Dublin, OH
Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
Psalm 5. This is another individual lament, and the first instance of a psalm with prayers for the personal downfall of the enemies. As indicated in Introduction: Literary Features, such Psalms have in view a situation where one is faced with bloodthirsty and deceitful persecutors. David is the attributed author, but there is no information on whether a particular experience of his was the occasion for the psalm.
5:1-3 Asking for God's Attention. As is common in the laments, the psalm opens by calling out to God. The tone is one of urgency and expectation.
5:2 my King and my God. Some psalms that speak of the Lord as "king" have in mind his rule over all his creation. Others, such as this one, refer to him as king over his people. The Davidic kingship, when it functioned properly, did not usurp either kind of divine kingship, though a faithless king could lead to God punishing the people (cf. 1 Sam. 8:7; 12:12-15).
5:3 I prepare a sacrifice for you is difficult in the Hebrew, which could also be rendered as in the ESV footnote, "I direct my prayer to you." The mention of the morning here, and the Lord's house in v. 7, favors "sacrifice"; the idea here is that the prayer comes in the context of a faithful worshiper who receives assurance and expresses personal consecration by way of these ordinances; it is small wonder that such a person will watch, looking around and ahead in expectant faith.
