Psalm 5

Psalms 5:1

“Give ear to my words, O Lord. No one has this confidence except the Church. He who is a sinner has not dared to say, Give ear to my words, O Lord. He who is angry and curses has not dared to say, Give ear to my words, O Lord; but he wishes rather that God would close His ears.”

Psalms 5:1

There are two sorts of prayers—those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings which abide as silent meditations. Words are not the essence but the garments of prayer. Moses at the Red Sea cried to God, though he said nothing. Yet the use of language may prevent distraction of mind, may assist the powers of the soul, and may excite devotion. David, we observe, uses both modes of prayer, and craves for the one a hearing, and for the other a consideration. What an expressive word! "Consider my meditation."

Psalms 5:2

“My King and my God. He has truly dared to say, My King and my God, in whom sin does not reign in his mortal body. My King and my God. Because Thou reignest in me, and sin does not reign, therefore Thou art my God. Thou art my God, because the belly is not my god, because gold is not my god, because lust is not my god. Since Thou art virtue, and I desire to have virtues, therefore Thou art my God, that is, my virtue.”

Psalms 5:2

“Hearken unto the voice of my cry,.... Which seems to intend more than groans or words, even a loud outcry, as of a person in great distress; such as the strong crying of Christ, in the days of his flesh, when on the cross, forsaken by God, deserted by his friends, and surrounded by his enemies, Heb 5:7; and such, in some measure, was the case of David.”

Psalms 5:2

"The voice of my cry." In another Psalm we find the expression, "The voice of my weeping." Weeping has a voice—a melting, plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God; and crying hath a voice—a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God's heart. Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry.

Psalms 5:3

“In the morning I shall stand before Thee, and I shall see. See the order. In the morning, not in the evening, not in darkness, but in the morning. In the morning I shall stand before Thee: I shall stand firmly, and I shall imitate Moses. In the morning I shall stand before Thee: before Thee I shall stand, not before another. But when it is morning, and I have stood, and I have stood before Thee, then I shall deserve to see Thee.”

Psalms 5:3

“Observe, this is not so much a prayer as a resolution, " 'My voice shalt thou hear;' I will not be dumb, I will not be silent, I will not withhold my speech, I will cry to thee for the fire that dwells within compels me to pray." We can sooner die than live without prayer. None of God's children are possessed with a dumb devil. "In the morning." This is the fittest time for intercourse with God. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.”

Psalms 5:4

“Neither shall the malignant one dwell beside Thee. When someone who is evil withdraws from us, let us rejoice: this happens in us which happens also in the Lord. For see what the Holy Spirit says. Neither shall the malignant one dwell beside Thee. See what he says, the malignant one shall not dwell beside Thee. 'For what communion has light with darkness? what agreement has Christ with Belial?'”

Psalms 5:4

Neither shall evil dwell with thee - As thou art holy, so thou hast pleasure only in holiness; and as to evil men, they shall never enter into thy glory; לא יגרך רע lo yegurecha ra, “the evil man shall not even sojourn with thee.”

Psalms 5:4

“And now the Psalmist having thus expressed his resolution to pray, you hear him putting up his prayer. He is pleading against his cruel and wicked enemies. He uses a most mighty argument. He begs of God to put them away from him, because they were displeasing to God himself. "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.""When I pray against my tempters, " says David, "I pray against the very things which thou thyself abhorrest." Thou hatest evil: Lord, I beseech thee, deliver me from it!”

Psalms 5:5

“Neither shall the unjust remain before Thine eyes. When it is said, Neither shall they remain, it is shown that at one time they did remain. For the unjust did at one time remain before the eyes of God, they remained while God awaited their repentance; but since they remained unjust, therefore they did not remain before the eyes of God.”

Psalms 5:5

“The foolish - Referring still to his enemies, as having this character, and urging the fact that they “had” such a character as a reason why God should hear him, and deliver him. The word “foolish” here, הוללים hôleliym, is used to denote the wicked, under the common idea in the Scriptures that sin is folly. Compare Psa 14:1. It is rendered by Prof. Alexander, “the proud” or “insolent.” The Aramaic renders it “deriders;” Latin Vulgate: “unjust;” Septuagint “transgressors;” Gesenius, Lexicon, “proud.” So DeWette.”

Psalms 5:5

"The foolish shall not stand in thy sight." Sinners are fools written large. A little sin is a great folly, and the greatest of all folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as these must be banished from the court of heaven. Earthly kings were wont to have fools in their trains, but the only wise God will have no fools in his palace above. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." It is not a little dislike, but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful thing.

