticipation of Answered Prayer:

The LORD had heard the Voice of David’s Weeping (Psalm 6:8b). Penitential tears speak loudly.
The LORD had heard David’s Supplication (Psalm 6:9a). Supplication means “Request for favour or grace.”
The LORD had heard David’s Prayer (Psalm 6:9b). David speaks of his inward conviction. David knows that he had Prayed sincerely and fervently. David is certain, therefore, that his Prayer is heard and accepted.

The above three Statements of “The LORD had heard,” are the essence of David’s “trust” of the LORD. Therefore, all those who plague or criticize him are suddenly rebuked.

Restored – Now, as he {David} is restored and reconciled, his (David’s) added Plea that his Enemies should be as he had once been, Sore Vexed (troubled) and Ashamed.
David’s words “My soul is greatly vexed (troubled)” (Psalm 6:3a), now describes his Enemies in Psalm 6:10a “Let all my Enemies be ashamed and greatly vexed (troubled – Psalm 6:10).”

In David’s Restoration, he moves closer to the LORD, and further away from his Enemies. David’s two problems resolved:

David’s Fellowship with God is Restored – The Issue of Psalm 6:1-4.
David’s Vulnerability to his Enemies is protected by God (Psalm 6:8-10).

David can triumphantly declare that his Enemies will be “ashamed” (mentioned twice – “Confounded” – Psalm 6:10) and very vexed (“very troubled” – Psalm 6:10) not so much by revenge as by the desire that by David’s Deliverance and Restoration of God. David Enemies’ False Accusation is exposed (Psalm 6:10):

In Attacking David, his (David’s) Enemies have attacked the LORD Himself (Psalm 6:10).
In Seeking David’s Sickness as God’s Judgment, his (David’s) Enemies have failed to see God’s Mercies (Unfailing Love – NIV) and His (God’s) Covenantal Love upon David, in the Davidic Covenant (2Samuel 7; 1Chronicles 17; Psalm 89; Psalm 132).

God restored David’s Physical Sickness {“Bones are troubled” – Psalm 6:2) and Mental (“Soul greatly troubled – Psalm 6:3, 6-7), and inflicted on David’s Enemies (“Greatly troubled” – Psalm 6:10a). David Prays against his Enemies: “Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly” (Psalm 6: 10b).

1.5 Application

There is much we can learn from Psalm 6 about Praying for Restoration, as David

Not all Sickness is the result of Sin and God’s Judgement – However, some Sickness and the Physical Ailment can come from spiritual and emotional Pain (Psalm 6:2, 3, 6-7), due to our sin. When body, soul and spirit are troubled (Psalm 6:2-3), due to our sin, healing must include both the physical, emotional, and spiritual – Psalm 6:2b, 3a “Heal me, for my bones {physical} are troubled. My Soul {emotion} also is greatly troubled.” It is important to seek God for Healing and Restoration, involving the Prayer for “inner healing,” so that there will be holistic healing (spirit, soul, and body – 1Thessalonians 5:23) and not only symptomatic alleviation.
If we Sinned, the chain of Sin, Sickness and God’s Judgement can be broken, if we sincerely repent and seek God’s Forgiveness and Restoration. While it is true that we Reap what we Sow (Galatians 6:7), nevertheless, God is fully able and desirous of breaking that Chain. Beyond His (God’s) Judgement is His Mercy (Unfailing Love – NIV – Psalm 6:2a, 4b). God through our Lord Jesus Christ restores us, in Jesus Christ, His Son with His Grace and Mercy – Psalm 68b,9 “For the LORD has heard the Voice of my Weeping. The LORD has heard my Supplication; the LORD will receive my Prayer.”
Correct Diagnosis (of sin or otherwise) for Healing is important. If our Sickness is due to our Sin and Disobedience, we need to lay out all our symptoms before the LORD, as David did in Psalm 6:2b-3a, in honesty and open ourselves totally to God’s Forgiving and Healing Power (Psalm 6:8b-9), of His (God’s) Mercy {Unfailing Love, NIV – Psalm 6:2a, 4b).
Our Prayer and Supplication to God, may involve the rebuttal of our Enemies, if so, revealed to us by God’s Spirit, and having received answer to our Prayer – Psalm 6:8a, 10 “Depart from me, all your Workers of Iniquity…Let all my Enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.” However, it is important that we do not assume it to be so, as not to be presumptuous.
As we Pray, we are to trust God for Healing upon us, David confesses: “The LORD has heard my Supplication; the LORD will receive my Prayer” (Psalm 6:9). We may not see the immediate result, as David experienced, but we are to keep on thanking God and trusting Him. As Francis McNutt teaches, often Healing is progressiveas more of God’s Power through Prayer.
Today God is Restoring His Healing Covenant to the Church (Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:3; Psalm 107:20; Exodus 23:25; Proverbs 3:8-9; Isaiah 53:5; 1Peter 2:24; 1Corinthians 12:8-9; 2Chronicles 30:20; 3John 2; Marks 16:18). Jesus’ Promise that those who believe “will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:18) as more and more Christians experienced Divine Healings, as they take God at His Word, by Faith.

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:

The Morning Prayer (Psalm 5:1-3).
The Warning to the Wicked (Psalm 5:4-6).
The Renewed Prayer (Psalm 5:7-8).
The Denunciation of Woe on the Wicked (Psalm 5:9-10).
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.”

