Psalm 5

Morning prayer

God, come closer

A psalm of David. Note to music leader: use flute accompaniment. [1]

1Listen to me, LORD.
Hear my sad moan.
2This is my cry for help
As I come to my King and my God.
I bring my prayers to you.
3Every morning
You’ll hear my voice, LORD.
Every morning
I’ll bring my requests, in prayer.
And wait to see what you’ll do.

Enemies be gone

4You’re not a God who puts up with evil.
Evil isn’t welcome anywhere near you.
5Braggers don’t get to lay eyes on you.
You hate all brands of sin.
6You destroy liars.
The LORD hates the people
Who tell lies and shed blood.
7But you treat me with overwhelming kindness.
I come into your house.
Into your holy temple.
There, I respectfully bow before you in worship.
8LORD, I have so many enemies.
Show me the right thing to do.
Help me see what you want me to do.
9You can’t trust a thing my enemies say.
They are evil inside and out.
Their throat is a hole in the dirt for the dead.
Their tongue flings flattery as lies.
10Find them guilty, God.
And let them destroy themselves.
For the countless sins they’ve committed,
Show them the door,
For these rebels want nothing to do with you.
11Be glad
Those who put their trust in you.
Sing for joy.
LORD, protect those who love you
So, they can love you all the more.
12You, LORD, bless the good people.
You show your love by protecting them.

Footnotes

Intro Notes for Psalms

Intro Notes for Book 1 of 5 in Psalms

15:1

The subtitle wasn’t part of the original psalm. And the possible byline “of David,” isn’t necessarily a byline. The vague phrase could mean the song was written by David, about David, or was inspired by David. Almost half of the psalms are attributed to David in this way, 73 of 150. Ancient Jewish history tells of David playing a lyre and writing songs. For one, he wrote a song of mourning at the battlefield death of King Saul and his sons: “How have the mighty fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19-27 New American Standard Bible.). An ancient Jewish scroll from about the time of Jesus, discovered among the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, reports that David wrote 3,600 songs.