Psalm 05

This morning song by David is to be sung with the accompaniment of a flute. The sweet restful music of the stringed instruments of Ps. 4 is absent here. From Adam Clarke's Commentary we copy: "This Psalm is inscribed to the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. As neginoth may signify all kinds of instruments struck with a plectrum, stringed instruments, those like the drum, cymbals, etc.; so nechiloth, from chaalal, to be hollow, to bore through, may signify any kind of wind instruments, such as the horn, trumpet, flute, etc. … The Septuagint has, Eis to telos, huper tes kleronomouses, 'In favour of her who obtains the inheritance.' The Vulgate and the Arabic have a similar reading. The word nªchiloth they have derived from naachal, to inherit. This may either refer to the Israelites who obtained the inheritance of the Promised Land, or to the church of Christ which obtains through him, by faith and prayer, the inheritance among the saints in light."

We are not told anything about David's circumstances when he wrote this psalm, except for the fact that he awoke in the morning and faced a new and difficult day; he admits that he did not know how to cope with his problems. The flute music in the background must have had a plaintive character. The Hebrew words used in vs. 1 for "words" and "sighing" are 'emer which means "speech, word," and hagiyg, meaning "a murmur, i.e. complaint." The KJV renders it with "meditation, musing."

"Words" implies that David has looked at the coming events with a logical frame of mind and considered how to approach the problems that were facing him. Now he takes his considerations and he puts them before God, asking Him to listen to his plans. In doing so, he puts into practice the admonition of Proverbs: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."¹ David trusts in the Lord, he does not lean on his own understanding, and he acknowledges Him in his ways. It is important that he does this in the morning. He does not ask the Lord to pick up the pieces at the end of the day, but he consults the Lord before he acts.

Also, David is not driven by his emotions alone; he uses logical words and explanations when he comes before the Lord. It is part of human dignity to be able to make plans and take initiatives, and God does not deny man this privilege. But man's initiative without consulting God is dangerous to the extreme. The KJV's use of the words "meditation" and "musing" would give the impression of a pious attitude. The intent, however, seems to be a reasonable consultation. Spurgeon sees in this psalm the essence of all prayer, in which our words are directed to a God who listens and who pays attention to what we say.²

Jesus warns against hypocrisy in prayer.³ We have to realize to whom we speak when we pray.

Luther thought that the opening verses of this psalm are an indication of David's feelings that he actually does not know what to say to God and how to say it; it is as if his feelings are too intense to be put in words. He needs God's help and understanding to be able to express what he feels. This corresponds to Paul's words that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."⁴ It is true, what one of my teachers once said, that if we can completely express in words what we feel, our emotions cannot be too deep.

Both our words and our sighs must be brought before the Lord. Our head and our heart have to take an equal part in prayer, and since prayer is the function of our spirit, the organ with which we communicate with God, we see in this first verse a demonstration of the tri-unity of man: body, soul and spirit; spirit and soul expressed in intellect and emotions.

David addresses God as LORD, which is the English translation of Yahweh (YHWH.) He also calls him "my King and God, which is Elohim. He qualifies his prayer as "my cry for help." Every prayer is a demonstration of our need for help. David was a king himself and he calls God: "my King," realizing that he was king by the grace of God. We all are what we are by the grace of God! We owe what we are to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord," the apostle Paul says.⁵ The king of Israel calls for the help of the King of Israel. It is this realization of who the One is whom we are addressing that makes our prayers so important and imparts such power to them. Prayer and faith do not mean anything by themselves; it is in whom we trust, and to whom we address our prayers that gives importance.

This psalm is David's morning prayer. The first things he does, as he awakes in the morning, is to seek God's face. The RSV translates this verse with: "In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for thee, and watch." The Good News Bible's renders it: "At sunrise I offer my prayer and wait for your answer." A footnote is added to this, saying: "prayer, or sacrifice." Word Biblical Commentary notes here: "Many interpreters assume a formal context of worship for the verb translated 'I make preparations' (`arak) may be used with respect to the making of formal preparations for a sacrifice (e.g. setting the wood upon the altar). But the word may also be used of preparing one's words (e.g. in a legal case or debate) and there can be no certainty that it is used in any technical sacrificial sense here." There is, however, in every prayer a connection with a sacrifice. Prayer is never a matter of arranging words in their right order before God. Without the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ no prayers would be possible. Our words are based upon the shed blood of Christ, which makes our speaking to God a prayer. Whether David personally brought a morning sacrifice or whether he identifies with the public sacrifice, which was brought every morning, does not make a real difference. In either case he begins the day on the basis of God's reconciliation.

It is good to begin the day with prayer. Spurgeon says: "One hour in the morning is worth two in the evening."

David expects God to answer; this is clear from the "I will look up," or "I wait in expectation." The Hebrew word tsaphah literally means "to lean forward or to observe, await, look up , wait for, watch." It evokes the image of a watchman. He demonstrates a watchful attitude of faith that waits for the answer.

All ground rules of prayer are found in these first four verses:

- Prayer has to be directed to God in the full recognition of who He is.

- Prayer has to involve all of our being: body, soul, and spirit.

- Prayer has to be based on the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

- Prayer is most effective in the morning when we wake up refreshed from sleep.

- Prayer should be accompanied by faith that expects an answer.

In vs. 4-6 David describes briefly the character of God and what man's character ought to be like. It is a concise comment on the theme of Leviticus: "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy,"⁶ and on Isaiah's words: "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."⁷

David describes the situation in which a man tries to appear before God on the basis of his own merit and not of the sacrifice of Christ. No holiness is possible without atonement. Man cannot approach God without a covering for his fallen condition, and without the covering by the blood of Christ, no fundamental inner change in man is possible. The man without God is cut off from the source of life. The result of this is a whole complex of sin. David mentions evil, wickedness, arrogance, wrongdoing, lying, bloodthirstiness, and deceit. God takes no pleasure in those qualities, and He does not tolerate the presence of such people; they will not be able to stand in His presence; He hates them, destroys them and abhors them. The flute music accompanied that accompanied this part must have sounded shrill and piercing.

