If you have not yet read the previous post, please do. It will help give us a context for Psalm 5. This is a morning Psalm, written for flutes as well as voice. It’s a helpful reminder, in the midst of parsing and interpreting these songs, that they are indeed songs. They were sung in the temple, probably multiple times during one’s lifetime, so that one could have many of them, or parts of them, memorized. Just as we may flip on the radio and easily sing along with the lyrics of the 1984 song being played, though it be 2013, so the music and lyrics of the psalms must have stuck in the minds of the Israelites who heard them, helping them to shape their thoughts and attitudes towards the Lord.
Verses 1-3. The psalmist uses audible sounds, though they may even first be groans or sighs. He knows the Lord hears even his inner thoughts, and does not think about the formality of prayer. The word for ‘groaning’ or ‘sighing’ could even be translated ‘meditation’, and describes a scarcely audible sound, such as when Hannah was praying in I Samuel, and was misunderstood by Eli to be drunk. This is the attention paid to us by our God. He hears and understands even our indistinguishable sighs.
The psalmist lays his requests down, and waits in expectation. He keeps vigil, waiting for an answer to his prayer, like a watchman. This word for ‘watch’ is used of God’s prophets posted to report the first sign of his answers (see Isaiah 21:6; 8). David doesn’t just ask and forget. He waits, looking for God’s answer.
Verses 4-6. We may read these verses and think, are we not doers of wrong? Is this speaking of God’s hate for me in those moments? But Ross helps us by explaining that this participle (remember your English grammar here: a participle is a word formed from a verb, used as an adjective, e.g. working, sinning) describes people who are characterized by sinning, as an ongoing trait. Their typical, distinguishing, normal behavior is sin. These are ‘evildoers’. In contrast to this, if you are the beloved, you are a saint who sins, but your sin is not the truest thing about you. We must remember the contrast between the two categories of people in Psalm 1. The wicked are those who are outside of the covenant, who live with a total apathy towards God. The righteous are not those who are perfect, but those who orient their lives around the covenantal God, and who find their refuge in him.
abhors - This verb is related to the noun ‘abomination’ which describes something that God totally hates. It is off-limits, taboo.
Verse 7. David distinguishes himself from the wicked, not by his actions, but ‘by the abundance of your steadfast love.’ He will enter the Lord’s house, a place where the evildoers cannot go.
Verses 8-10. make your way straight - a request that the direction be free from hindrances and temptations, echoed in the Lord’s prayer phrase, ‘lead us not into temptation’
The enemies cannot be trusted. Their plan is to destroy the righteous, to ruin people’s lives. They speak deceit, with the verb used having the idea of smoothing something over to conceal it, giving the false idea of trustworthiness or truthfulness.
make them bear their guilt - The psalmist calls on the Lord to declare them guilty and to judge them with an appropriate sentence, casting them out of the covenant community.
Verses 11-12. The shield in verse 12 would be a large shield for the whole body (see I Sam 17:7). The image here is of a protective shield surrounding God’s people.
Food for thought:
- Have you felt alone in your ‘groaning’ or ‘sighing’ about certain things in your life? Hopeless? Defeated? What would it be like to direct those cries to the King, knowing that, as verse 3 says, ‘you hear my voice’?
- What is your attitude towards ‘wickedness’? Is it like David’s - knowing what God hates? What can you identify throughout your day today that God ‘abhors’?
Sources: Intro to the Psalms, ESV Study Bible
Psalms by Derek Kidner
Expositor’s Bible Commentary by Willem A VanGermeren, Edited by Tremper Longman and David Garland
The Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1, Allen P. Ross
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible
I love that idea in verse 3, of waiting until He answers. NLT says "Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." NASB puts it like this: "In the morning I will order my prayer to you and eagerly watch." That motivates me to spend time in prayer - in the morning, before any day has happened - and wait. That should be my highest priority. I want to give him my groanings, the deepest desires of my heart. Which means I need to slow down and THINK about what the deepest desires of my heart are!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you ask if I've felt alone in my groaning. Usually when I have those deep deep desires that I feel like nobody else will understand, that's when I feel closest to the Lord, as I give them to Him, knowing that He's the only one that cares about me at that depth. So while there might be a little bit of feeling lonely, that feeling is overwhelmed by the knowledge that God is in that place with me, and "covering me with favor." I have really special memories of super intimate times with the Lord when I'm in that place.
As far as the second question goes, I find I'm more apathetic, like you talked about in the intro post. I wish I hated sin in my own life more. And when it comes to wickedness in the world or in our culture, I tend to ignore it - it doesn't affect me, right? Or so I think. How do I cultivate that more? How do I experience hatred for sin more, remorse for my own sin and abhorring sin in our world? Pray for God to grow my hatred for sin. Get in the Word, so I can identify sin and grow in my heart for Him. Other thoughts?
Another version (ESV) for verse 3: "in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." This reminds me of Hebrews 13:15 (don't be impressed, I had to look it up in the concordance :)): "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." A sacrifice of praise is my sacrifice to God--thanking him, being grateful, remembering all the blessings that he has given me. I am finding that starting with thankfulness and remembrance helps me keep perspective and calms my heart, even as I present my requests to God (also Phil. 4:6).
ReplyDelete(p.s. thanks for letting me follow along from afar :))