Psalms 4 – Prayer for Deliverance

1.0 The Statement

As we have already mentioned in the Preface to Psalm 3, Psalm 4 was written when David was fleeing from his son, Absalom. David crossed the Jordan after being warned by Hushai, his Counsellor and Friend, not to stay in the Wilderness of Judea. Hushai remained with Absalom to confound and confuse the Counsel of Ahithophel, who had sided with Absalom (2Samuel 17:16).

Psalm 4 is called an “Evening Psalm of Trust” – From Psalm 4:4b, 8, we may surmise that David’s Prayer was written at the end of the day: Psalm 4:4b, 8 “Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still…..I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD make me dwell in safety.” Thus, as Psalm 3 is a devotional for the morning hour, Psalm 4 serves the same function for the evening hour.

Traditionally, Commentators have connected Psalm 4 with Absalom’s Revolt, also the background of Psalm 3. The Godly Person in distress may quietly repose (relax) in the arms of God. The historical occasion for this Psalm is probably the same as Psalm 3. However, here David’s Lament becomes the Song of Trust to express David’s Relief:

God gives Righteousness – Psalm 4:1a “Hear me when I call, O God or my righteousness!”
God is Gracious and Merciful – Psalm 4:1b “You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me and hear my Prayer.”
God Relieves Distress – Psalm 4:1b “You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me and hear my Prayer.”
God Sets Apart the Godly – Psalm 4:3a “But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly;…”
God Hears Prayer – Psalm 4:3b “The LORD will hear when I call to Him.”
God is Trustworthy – Psalm 4:5b “Put your trust in the LORD.”
God Puts Gladness in David’s Heart – Psalm 4:7 “You have put gladness in my heart more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.”
God Gives Peace – Psalm 4:8a “I will both lie down in Peace and sleep;….”
God Provides Safety – Psalm 4:8b “For your along, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

David’s Serenity of Tone throughout is the result of his experiences of God’s Help in the Past. Even as God gave rest in his (David’s) previous experiences recorded in Psalm 3:5 “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.” There is Assurance that He (God) will provide that same Peaceful Rest again. David continued experiencing God’s Help and he (David) admonishes his Enemies that it is useless to attack God’s Servant. The Title of Psalm 4 indicates that it was incorporated into Israel’s Public Worship at an early date. Two additional technical terms are found in the Title of Psalm 4. The Choirmaster or Chief Musician occurs first and then the Name of the Instrument or the Melody, Neginoth (stringed instrument), follows. But Ancient Versions suggest Vocalisation “Nehaloth” = Inheritances. It seems therefore better to read here “Concerning Inheritances.” This suits the Tenor of Psalm 4, which emphasises God our Portion. Two Inheritances are spoken of:

First, the LORD in His People – “For the LORD’s Portion is His People; Jacob is the Lot of His Inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9).
Second, Israel’s Inheritance in the LORD – “The LORD is the Portion of Mine Inheritance and of the cup; thou maintain my lot” (Psalm 16:5).

Spiritual Inheritances are more precious than temporal ones (Hebrews 10:34 R.V). Psalm 4 is also the Davidic Psalm, as the last two words of the Title indicate.

1.1 David Seeks God (Psalms 4:1)

– From Psalm 4:1, David calls upon God to hear him, to the final Psalm 4:8 in which he (David) expresses his profound confidence in his Security in God, we feel the living relationship between God and His Servant, David, is very profound. In the middle Section (Psalm 4:2-6) are Admonitions to People. This is very dynamic at times create abrupt transitions, and changes in subject matter or mood. But this is not an artificial literary composition; rather it is personal communication in prayer. Psalm 4 begins and ends with addresses to God – Psalm 4:1a, 8b “Hear me when I call, O God….O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” The Movement of David’s Thought in Psalm 4 is from Confidence that God Hears and Answers (Psalm 4:1-3), to Calling to Trust God (Psalm 4:4-5), a Confession of Faith in God (Psalm 4:6-8), and Gladness in His (God’s Presence that allows us to sleep in safety.

1.1.1 David’s Call

Psalm 4:1 “Hear (answer) me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my Prayer.” – Psalm 1:1 is an introduction with three Imperative Verbs: “(a) Answer {hear}, (b) have Mercy, (c) And Hear.” David’s appeal to God for deliverance from his Enemies is based on three Facts:

First, David’s relationship and fellowship with God – “Hear (Answer) me when I call, O God of my righteousness.” (Psalm 1:1a).
Second, David declares God’s Changelessly Holy Character – As literally – “My Righteous God” (Psalm 4:1b).
Third, David declares his experience – “You have enlarged me when I was in distress.” (Psalm 4:1c). God will deliver David from his distress because God Character is Unchangeable.

1.1.2 David’s Appeal (Psalms 4:1a)

Psalm 4:1a “Hear (answer) me when I call, O God of my righteousness.” – The emphasis by repetition in Psalm 4:1 is on God’s Hearing Prayer. Whatever the cause of the distress as indicated in Psalm 4:1, the answer lies in God’s Word and in bold believing Prayer.

“Hear (Answer) me when I Call” (Psalm 4:1a).
“Have Mercy (be Gracious) on me and hear my Prayer” (Psalm 4:1b).

