Bible Commentary - Psalms 5

My NIV bible called the previous psalm the “evening prayer”, because of its references to sleep and rest.  Psalm 4 also shares “restfulness” as a theme with Psalm 3, so they could both perhaps be considered “evening prayers”.  Psalm 5, in contrast, is a “morning prayer”.  We see in verse 3, and only verse 3, an emphasis on morning prayer.  This is again thin evidence; if we removed verse 3 from the psalm there would be no other reason at all to call this a “morning prayer”.  That said, it is possible that ancient Israelites would take verse 3 as reason enough to sing this in the morning, probably as part of the temple worship service, or more specifically the morning sacrifice.

As mentioned, the content of this psalm as a whole has very little to do with the “morning” thematically or otherwise.  Instead, this seems like yet another prayer of David, beginning with a fairly standard prayer invocation asking for God to consider his request.

Verses 1-3 are the “standard invocation” where David is setting the stage for his request to God.  The core message begins in verse 4 through verse 10.

This psalm follows a poetic structure called “chiasmus”.  It’s something I discussed a long time ago beginning in Genesis 1 I think, but repeated in many other places.  This psalm is clearly another chiasmus.  A chiasmus is any place where the material follows an “A-B-B-A” or “A-B-A” pattern, where there is a balanced symmetry in the text (whether in concepts or actual word usage).

In this psalm, the chiasmus begins in verses 4-6 with a description of the wicked.  David lists many different kinds of sins that God “hates”, “destroys” and “abhors” amongst other things.  Then in verses 7, David contrasts these sins of the wicked with God’s blessing and love poured out on the righteous.  We see that God hates the wicked, but the righteous are safe to enter into God’s temple, to bow before him.  This contrast highlights the differences between the righteous and the wicked in terms of how God reacts to them.  We see that God hates the wicked but blesses the righteous, and this is seen by God’s response to sin and righteous deeds.

Verse 8 continues his remarks on the righteous, but reframes God’s blessing in terms of God’s leadership, that God would “lead” David and “make his way straight”.

Continuing in verse 9-10, the chiasmus is completed by returning to descriptions of the wicked.  This time, the wicked are described by their falsehood, which is essentially a kind of false leadership.  Through their lies and flattery, they guide themselves and others into the “open grave” (v. 9).  This is drawing a contrast with God’s leadership, where David is petitioning God to lead him on the straight path, which we assume is a path to life and good things.

So there are basically two patterns in this part of the psalm.  The first pattern is the A-B-B-A chiasmus where David describes the wicked, then the righteous, and then returns to descriptions of the wicked again.  This places the righteous in the middle, as though they are surrounded by wickedness on all sides.  However, being in the center means that the righteous are also placed at the thematic center of this psalm, with the greatest emphasis on God’s blessings that are prepared for the righteous.

The second pattern is how the chiasmus is composed of two distinct halves.  The first half from verses 4-7 describes God’s reaction to good and evil deeds.  The evil are “abhor”ed or “destroy”ed, while the righteous are brought into God’s presence.  The second half from verses 8-10 contrasts the “straight” path of the righteous, who are led by God, against the crooked lies of the wicked, who lead themselves to death and destruction.

The split between the first half and second half corresponds exactly with the middle point of the chiasmus.  It’s really a beautiful poem.

The psalm concludes in verses 11-12, which don’t fit the chiastic structure, so that’s why I ignored them until now.  This conclusion returns to God’s blessings for the righteous.  It has two interlocking ideas.  The first is that God is a “refuge”, “shelter” and “shield” for the righteous, emphasizing the concept of God’s protection over us.  The second is that we can “sing for joy” and “exult” in God, emphasizing the concept of celebration and praise for God.  These two concepts alternate in an A-B-A-B pattern, which is also common in Hebrew poetry.

In conclusion, this psalm feels like an encouragement to the righteous.  It feels like David is encouraging us to continue with righteousness knowing that God will bless us, draw us into his presence, lead us on a straight path to good things, and in conclusion that God would be our shield in whom we can rejoice.  Amen!  :)