Psalms 5:1-6

Psalm 5 ¹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments; ²  a psalm of David.

5:1 Listen to what I say, ³  Lord!

Carefully consider my complaint! ⁴ 

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

5:3 Lord, in the morning ⁵  you will hear ⁶  me; ⁷ 

in the morning I will present my case to you ⁸  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ⁹ 

5:4 Certainly ¹⁰  you are not a God who approves of evil; ¹¹ 

evil people ¹²  cannot dwell with you. ¹³ 

5:5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence; ¹⁴ 

you hate ¹⁵  all who behave wickedly. ¹⁶ 

5:6 You destroy ¹⁷  liars; ¹⁸ 

the Lord despises ¹⁹  violent and deceitful people. ²⁰ 

[5:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 5. Appealing to God’s justice and commitment to the godly, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from evildoers.

[5:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew word נְחִילוֹת (nÿkhilot), which occurs only here, is uncertain. Many relate the form to חָלִיל (khalil, “flute”).

[5:1]  ³ tn Heb “my words.”

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Or “sighing.” The word occurs only here and in Ps 39:3.

[5:3]  ⁵ sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).

[5:3]  ⁶ tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “Lord, in the morning hear me.”

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “my voice.”

[5:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.

[5:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will watch.”

[5:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[5:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “not a God [who] delights [in] wickedness [are] you.”

[5:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has simply the singular form רע, which may be taken as an abstract noun “evil” (the reference to “wickedness” in the preceding line favors this; cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) or as a substantival adjective “evil one” (the references to evil people in the next two verses favor this; cf. NIV “with you the wicked cannot dwell”).

[5:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “cannot dwell as a resident alien [with] you.” The negated imperfect verbal form here indicates incapability or lack of permission. These people are morally incapable of dwelling in God’s presence and are not permitted to do so.

[5:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before your eyes.”

[5:5]  ¹⁵ sn You hate. The Lord “hates” the wicked in the sense that he despises their wicked character and deeds and actively opposes and judges them for their wickedness. See Ps 11:5.

[5:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.”

[5:6]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.

[5:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.

[5:6]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the Lord’s characteristic attitude toward such individuals.

[5:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.