When David begins in Psalm 4:1a with the Call upon God to hear him, he also at the same time, identifies the Person to whom he calls: “O God of my righteousness.” David acknowledges that “the righteousness” he possessed, come from God. Furthermore, included in the phrase: “O God of my righteousness,” is that God has proven Himself to be righteous and capable of deliverance. David’s past experiences led him to believe that God will again meet his (David’s) desperate needs. The term “righteousness” (sedeq) in the Old Testament is rich in meaning:

God is Righteous because of He is Consistent and Absolute Action.
God is His Own Standard of Righteousness, and there is no greater measure.
Righteousness implies relationship: God is Righteous in that He keeps His Covenant with His People, upholding His Moral Law, and fulfils His Promises. Thus, as “Righteous,” God is both our just Judge and our Saviour.
The God who sees that I and my cause are Righteous and who will certainly lend me help.

David addresses God as “his Righteousness” In a word, God is Righteousness and He has given His Righteousness to David:

It is God who has made His Covenant with David – the Davidic Covenant (2Samuel; 1Chronicles 17; Psalm 89; Psalm 132).
It is God who has established David’s Kingdom (1Samuel 16:13; 2Samuel 5:3-5; 1Chronicles 11:3; 2Samuel 7).
It is God who Promised him a Throne Forever (2Samuel 7:15-16).
It also Points to the Final Gift of Righteousness given in Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 5:21).

It is Christ who is Righteous because He has fulfilled the Law in perfect obedience to the Father (Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:3-4). It is Christ who dies on the cross, not for His own sins (for He had none – 2Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1Peter 2:22; 1John 3:5; John 14:30 {Amp}), but for our sins (2Corinthians 5:21).

When we received the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Saviour we receive also His (Christ’s) Righteousness. Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5:21“For He (God) made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God hears us, as he hears David, when we call because we are clothed in Christ’s Righteousness, thus, we declared indeed, the God is the “God of my Righteousness.” (Psalm 4:1a).

1.1.3 David’s Experience (Psalms 4:1b)

“You have enlarged (delivered, NKJV) me when I was in distress.” David’s past experiences led him to believe that God will deliver him from his present situation. David’s Prayer draws strength from his Past. David calls on God in his distress, and it was at this time of anguish that God enlarged him. This speaks of a spiritual enlarging by which we receive a deeper appreciation of God’s Ways and Dealings when we pass through suffering and are troubled by our Enemies.

The Enlargement also means “To make Room for me – set me at Ease.” The enlargement is during the time of his {David’s} distress – The root meaning of “distress” here is “to be bound, tied up, restricted,” much like an Army besieged on all sides by the Enemies. Since God has given relief to David, before; David can expect relief again. David’s Memory serves a twofold Function:

First, David reminds God of His {God’s} Past Deliverance and His {God’s} Future Action.
Second, David builds his own Faith, in God, to expect help from Him {God} again.

Here we see that Power in Prayercomes in part from our experience in God. Satan tries to discourage us by making us forget our past experiences. As we seek God for help, we need to remember our experiences with God and of His {God’s} Mighty Works. Experiences are not Presumption.

1.1.4 God’s Mercy (Psalm 4:1c)

“Have mercy on me and hear my Prayer.” – Once again, David throws himself before God. Psalm 4:1, is David’s cry, repeated in hundreds of varied forms throughout these Psalms (cf Psalm 5:2; Psalm 6:2; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 27:7; Psalm 30:10, etc). David standing upon God’s Righteousness produces such hope that he {David} presses on to know and experience God’s Mercy and David’s Expectation of Restoration. There is no limit to God’s Restoring Power.

1.2 David’s Chargem (Psalms 4:2)

“How long, O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek after falsehood (leasing)? Selah.” The first words directed to David’s Human Audience are Words of Appeal to People’s Goodwill and Good sense. The three Phrases are clipped and abrupt:

The “Sons of Men” turn David’s Glory into Shame (Psalm 4:2a)
The “Sons of Men” Love Vanity (Worthlessness – Psalm 4:2b).
The “Sons of Men” seek Lies (Seek after Falsehood (Leasing – Psalm 4:2c).”

1.2.1 The Charge (Psalms 4:2a)

“O you sons of men, how long will you turn my Glory {Character & Honour} into shame?” The “sons of men” is not a mere periphrasis (indirectness) for “men.” It is a title of some honour and dignity.The title is equivalent to our “sirs.”

David’s Enemies {Absalom & Company} attempt to injure David’s Personal and Kingly Honour (his Glory) by false and evil reports, to promote David’s overthrow and downfall.
David’s Character and Office (Kingship) are the two most precious things that David’s Enemies attacked.

Most Commentators take Psalm 4:2 as the substance of David’s Complaint. But this is not the case, while David waits in Prayer before God (Psalm 4:1); he {David} makes the Meditative Appeal to his Opponents (Absalom, Joab, Abishai, and others of David’s Own Party), charging them with dishonouring the Royal Dignity of Kingship he (David) has received from God (1Samuel 16:13; 2Samuel 5:3-5; 1Chronicles 11:3), and recalling the misrepresentations of the facts which had led them to join Absalom’s led Rebellion (2Samuel 15:1-6). Absalom and Company have loved vain schemes and thrived on falsehood (Psalm 4:2b) – Joab’s treachery and falsehood were notorious (2Samuel 3:27 – the Killing of Abner; 2Samuel 20:8-10 – the killing Amasa). The Context is reference to his son, Absalom’s Revolt, especially since the term “sons of men” is technical, referring to the Leaders of God’s People.

