Psalm 5
Like Psalm 3, this is a morning psalm (v. 3). David may have written it during the crisis caused by Absalom, but we have no indication that he did. However, the description of David’s enemies given in verses 4-6 and 9-10 suggests the period prior to David’s flight from Jerusalem. The New International Version translates verse 10 “Let their intrigues be their downfall,” and there was certainly a great deal of deception and intrigue going on at that time. The Hebrew words for “house” and “holy temple” (v. 7) are also used for the tabernacle in Exodus 23:19; Deuteronomy 23:18; Joshua 6:24; 1 Samuel 1:9; 3:3, 15; so we don’t have to date the psalm from the time of Solomon. Nehiloth in the title is a musical instruction that probably means “for flutes.”
Because of the prayer in verse 10, Psalm 5 is classified as one of the “imprecatory psalms” (see 12; 35; 37; 58–59; 69; 79; 83; 109; 139–140). In these psalms, the writers seem to describe a God of wrath who can hardly wait to destroy sinners. The writers also seem to picture themselves as people seeking terrible revenge against these enemies. But several facts must be considered before we write off the psalmists as pagan brutes who cannot forgive or God as a “dirty bully.” To begin with, the enemies described are rebels against the Lord (5:10) and, in some instances, against the Lord’s anointed king. The Jews were a covenant people whom God promised to protect as long as they obeyed Him (Lev. 26; Deut. 27–29). In His covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless those who blessed Israel and to curse those who cursed them (Gen. 12:1-3). When the Jews asked God to deal justly with their wicked enemies, they were only asking Him to fulfill His covenant promises. “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), but God is also “light” (1 John 1:5), and in His holiness, He must deal with sin. Ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3, there has been a battle going on in the world between truth and lies, justice and injustice, and right and wrong; and we cannot be neutral in this battle. “If the Jews cursed more bitterly than the Pagans,” wrote C. S. Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms, “this was, I think, at least in part because they took right and wrong more seriously. For if we look at their railings, we find they are usually angry not simply because these things have been done to them but because these things are manifestly wrong, are hateful to God as well as to the victim.”
Those who have difficulty accepting the “imprecations” in the Psalms must also deal with them in Jeremiah (11:18ff.; 15:15; 17:18; 18:19ff.; 20:11ff.) and in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt. 3) and Jesus (Matt. 23), as well as in the requests of the martyrs in heaven (Rev. 6:9-11). However, no one will deny that these servants of God were filled with the Spirit and wanted the Lord’s will to be accomplished. Perhaps our problem today is what C. S. Lewis pointed out: We don’t hate sin enough to get upset at the wickedness and godlessness around us. Bombarded as we are by so much media evil and violence, we’ve gotten accustomed to the darkness.
If this psalm did grow out of the time in the wilderness when David was fleeing from Absalom, then he teaches us an important lesson: No amount of danger or discomfort should keep us from our time of morning fellowship with the Lord. In this psalm, David gives us three valuable instructions to encourage our daily fellowship with the Lord.