In vs. 4 David contrasts sharply the character of the man who is reconciled with God with the one who is not. Natural man has no basis for fellowship with God, but redeemed man may enter God's house, not on the basis of his own qualifications, but by God's great mercy. The Hebrew word "mercy" is here checed or hesed, which is God's covenant love for His people. It has both a juridical and an emotional content. We enter into the house of the Lord on the solid basis of His covenant and experience fellowship that makes us worship and praise. This kind of experience is life-changing: it makes us into new and holy creatures. One cannot enter into God's presence and remain the same.

When David uses the term "Your house" he does not mean, of course, the temple, since that had not yet been built. The Hebrew word is bayith, which comes from the word "to build" and denotes any kind of building. David speaks of the presence of the Lord, of which the ark was an image and Heaven the reality. He probably entered into the tent where the ark stood. The intent was that he bowed down in prayer at the place that was designated in the same way as, later, Daniel would bow in the direction of Jerusalem. There is no indication that David would not have been conscious of the fact that the Lord was a transcendent God. The word "reverence" speaks of his deep respect for God, which the Bible calls "the fear of the Lord." David's attitude before God had nothing in common with that of people who bowed down before the local deities of the epoch– deities that were made and manipulated by man.

In the previous psalm David called God: "God of my righteousness." Here he prays: "Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness." This indicates his awareness that his own righteousness was not enough to give him guidance in life. There is an implicit confession of sin in those words. They also imply that life must go on. Life with God does not only consist of fellowship and meditation; there is also action. God's mercy is the basis of the one and His righteousness of the other. Righteousness is the hallmark of the Christian life.

The enemies mentioned in this verse may have taken human form, but the real enemies are not persons of flesh and blood, but "the rulers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."⁸ The devil lies in ambush along the road of life and tries to lure us into acts of unrighteousness. Unless we are guided by God's righteousness, we fall into the enemy's trap and lose our way. David sees great and insurmountable obstacles on his way, even as Zerubbabel saw a huge mountain in the way between himself and the completion of the temple he was building. Zechariah prophecies to him: "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' "⁹ The devil does not only create obstacles to the reaching of God's goals in our lives, he himself is the greatest obstacle. He makes the path God wants us to follow impossible to walk on, but, as we progress, God will make it even for us.

Vs. 9 forms the basis for Paul's condemnation of man in his epistle to the Romans: "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. … 'Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.' "¹⁰ Yet, I believe that David does not speak of man, at least not primarily, but of the demonic powers which influence man's behavior. Only those who are completely in the power of the Evil One conform to this description. Most people are somewhere in between total depravity and mild demonic oppression. For a person who lives in fellowship with God, it is impossible not to have compassion for his fellowmen. But we ought to hate sin without compromise. It seems impossible to me that a man who knows God would pray for the damnation of a neighbor, created in the image of God. Only demons merit this kind of fate. I am not insinuating that a man who resists God would not be responsible and would have to bear his guilt; but our attitude towards them should be one of compassion; we ought to love them with the love of Christ. We should always pray for the conversion of hardened sinners, not for their condemnation.

In vs. 11, 12 David draws a line from time to eternity and back again to the present. Seeing things in the light of eternity gives us the right perspective of the present and it changes our attitude. Eternity influences time and vice versa. Jesus endured the cross and scorned its shame, because of the joy set before Him, says the author of the Hebrew Epistle. ¹¹ Being glad, singing for joy, and rejoicing in God's Name are elements of the heavenly life. Taking refuge in God and being protected by Him speak about the existence of the needy on earth. We flee for cover to God because we are safe nowhere else. In this world we need protection against the powers of darkness and a man who is under the shadow of God's wing has a foretaste of the measureless joy that will be his in eternity. Nehemiah said to the people of Israel: "The joy of the LORD is your strength."¹² The Hebrew word for "strength" is ma` owz, which is defined by Strong's as "a fortified place; figuratively, a defense." The KJV translates it with: "force, fortress, rock, strength, stronghold." It is not only true that the presence of the Lord makes us rejoice, but this joy is our protection. Man needs joy in order to keep his balance emotionally. There is little or no joy to be found in the amusement that the world offers us. The fears and pressures of life make it impossible to live a healthy, balanced life on earth. God opens a door of escape for us through the Holy Spirit so that we can momentarily get out from under the pressure and experience moments of refreshment that enable us to face the hardships again.

The last four lines of this psalm are all parallels. What it comes to is that God loves us and enjoys our presence. When we return His love, we experience His protection over us so that, in the midst of fears and pressures we can say: "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"¹³ This is the victory of faith. We have to get used to the fact that we live in God's victory and the best way to practice this is to do exercises of praise, and joy.

² Charles Spurgeon - "The Treasury of David"

³ Matt. 6:5-8

⁴ Rom. 8:26,27

⁵ I Cor. 1:31

⁶ Lev. 19:2

⁷ Isa. 59:2

⁸ Eph. 6:12

⁹ Zech. 4:7

¹⁰ Rom. 3:10-14

¹¹ Heb. 12:2

¹² Neh. 8:10

¹³ Rom. 8:31, 35

Copyright (c) 1999, 2000
E-sst, LLC
All Rights Reserved
Please see the License at Copyrights for restrictions and limitations
Note: Copyright does not apply to KJV text.