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Psalm 5 begins where Psalm 4 leaves off. David had finished the previous Psalm lying down in peace, and now we find him meeting the LORD in the morning: “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.” This is not about creating a legalistic rule that every Christian must pray at a certain hour. It is about deliberately turning our attention towards God before the demands, worries and distractions of the day begin directing us somewhere else.
David brings more than polished words. He asks God to hear his words, consider his meditation and give heed to his cry. Sometimes we know exactly what to pray. At other times there may be little more than a burden, a thought or even tears. Romans 8 reminds us that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness when we do not know how to pray as we ought. David nevertheless comes deliberately. He calls the LORD “my King and my God”, brings the day before Him, and then says, “I will look up.” Prayer does not merely speak towards God – faith keeps looking towards Him after the prayer has been spoken.
As David draws near, he is also reminded of God’s holiness. Psalm 5 contains strong words about wickedness, falsehood, violence and deceit. God is not morally neutral, and drawing near to Him should never make us casual about sin. Yet David does not come before God claiming that he is better than everyone around him. His confession is very different: “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy.” That is the ground upon which any of us comes to God. We need mercy, and through Christ the way has been opened for us to come boldly to the throne of grace.
Then comes one of the most practical prayers in the Psalm: “Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness… Make Your way straight before my face.” David has enemies, but before asking God to deal with them, he asks God to deal with his own steps. When we are criticised, opposed or treated unfairly, the greatest danger is not always what someone else may do to us. It is also how we might respond. David’s prayer becomes ours: Lord, keep me on Your road. Do not allow their behaviour to pull me away from Your way.
David eventually places the deceit and judgement of others back into God’s hands. He does not need to live consumed with revenge or defending himself against every accusation. He can ask the righteous Judge to expose what is false, restrain what is evil and judge rightly. Under the teaching of Christ, we can also pray that those who oppose us might come to repentance and salvation. The answer to wickedness is not our own self-righteousness. We too were people in need of mercy, transformation and truth.
And then the sound of Psalm 5 changes. David finishes with rejoicing: “Let all those rejoice who put their trust in You.” His joy is not based upon having an enemy-free life. His enemies have not necessarily disappeared, nor have all the lies stopped. What has changed is that David has begun his day before his King. He has remembered God’s holiness, rested in His mercy, asked Him to lead, placed judgement into His hands and trusted Him with what comes next.
That is perhaps the simple encouragement of Psalm 5 for us: before we try to carry the day ourselves, bring the day to God. Direct your prayer to Him. Look up. Ask Him to make His way straight before you. Then walk forward, not trusting in your own strength, but trusting in Christ – our King and Saviour – who hears, leads, defends and blesses His people.
Watch or listen to the complete Psalm 5 verse-by-verse study as we consider morning prayer, God’s holiness and mercy, guidance in difficult circumstances, and the confidence of walking forward under His favour.
Scripture References
Psalm 5
Romans 8:26
Mark 1:35
Isaiah 6
Romans 3:13
Ephesians 2:4
Hebrews 4:16
Psalm 25:4-5
Matthew 12:34
Romans 12:19
Romans 5:1-2
2 Corinthians 5:21
