Psalm 5-6
Bible Passage: Psalm 5 – 6
Reading Psalm 5 reminds me of a morning prayer.
“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.”
~ Psalm 5:1
David started the prayer asking God to give ear to his words.
Do I start my prayer asking God to hear me?
Do we make sure to let God hear us in the morning, and direct our request to Him?
How often do we rush our morning prayers before going to school or work?
David started his prayer with praising God for His righteousness and intolerance for evil; he spoke about the evil men that abound around him, people who have no fear of God.
They sin in their tongues; their behavior is rebellious toward the word of God.
But David ask to let those who put their trust in God rejoice.
In the next psalm (6), David reminds us that while we have a steadfast faith in our just God, we will have to suffer for righteousness sake, that as we trust in God and strive to lead a just life, we will grieve because of evil men that surround us.
In our morning prayer, be it short or long for some, what do we say before we step out for work?
There used to be a time that I was very affected by work and office politics that I lost peace of mind, thinking of work and people relating to my work, how to finish impossible deadlines, managing demands from the boss and clients, enduring boasting and deceitfulness of people.
They were mostly things that were beyond my control, but still my mind constantly thought about them and how my heart frustrated over such dissatisfaction at work.
Then I had a discussion with a friend, about what do we say at our morning prayer. I asked how do I keep my life focus on Christ when my mind is filled with such earthly matters bothering me all the time.
The conclusion of our discussion is that we should pray for ourselves, as we face people everyday, we should be concerned about how we ought to shine for God.
Since we cannot change how people behave, we should focus in our prayer to ask God to help us keep the peace in our hearts, to do what is right and not targeting at what we find is wrong with others. We should ask God to help us not to sin when sin abound around us and even seem to be the “right” thing to do (such as lying).
“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak…”
~ Ps 6:1-2
We might think that there are so many people who are worse off than us in society, but truly who can stand before the Lord blameless?
I feel the greatest enemy I face in life is indeed myself. Hence every morning I shall spend the time to pray for myself as I start the day, and pray to God to help me in my weakness, and have mercy on me when I sin in my heart or actions.
Hope that I will make acceptable prayers to God every morning and may God help me every day to lead a good Christian life.
4 Comments
isfp
One thing i can’t understand in Psalm 5 and 6 is that they seems to contrast each other.
Psalm 5:4-6 & 9-10 David seem to be strict and unforgiving towards his enemies. David knows that God hates (v5) “all who do wrong” which is one of God’s characteristic, which is His righteousness. However, David is quick to apply God’s righteousness on his enemies by asking God to “declare them guilty” (v10).
However, in Psalm 6:1-4, David knows of God’s characteristic of mercy and “unfailing love” (v4). Therefore, he seek His deliverance (v1-2)ie. Asking God not to rebuke him in anger.
This makes me ponder about myself.. Am i quick to pass judgement on people i dislike? I am quick to ask God to punish those that trespasses me? While on the other hand, Am i soft on myself and my sins and my trespasses towards God by leaning on God’s unfailing love?
This reminds me of the Lord prayer: ” forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matt 6:12)
thechosen
Yes isfp, I do find contrasting feelings while reading Ps 5 & 6. On one hand, we do feel proud to proclaim God’s righteousness and that we are His people and on His side of righteousness, while declaring judgement on the wicked people we see. On the other hand, we are in fact not righteous in the eyes of God as we are weak, we incur the wrath of God just as the wicked, and we need God’s mercy. Our only hope is recognizing that we have found the true reliance and trust in our righteous and merciful God, so that we know how we ought to conduct ourselves, humbly acknowledging our inadequency and continue to strive to be good in a world where wrong seems right.
PS
Who were David’s enemies?
Who are God’s enemies? (PS 5:4-6,9-10)
Were God’s enemies and David’s enemies the same?
In our fleshly weak bodies, God’s enemies may not necessary be our enemies. Think David might agree to this too.
David prayed that his enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled suddenly not due to his own righteousness.
But that they realized the holy God blessed David and with favor He surrounded David as with a shield.
Was David a happy king? PS 6:6-7 suggested otherwise.
David was joyful. Bec he put his trust in God (PS 5:11).
David was joyful bec he had a God to turn to in all circumstances (PS 5:1-3,PS 6:9)
But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. (PS 5:7)
Seriously, i think David was a joyful man bec he always had the fear(敬畏) of God in his heart.
For his fear (ie reverence and awe) of God outweighed all his sorrows and difficulties, especially when he was in the holy temple of God.
David was joyful.
Paul was joyful too.
m i?
Is me&mine still more important than God?
Treasureinearthernvessel
Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. (Genesis 24:12)
There was a period of time when I was facing extreme stress at work. I was still quite a fresh graduate, having a culture shock to full time working, and trying to adapt to working life. Yet, work felt so lonesome and like I had to handle things alone. During that period of time, I remembered that every morning, I would drag myself out of bed and in fact, I feared going to work.
But it was also during that period that I learnt to rely on God. I used the prayer that Abraham’s servant made – “God, give me success today, and show me kindness.”
I needed the hand of God in my work so that my work can go smoothly. I need the mercy of God so that I can pull through the day.
I made that prayer day after day, every morning. And I am confident that it was because of God that I gained some courage, a day at a time, to face what I needed to, for that day. And what will happen the next day? I won’t think so far… because the next morning, I will pray for the day again.. and that’s how we pull through difficult times sometimes.
God is always near, as long as we draw near to Him.