Psalms 5:6

“Thou wilt destroy all who speak a lie. I see a new thing. He who works evil is held in hatred; he who lies, perishes. Let us see which is more, to be held in hatred by the Lord, or to perish. He who is held in hatred by God is indeed unhappy, because he is held in hatred by the Lord: but he still lives. But he who speaks a lie and perishes, has already ceased to be.”

Psalms 5:6

“That speak leasing - Falsity, from the Anglo-Saxon leasunge, a lie, falsity, deceit; from leas, lie, which is from the verb leasian to lie. See on Psa 4:2 (note). The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man - איש דמים ish damim, the man of bloods; for he who has the spirit of a murderer, will rarely end with one bloodshedding. So the Jews, who clamored for the blood of our Lord, added to that, as far and as long as they could, the blood of his disciples.”

Psalms 5:6

Observe, that evil speakers must be punished as well as evil workers, for "thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing." All liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. A man may lie without danger of the law of man, but he will not escape the law of God. Liars have short wings, their flight shall soon be over, and they shall fall into the fiery floods of destruction. "The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man."

Psalms 5:7

“But I, in the multitude of Thy mercy, will enter into Thy house. They in their iniquity go out from Thy house: I in Thy mercy enter into Thy house. I will enter into Thy house, which is the Church. I will worship toward Thy holy temple in Thy fear. That is the house which is also the temple.”

Psalms 5:7

“With this verse the first part of the Psalm ends. The Psalmist has bent his knee in prayer; he has described before God, as an argument for his deliverance, the character and the fate of the wicked; and now he contrasts this with the condition of the righteous. "But as for me, I will come into thy house." I will not stand at a distance, I will come into thy sanctuary, just as a child comes into his father's house.”

Psalms 5:7

“But--as in Ps 2:6, literally, "and." house-- (1Ch 9:23), the tabernacle. temple--literally, "palace," applied to God's residence, the Holy of Holies (1Sa 3:3; 2Sa 22:7); the inner part of the tabernacle. toward--not in; the high priest alone was allowed to enter.”

Psalms 5:8

“Lord, lead me in Thy righteousness because of my enemies. I indeed desire to enter into Thy house, and I wish to enter by Thy straight way: but since my enemies set stumbling-blocks continuously along the paths, and lay snares in the road for me who desire to go into Thy house; therefore I ask Thee, that Thou wouldst direct my feet even unto the end in Thy way. It is mine to set my feet in Thy way: it is Thine to correct my steps.”

Psalms 5:8

“Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness - When entered into the house, and prostrated before the temple, he knew that, unless God continued to lead and direct, he was not likely to profit even by such great advantages. We need God not only to bring us to his house, but to keep our feet while we are there. Because of mine enemies - His conduct was marked; his enemies looked upon and watched him with an evil eye.”

Psalms 5:8

“The righteousness of God, therefore, in this passage, as in many others, is to be understood of his faithfulness and mercy which he shows in defending and preserving his people. Consequently, in thy righteousness means the same thing as for or according to thy righteousness.”

Psalms 5:8

Now we come to the second part, in which the Psalmist repeats his arguments, and goes over the same ground again. "Lead me, O Lord, "as a little child is led by its father, as a blind man is guided by his friend. It is safe and pleasant walking when God leads the way. "In thy righteousness, " not in my righteousness, for that is imperfect, but in thine, for thou art righteousness itself. "Make thy way, " not my way, "straight before my face."

Psalms 5:8

“The way of our duty is here called God's way, and his righteousness, because he prescribes to us by his just and holy laws, which if we sincerely set before us as our rule, we may in faith beg of God to direct us in all particular cases. How this prayer of David's was answered to him see 1 Sam. xviii.”

Psalms 5:9

“For there is no truth in their mouth. The heretics are described; the man of blood and deceit is described, whom the Lord shall abhor. There is no truth in their mouth: they do not have Christ the truth in their mouth, because neither do they have Him in their heart. Their heart is vain. It reads better in the Hebrew: 'Their heart is ἐπίβουλον (treacherous).' For the heart of the heretics truly lies in wait for all whom it deceives. Their throat is an open sepulchre.”

Psalms 5:9

“For there is no faithfulness in their mouth,.... In the mouth of the ungodly, as the Chaldee paraphrase; in the mouth of every one of them, as Aben Ezra interprets it: that is, in the mouth of every wicked, bloody, and deceitful man; of everyone of David's enemies, as Saul, or the conspirators with Absalom his son. There was no steadfastness in them; nothing right, sure, or firm said by them; nothing that could be depended upon; there was "no truth" in them, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it.”

