Psalms 5:1-12
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloodya and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holyb temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulnessc in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroyd thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendeste them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compassf him as with a shield.
V. A Hymn for Morning Sacrifice in the Temple.
Psalms 5:1. Solemn invocation of Yahweh. The Psalmist sets in order (Psalms 5:3), not perhaps his prayer (RV), but his sacrifice, the victim and the kindled wood upon the altar. Laying out or ordering in this sense is a common technical use of the Heb. verb. Keep watch may refer to a watch for favourable signs before or during the sacrifice.
Psalms 5:4. The bloodthirsty can find no acceptance before God. Unlike them, the Psalmist approaches God in fear. This word is used as a summary of Jewish religion, though, of course, men like Hosea and the Deuteronomist knew very well that Israel was bound not only to fear but also to love Yahweh. Many Psalmists placed God's dwelling-place in heaven, but the belief that God also dwelt in his holy temple still held its ground, at least in the popular creed.
Psalms 5:8. The poet prays for Divine guidance, for the defeat of the wicked, and the triumph of the righteous, concluding with that note of absolute confidence in God, which is the most striking characteristic of the Psalter. Translate 9, Their inward desire is one of engulfing ruin, i.e. the ruin of the good. Hence (Psalms 5:10) God declares them guilty, and does so by the calamities He inflicts, which are the tokens of His wrath. The name of Yahweh is His revealed character; so we speak of a man as having a good or bad name, i.e. reputation.