Also, note that these men were Great in the Sight (highly respected – Absalom, Joab, etc) of the Nation of Israel. It is a terrible thing when our Enemies are highly respected, for they have credence in the eyes of others who do not know the whole situation. Such was the case with Absalom’s uprising against King David.

1.2.2 The Question (Psalms 4:2b)

“How long…….will you turn my glory to shame?/How long will you love worthlessness (shame) and seek falsehood?” Many Notable People followed Absalom because they were superficial in their relationship with God and were therefore void of God’s Wisdom. Because they lacked spiritual discernment, they sided with the wrong People {Absalom and Company}, and many of them died in consequence of their wrong judgement. Here we can see the importance of having discernment and siding with the Godly. – Shame (Psalm 4:2b) – The “shame,” the Hebrew word may also mean “worthlessness,” and “falsehood;” would refer to their attack upon David which is at the same time an attack on God who made him {David} King (1Samuel 16:13; 2Samuel 5:3-5; 1Chronicles 11:3).

1.3 David’s Confidence (Psalms 4:3)

Psalm 4:3 “But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is Godly; the LORD will hear when I call to Him.” David’s Assurance – “But know that the LORD has set apart him who is godly for Himself.” (Psalm 4:3a). David wishes that we might know that God Sovereignty sets apart the Godly for Himself. It is interesting that coupled with that truth is the one regarding our ability to call on Him. So, on the one hand God calls, or set apart, the godly and on the other hand He hears those who call on Him. In the one instance God initiates the action, and in the other man does. In Psalm 4:1-3, then, David addresses God in Confidence:

God’s Righteousness is David’s Righteousness (Psalm 4:1).
God is David’s Justification (Psalm 4:1).
God has delivered David and will continue to deliver him (Psalm 4:1).
God has set David apart (Psalm 4:3).

Nothing can keep David from boldly coming to God. In coming to God’s Character and holding God to His own Character and Calling upon the God who delivered him from danger in the past (Psalm 4:1). This is the basis of David’s Assurance: “The LORD will hear when I call unto Him.” Although David was disgraced, by others (Psalm 4:2), yet still David is God’s Servant, set apart to God’s Service, and therefore he (David) shall be heard by Him (God – Psalm 4:1). He will hearken to and grant David’s prayer:

Prayer is the Natural Language of Faith.
Prayer is an Expression and Exercise of our Personal Relation to God (Psalm 119:73, 94).

1.4 David Warns (Psalms 4:3)

“But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; the LORD will hear when I call to Him.” – David reinforces his appeal by a warning reminder of his special place in God’s Providential ordering of affairs. David’s Opponents do not know that despite his failures, David was a man who sought to please God and was set apart by God for His {God’s} good pleasure (Psalm 4:3). David does not refer to his position as the LORD’sAnointed but simply to his Godly Character. Being innocent of their charges, he confidently trusts God to intervene for him (Psalm 66:18).

1.5 Stand In Awe (Psalms 4:4)

Stand in awe, and sin not; commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Selah – David’s Confidence in God now leads to a Series of Exhortations:

First, Stand in Awe and Sin Not – Be angry and do not sin, seems strange until we remember that Anger unexpressed yields many a restless night. On the Psychological Level, we release our anger to God, which prepares us for Restful Sleep. The Exhortation Indicates:

Second, the Concern shown by David is to his own men, who are warned against excessive Anger and its natural result. This rendering is preferred by Dr. Kay, Heng Stenberg and others. This is parallel to Paul’s Teaching in Ephesians 4:26a “Be ye angry, and sin not.”

Third, David’s Rebuke – This could also be taken as David’s rebuke again those Nobles who had revolted against him. David tells them to stand in awe of what God is doing because God allowed Absalom to revolt against David, for His (God’s) Purposes. Therefore, he (David) urges them not to run with the Wicked, for God will shortly destroy them. Think it out prayerfully upon your bed at night, tremble, and sin not. In quietness David’s Opponents should meditate on their needs and sin not. They should speak to their own conscience and be silent.

Fourth – Meditate – “Commune with your own heart upon your bed” – When our Anger is expressed and released, we are ready for the Next Imperative “Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still.” As we turn from all the injustice and rebellion done to us, our hearts are open to God, His Truth (God’s Logos Word), His (God’s) Word and His Will. The phrase “meditate within your heart” employs a Hebrew verb (amar) which means “to consider, to reflect.” We are to think carefully in our hearts to reach clear conviction. The verb is parallel to “meditate” (hagah) in Psalm 1:1. As we reflect, our minds actively consider the day now behind us, our Plans for the Future, our Problems, our needs, and God’s Word in relation to all of this.

Fifth, Paul’s Injunction: “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26b). Anger cools is a little time be suffered to pass – if a night be allowed for reflection, and no action be taken till the morrow. As ever, human anger trembles on the brink of sin (Ephesians 4:26; James 1:20) and before continuing in their opposition they would do well to listen to the voice of conscience speaking in their hearts.