Psalms 5:9

“For there is no faithfulness in their mouth - There is nothing in them which can be confided in; nothing in their promises and declarations. They are false and treacherous, and I can, therefore, only appeal to thee. It is easy to see the propriety of this statement, and of those which follow, on the supposition that this refers to the rebellion of Absalom. Absalom had gone to Hebron on a false pretence 2Sa 15:7-10, and every act of his in this whole transaction had been treacherous and false.”

Psalms 5:9

“This description of depraved man has been copied by the Apostle Paul, and, together with some other quotations, he has placed it in the second chapter of Romans, as being an accurate description of the whole human race, not of David's enemies only, but of all men by nature. Note that remarkable figure, "Their throat is an open sepulchre, "a sepulchre full of loathsomeness, of miasma, of pestilence and death. But, worse than that, it is an open sepulchre, with all its evil gases issuing forth, to spread death and destruction all around.”

Psalms 5:9

“The wicked are not reliable because by nature they are full of wickedness, or literally, "wickednesses," of every kind (Ro 8:7). sepulchre--a dwelling-place of corruption, emitting moral putridness. flatter--or, "make smooth." their tongue--speaks deceitfully.”

Psalms 5:10

“According to the multitude of their impieties cast them out. He did not say from where He should cast them out: whether He should cast them out from heaven, whether He should cast them out from the earth: from where He should cast them out, the Scripture does not say; but it is a ὑπερβατόν (a transposition) and a ὕστερον πρότερον (a putting of the latter first). We ought therefore to read, According to the multitude of their impieties cast them out.”

Psalms 5:10

“Destroy thou them, O God - All these apparently imprecatory declarations should be translated in the future tense, to which they belong; and which shows them to be prophetic. Thou Wilt destroy them; thou Wilt cast them out, etc.”

Psalms 5:10

"Against thee:" not against me. If they were my enemies I would forgive them, but I cannot forgive thine. We are to forgive our enemies, but God's enemies it is not in our power to forgive. These expressions have often been noticed by men of over refinement as being harsh, and grating on the ear. "Oh!" say they, "they are vindictive and revengeful." Let us remember that they might be translated as prophecies, not as wishes; but we do not care to avail ourselves of this method of escape.

Psalms 5:11

“And let all rejoice who hope in Thee. Let those perish, let those of the Church rejoice. They shall exult forever. Here, forever, we ought not to speak of the present age, but of the age to come. In short, he did not say, they exult in this age; but, they shall exult, it is said of the future. For here there is sadness, but there is joy there. The heretics laugh in the present, but they shall mourn in the future: we, however, mourn in the present, that we may laugh in the future.”

Psalms 5:11

“Joy is the privilege of the believer. When sinners are destroyed our rejoicing shall be full. They laugh first and weep ever after; we weep now, but shall rejoice eternally. When they howl we shall shout, and as they must groan for ever, so shall we ever shout for joy. This holy bliss of ours has a firm foundation, for, O Lord, we are joyful in thee. The eternal God is the well-spring of our bliss. We love God, and therefore we delight in him. Our heart is at ease in our God.”

Psalms 5:11

“It is conjectured (and it is but a conjecture) that is signifies wind --instruments, with which this psalm was sung, as Neginoth was supposed to signify the stringed --instruments. In these verses David had an eye to God, I. As a prayer-hearing God; such he has always been ever since men began to call upon the name of the Lord, and yet is still as ready to hear prayer as ever.”

Psalms 5:12

“For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. As he has blessed him with a righteousness, even the righteousness of God imputed to him, by which he is denominated righteous, and with the forgiveness of his sins; so he will bless him with peace and prosperity, with all spiritual blessings, with the blessings of grace here, and glory hereafter.”

Psalms 5:12

“For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous - A righteous soul is a peculiar object of God’s affectionate regards; and therefore will be a subject of continual blessing. With favor - Literally, Like a shield, thy favor will crown him. God loves such; and this love is their defense. In all places, times and circumstances, it will preserve them. “Keep yourselves,” says the apostle, “in the love of God.” He who abides in this love need not fear the face of any adversary.”

Psalms 5:12

“Jehovah has ordained his people the heirs of blessedness, and nothing shall rob them of their inheritance. With all the fulness of his power he will bless them, and all his attributes shall unite to satiate them with divine contentment. Nor is this merely for the present, but the blessing reaches into the long and unknown future. "Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous." This is a promise of infinite length, of unbounded breadth, and of unutterable preciousness. As for the defence which the believer needs in this land of battles, it is here promised to him in the fullest measure.”