Psalm 5:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.

NIV: For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David. Listen to my words, LORD, consider my lament.

NASB: Listen to my words, Lord, Consider my sighing.

CSB: Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing.

NLT: O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning.

KJV: {To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.} Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.

NKJV: {To the Chief Musician. With flutes. A Psalm of David.} Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation.

David was a man of prayer. Hunted and hounded by Absalom's forces in the wilderness (2 Samuel 15:13¬–14), David pled with the Lord for relief. He urged the Lord to be attentive to his words and his groaning. He experienced inward pain.

Believers can identify with David. Although we are not fugitives, we sometimes encounter hardship, persecution, emotional pain, or physical pain (John 16:33). In our distress, like David, we earnestly beseech the Lord to hear our prayer (Romans 8:23). Thankfully, we have the assurance that He sympathizes with us. When our Lord ministered on earth, He was tempted and tried as we are, so He knows what we are experiencing in stressful times, and He invites us to approach His throne of grace confidently to "receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14–16).

Sometimes, the Lord does not remove our burden (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). Even then He always supplies sufficient grace for us to endure it victoriously (2 Corinthians 12:7–9; 1 Corinthians 10:13).

Psalm 5:1–3 begins like Psalm 4, as David prays to the Lord with intense feeling. This song of David shares much with Psalms 3 and 4. All three were composed by David when he was fleeing from his rebellious, murderous son, Absalom, in the wilderness (2 Samuel 15—18). Other intense prayers for relief include Jonah's prayer from the belly of a great fish (Jonah 2) and Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39–44; Hebrews 5:7). Psalm 7:1–2 also alludes to David's fervent prayer to be saved from his pursuing enemies.

Psalm 5 begins with David's urgent prayer for the Lord to heed his groaning and cry. He addresses the Lord as his King and his God, and indicates that he prays in the morning and watches for an answer. He recognizes that God takes no pleasure in the wicked but destroys evil, lying, bloodthirsty, or deceitful men. He anticipates that the God who loves him will allow him to enter the tabernacle, where he will offer reverential worship. He prays for the Lord's leading so that he will escape his enemies, whom he identifies as devoid of truth and violent. He prays further that the Lord will cause those rebels to bear the consequences of their transgressions. The psalm closes with an appeal to the righteous to sing for joy as they take refuge in the Lord, and David asks the Lord to bless and protect the righteous.

Like Psalm 4, this psalm is connected to Psalm 3. Psalm 3 refers to David's rising up in the morning, whereas Psalm 4 refers to his nighttime sleep. This psalm is addressed to the choirmaster. Like Psalms 3 and 4, Psalm 5 was composed by David in the wilderness, when Absalom's forces sought to destroy him (see 2 Samuel 15—18). This is one of the ''imprecatory psalms,'' so called because they pray for God to destroy the wicked. The imprecatory psalms are Psalms 5, 12, 35, 37, 58, 59, 69, 79, 83, 108, 139, and 140. These psalms urge God to judge those who oppose God and His people. Imprecations are also found elsewhere in the Bible, such as in passages like Jeremiah 11:18–20,15:15, 17:18, 18:19–23, 20:11–12; 1 Corinthians 16:22, and Revelation 6:10.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 5/6/2024 4:00:03 PM