Sixth, “Be still” – David continues “And be still.” After our minds have been active in meditation, we must stop and be silent. In the silence, God speaks to us. When, after a time of reflection, I am silent before God, I find I am receptive to what God wants to say to me. I receive a phrase from Scripture, directive, or an impression from God. Too often our Prayer is one way. We tell God what we want, we think over our problems, and then we complain that God does not speak to us. Anthony Campolo says it is as if we called Someone on the phone, talked a blue streak, and then hung up complaining of their silence, before they ever had a chance to say anything in return. As we are “still” before God, insight, direction, and healing will be ours.

Seventh, Selah = Selah means “Pause before going on.” The Second Strophe being ended, another “Pause” is to take place, during which David’s exhortation may be made the subject of consideration. The word “Selah” seems appropriate here in view of the words “be still” which precede.

1.6 Contrite Heart (Psalms 4:5)

“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the LORD.” – The Hebrew verb used here for “offer” is the basic word for ritual sacrifice. In its noun form it means animal sacrifice. The literal execution of this command for “righteous sacrifice” would be to offer the proper slaughtered animal. Since this would be impossible while lying upon his bed, however, David is probably referring to the “Sacrifice of Joy” before God (Psalm 27:6; Hebrews 13:15-16).

After the “Sacrifice of Praise and Thank-giving” we are ready to find our Trust in Him (God) as the final exhortation: “And put your trust in the LORD” (Psalm 4:5b) or literally, “Upon” the LORD, is fulfilled. This is not merely an intellectual act; it is throwing ourselves upon God – all that we are, much as John learned upon Jesus’ breast (John 13:23).

The logical parallel is that of Trust in God to whom they offer these Sacrifices: “Right sacrifices,” – David now instructs those who have hearkened to his impassioned plea to offer the Sacrifices of Righteousness, which flow from a broken and contrite heart (Isaiah 66:2b; Isaiah 57:15; Psalm 34:18; Psalm 51:17). Therefore, it is appropriate that Sacrifice must be accompanied with Trust, in Him (God). When the heart is right relationship with God, He (God) will show whose side He is on and whom He favours.

This is also an indicative of the heart desirous of being at Peace with God, offer the Way of Restoration, and in calling his opponents to take this course David summons them from their baseless reliance on Absalom to “Trust in the LORD.”

1.7 God’s Backing (Psalms 4:6)

“There are many that say, who will show us any good? LORD, lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us.” – Pessimists are numerous in all Ages. Even among David’s own Followers there were those who were questioning whether God would bless them. They were beginning to doubt David because of all the adversities he was facing. Many who doubted and desponded, anticipating nothing but continued suffering and hardship. What turmoil David had all around him!

But David recalls that in contrast to the many Opponents of Psalm 3:1 there are many looking to God alone for alleviation, and resting as they do this on God’s Unchanged Character as shown in the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:26 “The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee Peace.”

Yet, in the midst of all this, David’s Greatness shines even brighter. David is wholeheartedly confiding in God, and his relationship with God attained new heights in this trial. When there was no one to encourage him, he turned to God and found his comfort in Him (1Samuel 30:6).

1.8 Gladness (Psalms 4:7)

“You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season (time) that their grain and the wine increased.” – Many Individuals are discontented and pessimistic, lacking the gladness which David knew.

David is an example to the desponding Followers. Notwithstanding his sufferings and calamities, God has looked on him, and so “put gladness in his heart.” God is always the Initiator and Provider.

C.S Lewis points out; we will never know joy by seeking it. Joy and gladness come as a side-effect of God’s Presence – Acts 3:19b “So that the Times {Kairos} of Refreshing may come from the Presence of the Lord.” – When Lewis became a Christian, he was in his words “surprised by joy.”

God’s Joy of His Presence, David continues, is more than that of the Harvest when “Grain and Wine increased.” It is more because we are:

Experiencing the Creator {God}rather than the Creation.
Experience with the Person rather than with things.
Eternal Presence rather than the Passing Material Gain.

David knows that God’s help in a time of need causes more gladness than bumper crops – Psalm 4:7 “You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season (time) that their grain and the wine increased.” David confesses joyfully that in his own desperate plight he experiences an inward sense of Divine Grace, which far surpassed the material blessings of food brought by the aged Barzillai (2Samuel 17:27-30):

David Source of Joy is God Himself (Nehemiah 8:10b). How often do David luxuriates (enjoy) in telling what God was to him – Rock, Shield, Sun, High Tower, Fortress, Refuge, Strength, Salvation, and his Exceeding Joy.
One excellent feature of God’s Joy is the sense of security it brings with it in the most perilous surrounding.

The Quality and Degree of God’s Joy – Psalm 4:7b“More than in the time that their grain and the wine increased”

God’s Gladness imparted is of a Far Higher Quality.
God’s Gladness is a Gladness of Greater Zest.
God’s Gladness is a Gladness remarkable for its Persistency.
The Believer’s Joy in God Surpasses the Joy that the World gives.
God’s Joy never palls upon the taste “The world passes away, and the lust thereof; but he that does the Will of God abides forever.”

It is the experience of true forgiveness for his sins that sustained David through all these adversities and conflicts. Those who experience true Repentance will also know the Renewal of the Joy of God’s Deliverance as David does. The joy David experiences in the Deliverance from his Enemies is far greater than the Joy of the farmer when he reaps a good harvest. It was this Joy and Gladness that sustained David during the time of his Flight from Absalom.

