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The Bible · 483 of 1189
Psalms 5
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 bloody 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 holy 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 faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10.Destroy 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 defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12.For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Asked of Guide
Why does the psalmist ask God to destroy the wicked so strongly and then pray for joy for the righteous?
The psalmist alternates petition against the wicked with trust in God’s protection because the psalm frames prayer as both moral complaint and plea for guidance: he asks God to “destroy them that speak leasing” and to “lead me… in thy righteousness” (vv.6,8). The urgent denunciations name concrete threats—deceit, violence, inward wickedness—and ask God to remove those threats so the worshipper can live and pray with integrity.
The final verses move to affirmation: enemies defeated, the faithful rejoicing, and God’s blessing described as a protective “shield” (v.12). That optimistic close functions as the psalm’s theological claim—God judges the deceitful and surrounds the trusting with favour—similar to the assurance of Psalm 23 where care and guidance follow trust.
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