The Righteous One’s Thoughts of God and of Man while going up to the Morning Sacrifice

If Psalm 4 is an evening hymn, then this is a morning song. David awakes with a song on his lips. He faces the day with all its enemies, and asks God for leading and guidance.

In v. 3 the words, “My prayer”, are an insertion by the translators, and if left out there is a description of David’s spiritual method. The word, “direct,” means to order or arrange – and “look up” means to watch. More often than not, we arrange and then pray. But David prays first, and then arranges the day that was before him. He then watches either for God’s help or that he is walking circumspectly. So we should pray, then arrange, and then watch.

Pastor Jeff O’ Neil

Psalm 5

¹Give ear unto my words, O LORD,
My meditation weigh.
²Hear my loud cry, my King, my God;
For I to thee will pray.

³LORD, thou shalt early hear my voice:
I early will direct
My pray’r to thee; and, looking up,
An answer will expect.

⁴For thou art not a God that doth
In wickedness delight;
Neither shall evil dwell with thee,
⁵Nor fools stand in thy sight.

All that illdoers are thou hat’st;
⁶Cutt’st off that liars be:
The bloody and deceitful man
Abhorred is by thee.

⁷But I into thy house will come
In thine abundant grace;
And I will worship in thy fear
Toward thy holy place.

⁸Because of those mine enemies,
LORD, in thy righteousness
Do thou me lead; do thou thy way
Make straight before my face.

⁹For in their mouth there is no truth,
Their inward part is ill;
Their throat’s an open sepulchre,
Their tongue doth flatter still.

¹⁰O God, destroy them; let them be
By their own counsel quell’d:
Them for their many sins cast out,
For they ‘gainst thee rebell’d.

¹¹But let all joy that trust in thee,
And still make shouting noise;
For them thou sav’st; let all that love
Thy name in thee rejoice.

¹²For, LORD, unto the righteous man
Thou wilt thy blessing yield:
With favour thou wilt compass him
About, as with a shield.