1.9 Peaceful Sleep (Psalms 4:8)

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You, LORD, only makes me dwell in safety.” – It is God’s Gladness imparted that have invaded David’s heart. The consequence of God’s Presence is sleep and serenity. David concludes: “I will both lie down in Peace, and Sleep.” The stress is “on Peace” (Shalom). Literally, he writes: “In Peace – together I will lie down and sleep.” Out of God’s Assurance that He (God) hears David’s Prayer (Psalm 4:1); and out of the Worship and devotion of his (David’s) Heart, now God’s Peace and Wholeness are David’s as he surrenders to sleep, a sleep that comes from the Security of Yahweh: “For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” It is only God who guards him (David), through the night and fill him with His Presence. This assurance: “Dwell (lie down) in Safety” (Psalm 4:8), is found repeatedly in the Old Testament (Isaiah 14:30; Hosea 2:18; Deuteronomy 12:10; Jeremiah 23:6). This Security in the Lord Jesus is the basis of our Confidence.

1.10 Psalms 4 Closes

with the picture of Peaceful Sleep possible to the Person who knows God’s care by Personal Experiences. David’s Confidence in God enables him to lay himself down calmly and tranquilly to sleep, whatever dangers threaten him. Even in his moment of anxiety, he is able to have toss-free Sleep. David has the Satisfaction and Assurance in thinking that it is God only who watches over him. All other help would be vain, superfluous:

God alone brought Israel through the Wilderness (Deuteronomy 32:12).
God alone established Israel in Canaan (Psalm 44:2-3).

David feels that he needs no other Helper and Protector. God alone gives David Protection and that makes him to dwell in safety even when he was alone. Because of this Joy and Gladness, David said as he fled across Jordan that he would experience the blessed sleep of God, for as Psalm 127:2 says, God “Grants sleep to those He loves” (NIV).

Peace (Shalom) is the Word loaded with meaning. Our English Word does not do justice to that word “Peace” (Shalom). Included in the Peace are the ideas of:

Economic and Physical Satisfaction.
Of Health.
Of Peace with God and men.

All this was possible in David’s day, and is also possible in ours, because God makes us dwell in safety.

Example: On the night preceding the execution of Nicholas Ridley (AD1500 – 1555), Bishop of London, his brother offered to pass his last hours in his company, but the bishop refused, saying that he meant to go to bed and sleep as quickly as he ever did in his life – “I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest, For it is Thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety.” The Next Morning, he was chained to the stake in the town ditch, opposite the south front of Billiol College, Oxford, As the flames rose round him he exclaimed with a wonderful loud voice: “In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum. Domine, recipe spiritum meum. “And then in English: “Lord, Lord, receive my spirit.”Application-Psalm 4 is the Rewarding Exercise for the Evening. By following Psalm 4’s Guidelines and Directive for devotion, it becomes the Perfect Prescription for Peace and good night sleep. Out of the heart of trust in the LORD will result in the Serenity and Joy of His (God’s) Effective Presence. “The LORD will hear when I call. …put your trust in the LORD for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

Application-Psalm 4 is the Rewarding Exercise for the Evening. By following Psalm 4’s Guidelines and Directive for devotion, it becomes the Perfect Prescription for Peace and good night sleep. Out of the heart of trust in the LORD will result in the Serenity and Joy of His (God’s) Effective Presence. “The LORD will hear when I call. …put your trust in the LORD for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

Godly Person & Ungodly Person (Psalm 1:1-6) (Part 1)

1.0 The Statement

The Book of Psalms is appropriate for the times we are living in because it relates the experiences of Believers from the past, reflecting the emotional happiness, upsets, problems, disturbances, and distress that Saints of old have gone through.

Psalms are wonderful for helping us to cope with our emotional pressures. There is no Book like Psalms to meet the heart when it is discouraged or feels a sense of defeat, or when it is elated and encouraged.
Psalms are absolutely without peer in expressing these feelings and are helpful in teaching us how to find our way through our manifold problems and joys.
Psalms simply recount what various men and women from the past have experienced and the reality of God in their situations and lives.

Psalm One has no Superscription and Title. The Writer of Psalm One is unknown, but most Expositors attribute Psalm One to David. Psalm One, like our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, begins with a Beatitude (“blessed”). Although not specifically written as an introduction to the whole collection of the Book of Psalms, the First Psalm provides the basis for all the Psalms to follow:

