Psalm 5: I Will Look Up in the Morning

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditations."

In Psalm 3, our writer committed himself to pray in the morning. In Psalm 4, he said he would pray at night. In Psalm 5, he said he would pray in the morning again.

Do you detect a pattern? I hope so, for praying is something we need to do "without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17), and we must decide to do it: "I WILL PRAY!"

In the Psalm, David did two main things. First, he made the clear decision to say, "I will pray" (verses 1-3). Second, he made the clear decision to say, "I will pray this" (verses 4-12). In the first section, his desire is to pray to the God who answers. In the second section, his desire is to pray about the things that he had a right to pray about.

"Give ear to my word, O Lord,

Consider my meditation.

Give heed to the voice of my cry,

My King and my God,

For to You I will pray.

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;

In the morning I will direct it to You,

And I will look up" (verses 1-3).

These first three verses are the "I will pray" commitment. He planned to boldly approach God according to His will (see Hebrews 4:14-16). His meditation was going to be presented to God for His consideration. Let us also quietly meditate on the things that need to be taken before the Lord.

He would pray in recognition that he was crying to his King and God. He would direct (set in order) his words and then look up (expect an answer). What commitment and confidence our poet had! Will you and I begin tomorrow with such a prayer?

In verses 4-12, the "I will pray this" items are presented to God and the reader. Three areas of concern are involved in his prayer.

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,

Nor shall evil dwell with You.

The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;

The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man" (verses 4-6).

The first area of concern in his prayer had to do with the fact that the holiness of God is totally against sin. He specified four kinds of people who take pleasure in wickedness:

1. The boastful.

2 The workers of iniquity.

3. Those who speak falsehood.

4. The bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

The second area of concern in his prayer had to do with the fact that God helps His people in their struggles with their enemies, since they  

are His enemies, too. David knew that he had to come to and depend upon God in search of His mercy and in an attitude of complete reverence in order to find protection, relief, and answers regarding his enemies. Surely there is great comfort to be found in knowing that our enemies are also God’s enemies! It is up to us to rely on Him—it is up to Him to mete out vengeance (Romans 12:19-21; Hebrews 10:26-39).

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield" (verses 11,12).

The third area of concern in his prayer had to do with the fact that David knew God blesses the obedient. Those who trust in Him have cause for true, deep, abiding joy. Paul treated this theme in his joyful prison letter: Philippians. Those who are defended by God also can shout for joy, for what greater defense is there (see Romans 8:31-39)? Those who love Him should have joy, for love leads to obedience, and obedience leads to joy (see John 14:15-23). Those who do all of this are righteous to Him, and will continue to be blessed, favored, and surrounded by Him as if He were a shield (the Hebrew word for shield here is the largest kind of shield!).

Let us conclude our look at this Psalm with an "I will" in our own hearts to begin each day with such well-ordered and boldly humble prayers.

— Skip Andrews

VOLUME 1:6 MARCH 21, 1999