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Sunday 11 October 2026
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Psalm 5 - For You Bless the Righteous O Lord
Psalm 5:
● A psalm of David (as with Psalms 2 (not accredited), 3, and 4)
● A psalm to be accompanied by the playing of flutes
● A psalm of Lament - ‘consider my groaning’ (5:1) - a cry for help from deep within; ‘uncensored prayer, straight from the heart’ (Tim Keller)
● A psalm of supplication - a prayer for delivery from his enemies
● A lesson in how to pray in the midst of the most challenging times - ‘teach me how to pray’
Context - David is in desperately difficult circumstances, likely related to Absalom’s rebellion, yet his first response is to enter the temple (5:7) and pray to God. As we observe David pray we can learn a great deal.
David Prepares to Pray
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch’
David’s prayer is:
● His priority - before doing or saying anything in response to his circumstances he recognises that God must be his first and only call. There is also a literal prioritising of prayer for David: ‘in the morning …’
● Intentional - As well as setting time aside to pray at the start of the day David also prepares the prayer he will pray: ‘I prepare a sacrifice for you’(5:3) - the same word is used of the priests laying the wood on the fire for sacrifices in the temple (Lev. 1:7-8) and the ‘showbread’ - 12 loaves of bread placed on the golden table in the holy place (Lev. 24:6).
● Offered with reverence (‘in the fear of you’ (5:7) - ‘my King and my God’ - whilst there is an intimacy between God and David, ‘my,’ there remains an acknowledgement of the fact that God is God. Even when David cannot find the words to pray, he remains attentive to the attitude he adopts as he prays
David Prays to God
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
David’s prayer is:
● Relational - ‘my King and my God’ (5:2)
● Informed - David knows the God to whom he prays - he knows what pleases God and specifically in these verses what God ‘hates’. The Bible tells us that God chose David for he was ‘a man after his own heart’ (1 Sam.13:14)
● Brutally honest - as we read these verses the sentimental saying that we are ‘to love the sinner but hate the sin’ fails the Biblical test! David is clear, God hates all ‘evil doers’, and ‘abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.’ How might this change the way we pray for the perpetrators of evil? The language of sin is strong implying defiant rebellion against God!
David Prays with Confidence
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
David’s prayer is:
● Rooted in God’s abundant love and grace - ‘steadfast love’ in the Hebrew is ‘hesed’ and is repeated throughout the psalms and contains numerous understandings of the scale and scope of God’s love and faithfulness.
● Supremely confident - David knows that God will both hear and answer his prayer - ‘in the morning I prepare a sacrifice (in this context this is a prayer of supplication) for you and watch’ - the picture here is of a watchman/watchtower
● Expressed with great humility - ‘I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you’ - setting aside any ‘human’ desire for revenge - ‘Lead me in your righteousness … make your way straight before me’ - David prays that his response will be one pleasing to God.
David Knows the Fate of His Enemies
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
This part of David’s prayer echoes verses 4-6 and echoes what Paul says to the believers in Rome: ‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31)
David Knows He is Safe in God
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
David’s Prayers is:
● Filled with joy even before God has answered - because God is God, he will hear, he will answer and he will bring all evil to account justly
● Confident in the safety that coming to God in prayer offers - ‘you bless the righteous’ - those who put their trust in God for their salvation; and ‘you cover him [the righteous - the man of Psalm 1] with favour as a shield’ - this is a full length shield, but the picture is that of the righteous being surrounded by God’s favour, being completely safe.
David’s prayer anticipates the prayers that Jesus offers in the face of the world’s hatred and rebellion against them.
David’s prayer and the prayers of Jesus teach us how we are to pray in the face of desperately difficult circumstances. As we come first to God in prayer we:
● Can consistently pray and carefully prepare to pray
● Remember that it is God to whom we pray
● Be supremely confident as we pray
● Can know with certainty that God is for us and therefore our enemies cannot succeed
● Know that we are safe in God
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