Psalm One may be regarded as “The Preface (Forward) Psalm” and fills the Place of Prologue (Introduction) to the whole Book of Psalms.
Psalm One deals with the theme close to the heart of the Psalmists. Psalm One compares the happiness of being found in the LORD with the sadness of those who do not know Him.
Psalm One deals with the alternative Character of man (Righteous or Ungodly {Wicked}) – displayed in alternative modes of Conduct (Godliness or Ungodliness) and resulting in alternative Destinies (Tree or Chaff).
Psalm One describes both the God-centred life (Psalm 1:1-3) and the Self-centred life (Psalm 1:4-5). With God’s Mandate summed up in Psalm 1:6.
The Self-centred Life (Psalm 1:4-5) is termed as “the Ungodly {Wicked}” (Psalm 1:4-5). The term “Ungodly {Wicked}” means the Person who has little or no regards for God in his life. The Person who has ruled God out of his affairs and his thinking – Psalm 14:1 & Psalm 53:1, “The Fool declares that there is no God.”
Psalm One is a sort of “Creed,” an assertion of the blessedness of the Righteous Person and the Faith that God will see him through, as Psalm 1:6 reveals.
Psalm One is considered as “The Door-Keeper,” the Entrance into the 150 Psalms.
Psalm One is “Yahwistic Psalter.” The Hebrew Divine Name “Yahweh (LORD)” occurs 272 times in the First Book of Psalms (Psalm 1 to 41), while “Elohim (God)” occurs only 15 times.
The Second Book of Psalms (Psalm 42 to72) is “Elohistic Psalter.” The Name “Elohim (God)” occurs 164 times in the Second Book of Psalms, whereas “Yahweh (LORD)” occurs only 30 times.
Psalm One has a Chiastic Structure (Chiastic means that the first and last themes or ideas reflect each other, and the middle ideas reflect each other – ABBA).
- Two Men – The Godly (Righteous) Person and the Ungodly (Unrighteous) Person.
- Two Ways – The Way of the Godly Person and the Way of the Ungodly Person.
- Two Destinies – Blessing to the Godly and judgement to the Ungodly.
- Two Agricultural terms used – Fruit-bearing man and Chaff-like man.
Psalm One is called “The Psalm of Congratulations,” for the Psalmist regards the Righteous Person whom Psalm One describes as Person who has great reason for gladness, and who therefore may be fittingly congratulated.
Psalm One opens with the Benediction “Blessed,” even as did the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 to 7). The original term “blessed” is plural, literally, “blessings are the man,” the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the Righteous Person whom God blesses.

1.1 The Text

Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of the Sinner, nor sits in the seat of the Scornful.”

1.1.1 The Blessed

Psalm 1:1a “Blessed is the man….” – The Hebrew word for “blessed” (esher), is the form of the Hebrew word “ashar,” which in its root means: “To be straight” or “to be right.”

Blessed – Thus, it can say that “the Righteous Person” (Psalm 1:6a) is “the Blessed Person” (Psalm 1:1a).
Blessed speaks of the Person who has “contentment in life,” whose life is “right” or “straight” with God and Man, in his relationship.
Blessed, in the Hebrew, the word “blessed,” is in the plural, which denotes “the multiplicity of blessings or an intensification of them.” (Boice).

Blessedness brings “joyfulness {God’s Strength – Nehemiah 8:10}, and a fulfilled life.” The Righteous Person does three things:

1.1.2 Walks Not

Psalm 1:1a “Blessed is the man that walks not in the Counsel of the Ungodly.” – The Righteous Person “Walks not in the Counsel of the Ungodly.”

Walk – The term “Walk” is the reference to the decisions/Agreements that must be makes all day-long. – Amos 3:3 “Can two walks together, unless they are agreed {an agreement reached through compromise}?” Person takes steps throughout the day, making decisions in the face of all types of situations/matters. “Walking is taking a series of steps of decisions.” Walk = Pursue (Jeremiah 7:24), is a reference to the decisions that must be made all day long.

The Ungodly is characterised with the attitude of: “Melancholy {miserable), ingratitude (ungratefulness), complaining, envy, jealousy and anger,” are just a few. The longer the bad attitude goes unchecked, the deeper rooted it will become.

We all know how it is. We take steps throughout each day, making decisions on all kinds of matters/issues:

For Counsel, a Christian is encouraged to seek the Counsel of the Elders (Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 24:6), not that he cannot seek other avenues of Counselling.
The Warning of taking the wrong Counsel is given in (Isaiah 30:1-3).
Rehoboam accepted the Counsel of the young men and rejected the Counsel of the elderly men (1Kings 12:8,13), resulting in the split of the Kingdom of Israel into Judah (2 Tribes – Southern Kingdom) & Israel (Ten Tribes – Northern Kingdom)
Absalom received the Ungodly Counsel of Ahithopiel (2Samuel15:31; 2Samuel 17:14) and usurped his father, David’s Kingdom.
Israel – The backslidden Nation of Israel was a Nation void of Godly Counsel (Deuteronomy 32:28). The LORD is “The Counsellor” (Isaiah 9:6), but Israel seeks not.

The Man (the word “haish” is emphatic – that man) walks in the Commandments of the LORD. His footsteps are ordered by God’s Word {Scripture} and not by the ways of the Carnal Man. He is the Righteous Person (Man – Psalm 1:6a).

Righteous Person is known by the Company he keeps/avoids: “He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). Note the Progress of Evil – the Ungodly (Vs.1), the Sinners (Vs.1) and the Scoffers {Ridiculers – Vs.1).
Ungodly Person – The margin gives for the Ungodly the term “Wicked,” and this is probably the best rendering of the word. Wicked expresses the real essence of all wickedness (Jeremiah 2:13).

The Righteous Person “does not walk in the Counsel of the Ungodly (Wicked)” – He does not throw in his lot with the Ungodly {Wicked}, nor follows the advice (counsel) of the Ungodly (Wicked) Person, who leaves God out of his life.

1.1.3 Stands Not

Psalm 1:1b “Nor Stands (in associations) in the way of Sinners (People who make trouble).” The term “Stand,” means “Association.” To “Stand” also means Commitment.

Stand – The term “Stand” speaks of “in Association/or making Decision,” of important issues/matters of life.
Sinner – The term “Sinner,” is an interesting term, for in the Hebrew, Sinner is the term that means “To make a loud noise” or “to cause an uproar;” it has the idea of provoking a riot, creating a disturbance, or making trouble – Proverbs 2:12b “The Person who speaks malicious things.”

