Psalm 5

Psalm 5 is laid out chiastically in a broad pattern and closer in.
Broadly it can be broken up as:

A. prayer to God

B. evildoers will not stand

C. the righteous fear God

B’. evildoers are cast out

A’. praise to God

Even in a brief overview, the psalm shows that we can and must praise God in the midst of our trials. Surrounded by boastful, bloodthirsty, deceitful men, David calls out that he will fear God and not man. As he says also in Psalm 56, “in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Breaking it down further:

A. Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.

B. Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.

C. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

D. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.

E. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.

F. You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

G. But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.

H. I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.

G’. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.

F’. For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.

E’. Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;

D’. because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.

C’. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,

B’.and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.

A’. For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.

The heart of the psalm has David entering the house of God and worshiping. This is the response of the one who trusts God. With evil men on every side, we fall down and give thanks and praise to God, because we know the end of those who practice evil. They will bear their guilt; they will fall; they will be cast out. But those who trust, who take refuge in the living God will rejoice, will sing for joy, and will exult in him. He is our covering, our shield, and our mighty fortress.

The psalms are filled with prayers for us to meditate on and learn from. It is the prayer book and song book of the saints. Much heresy and weakness in the church will be driven out as we learn to pray and sing again from the psalms.

For more on psalm singing: Rediscovering the Psalms on Reformation 21 by Joe Holland


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3 responses to “Psalm 5”

  1. Robert Murphy Avatar

    Very nice! I like my chiasms to have word/root correspondence , but this is very convincing. It is even more so with the helical reading:

    Give ear to my words, O Lord and consider my groaning.
    what is more bless the righteous, O Lord; cover him with favor as with a shield.

    Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.
    what is more spread your protection over me, that those who love your name may exult in you.

    O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
    what is more let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy,

    For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
    what is more because of the abundance of their transgressions, cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

    The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
    what is more make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels;

    You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
    what is more there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

    But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house.
    what is more, please lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

    I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

    As you said, the heart is worship.

    The thing about “their iniquity being on their own head” reminds me of what Leithart wrote the other day on that at Credenda.

    1. Joshua Avatar
      Joshua

      Actually seeing this laid out this way is very helpful. Thank you.

      Also, Leithart’s article is encouraging. For a while I’ve had a problem with the typical language used for imputed righteousness. As he says, it sounds like a legal fiction.

  2. Robert Murphy Avatar

    Is there a way to add ”subscribe to comments via email”? I forget to check back!