Dissociation – Thus, the Righteous Person “does not stand,” in association/or in decision with the “trouble-making-Individual;” he does not participate in the Practices (Conducts) of the Sinners {Troublemaker}. He (Righteous) enjoys Psalm 16:11“You (God) will show me the path of life; in Your (God’s) Presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Identification – Thus, God Word (Scripture) teaches that we can recognise the Righteous Person in that “He does not make trouble; he does not provoke riots, he is not at work causing disturbances; he is obedient to the Laws of life and of the State/Nation. He “does not stand (identify with),” in the way of those who live to cause trouble. He rejects all that.

1.1.4 Sits Not

Psalm 1:1c “Nor sits in the seat of the Scornful {Mockers}.” The term “Sits,” means “the settled attitude” of the heart, the continuous disposition of the Righteous Person’s life.

Scornful, adjective. expressing extreme contempt. Synonyms: “Contemptuous, disdainful, insulting disrespectful. exhibiting lack of respect; rude and discourteous.” Thus, the term “scorn,” could be termed as “badmouthing.” Thus, “the scornful” Person has the habit of “badmouthing” others – Saying unkind or critical things about someone, behind his back. What is the difference between “gossiping,” and “badmouthing?”

Gossiping is “the habitual revealing of personal or sensational facts or fictions {imaginative happenings} about others.”
Badmouthing is “the speaking of unkind or critical things about an Individual, whether it is true or not.”

The Scornful is the Scoffer (Ridiculer), the Cynic, who casts a baleful eye at life in general and blames Others for his problems. The Righteous Person has no fellowship with “the Gossipers,” and the Individuals who “badmouthed” Others.

Ambassador – The term “Scornful” represents “Ambassador or Representative of Babylon.” The term “Scornful” is used many times in the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 1:22; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 13:1; etc) but only once in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 1:1). The Characters of the Scoffers {Mocker/Scornful):

Scoffer mocks at Judgement (Proverbs 19:28).
Scoffer is Proud and Haughty (Proverbs 21:24).
Scoffer is Incorrigible (Proverbs 9:7).
Scoffer is Resistant to all Reproof (Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 15:12).
Scoffer hates Rebuke (Proverbs 3:1).
Scoffer has God’s Wisdom and God’s Knowledge elude him (Proverbs 14:6).
Scoffer is an Abomination to all People (Proverbs 24:9).
Scoffer is to be Punished (Proverbs 19:25; Proverbs 21:11).
Scoffer is to be avoided (Psalm 1:1).
Scoffer is Prideful in his heart (Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5; Proverbs 21:24).
Scoffer creates strife, contention. God’s Reproach will cease when the Scoffer is removed (Proverbs 22:10).
Scoffer faces God’s Judgement (Proverbs 19:29; Isaiah 29:20).
Scoffer delights in his own Scoffing (Proverbs 1:22).

2.0 Summary

Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of the Sinner, nor sits in the seat of the Scornful.” – The Righteous Person finds “his secret,” in God, and his confidence can be recognised by the fact that he:

Walks Not {in Decisions/Agreement – Amos 3:3} in the Counsel of the Ungodly – Ungodly: “Melancholy {miserable), ingratitude (ungratefulness), complaining, envy, jealousy and anger,” are just a few, {Psalm 1:1}.
Stands Not {in Association} in the Path of the Sinners – Sinner, (in Hebrew), is the term that means “To make a loud noise” or “to cause an uproar;” it has the idea of: Provoking a riot, creating a disturbance, or making trouble” (Psalm 1:1) – Proverbs 2:12b “The Person who speaks malicious things.” {Psalm 1:1}.
Sits Not (in the Settled Attitude} in the Seat of the Scornful – Scornful: “Contemptuous, disdainful, insulting disrespectful. exhibiting lack of respect; rude and discourteous.” Thus, the term “Scorn,” could be termed as “Badmouthing,” {Scoffer – Psalm 1:1}.

The three Attitudes of the Righteous Person of: “Walks not, Stands not, and Sits not,” demonstrate his Faithfulness in God (1Corinthians 4:1-2). Psalm One reveals that life is a journey offering “two Alternatives.” Regardless of how offensive Psalm One may be to an Individual – There is no reconciliation of Opposites. Thus, Psalm One is structured as: (1) Psalm 1:1-3, in respect of the Righteous Person; (2) Psalm 1:4-5, in respect of the Ungodly {Wicked}; (3) Psalm 1:6 is the Summary in respect of both {Righteous & Wicked}, together.

The Righteous is characterised by God’s Honouring Attitudes – He is Selfless in his Motivations, Obedient in his Actions, Obedient to the Law of the Land, and he does not adopt the role of the Critic but is cheerful and acceptance of whatever comes as coming from God’s Hand (Psalm 1:1-3).
The description of the Righteous Person is one who is completely fearless, continually cheerful (“The Joy of the LORD is his strength” – Nehemiah 8:10).

The three Negatives (Ungodly, Sinner, Scoffer) have cleared the way for what is positive (Walks not, Stands Not, and Sits not), which is the Righteous Person’s Attitudes and the value of his hard cutting edge. The shift is then made from the refusal to the delight.

To be continued….. Stay Tuned