Psalm 5
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
TITLE. "To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David."
The Hebrew word Nehiloth is taken from another word, signifying
"to perforate;" "to bore through," whence it comes to mean a pipe or
a flute; so that this song was probably intended to be sung with an
accompaniment of wind instruments, such as the horn, the trumpet,
flute, or cornet. However, it is proper to remark that we are not
sure of the interpretation of these ancient titles, for the
Septuagint translates it, "For him who shall obtain inheritance," and
Aben Ezra thinks it denotes some old and well known melody to which
this Psalm was to be played. The best scholars confess that great
darkness hangs over the precise interpretation of the title; nor is
this much to be regretted, for it furnishes an internal evidence of
the great antiquity of the Book. Throughout the first, second, third,
and forth Psalms, you will have noticed that the subject is a
contrast between the position, the character, and the prospects of
the righteous and of the wicked. In this Psalm you will note the
same. The Psalmist carries out a contrast between himself made
righteous by God's grace, and the wicked who opposed him. To the
devout mind there is here presented a precious view of the Lord
Jesus, of whom it is said that in the days of his flesh, he offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.
DIVISION. The Psalm should be divided into two parts, from the
first to the seventh verse, and then from the eighth to the twelfth.
In the first part of the Psalm David most vehemently beseeches the
Lord to hearken to his prayer, and in the second part he retraces the
same ground.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. There are two sorts of prayers—those expressed in words,
and the unuttered longings which abide as silent meditations. Words
are not the essence but the garments of prayer. Moses at the Red Sea
cried to God, though he said nothing. Yet the use of language may
prevent distraction of mind, may assist the powers of the soul, and
may excite devotion. David, we observe, uses both modes of prayer,
and craves for the one a hearing, and for the other a
consideration. What an expressive word! "Consider my
meditation." If I have asked that which is right, give it to me;
if I have omitted to ask that which I most needed, fill up the
vacancy in my prayer. "Consider my meditation." Let thy holy soul
consider it as presented through my all-glorious Mediator:
then regard thou it in thy wisdom, weigh it in the scales, judge thou
of my sincerity, and of the true state of my necessities, and answer
me in due time for thy mercy's sake! There may be prevailing
intercession where there are no words; and alas! there may be words
where there is no true supplication. Let us cultivate the
spirit of prayer which is even better than the habit of
prayer. There may be seeming prayer where there is little devotion.
We should begin to pray before we kneel down, and we should not cease
when we rise up.
Verse 2. "The voice of my cry." In another Psalm we find the
expression, "The voice of my weeping." Weeping has a voice—a
melting, plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches
the very heart of God; and crying hath a voice—a soul-moving
eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God's
heart. Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our
prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord
can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a
loving father his children's cries are music, and they have a magic
influence which his heart cannot resist. "My King, and my
God." Observe carefully these little pronouns, "my King,
and my God." They are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is
a grand argument why God should answer prayer—because he is
our King and our God. We are not aliens to him: he is
the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of
their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his
worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by
oath, by blood.
"For unto thee will I pray." Here
David expresses his declaration that he will seek to God, and to God
alone. God is to be the only object of worship: the only resource of
our soul in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the godless, and
let the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. "Unto thee
will I pray." He makes a resolution, that as long as he lived
he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the
answer should not come.
Verse 3. Observe, this is not so much a prayer as a resolution,
" 'My voice shalt thou hear;' I will not be dumb, I will not be
silent, I will not withhold my speech, I will cry to thee for
the fire that dwells within compels me to pray." We can sooner die
than live without prayer. None of God's children are possessed with a
dumb devil.
"In the morning." This is the fittest time for
intercourse with God. An hour in the morning is worth two in the
evening. While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul.
Let us give to God the mornings of our days and the morning of our
lives. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night.
Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening star.
If we
merely read our English version, and want an explanation of these two
sentences, we find it in the figure of an archer, "I will direct
my prayer unto thee," I will put my prayer upon the bow, I will
direct it towards heaven, and then when I have shot up my arrow, I
will look up to see where it has gone. But the Hebrew has a still
fuller meaning than this—"I will direct my prayer." It is the
word that is used for the laying in order of the wood and the pieces
of the victim upon the altar, and it is used also for the putting of
the shewbread upon the table. It means just this: "I will arrange my
prayer before thee;" I will lay it out upon the altar in the morning,
just as the priest lays out the morning sacrifice. I will
arrange my prayer; or, as old Master Trapp has it, "I will
marshall up my prayers," I will put them in order, call up all my
powers, and bid them stand in their proper places, that I may pray
with all my might, and pray acceptably.
"And will look up,"
or, as the Hebrew might better be translated, "'I will look out,' I
will look out for the answer; after I have prayed, I will expect that
the blessing shall come." It is a word that is used in another place
where we read of those who watched for the morning. So will I watch
for thine answer, O my Lord! I will spread out my prayer like the
victim on the altar, and I will look up, and expect to receive the
answer by fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice.
Two questions
are suggested by the last part of this verse. Do we not miss very
much of the sweetness and efficacy of prayer by a want of careful
meditation before it, and of hopeful expectation after it? We too
often rush into the presence of God without forethought or humility.
We are like men who present themselves before a king without a
petition, and what wonder is it that we often miss the end of prayer?
We should be careful to keep the stream of meditation always running;
for this is the water to drive the mill of prayer. It is idle to pull
up the flood-gates of a dry brook, and then hope to see the wheel
revolve. Prayer without fervency is like hunting with a dead dog, and
prayer without preparation is hawking with a blind falcon. Prayer is
the work of the Holy Spirit, but he works by means. God made man, but
he used the dust of the earth as a material: the Holy Ghost is the
author of prayer, but he employs the thoughts of a fervent soul as
the gold with which to fashion the vessel. Let not our prayers and
praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty brain, but the steady
burning of a well-kindled fire.
But, furthermore, do we not forget to
watch the result of our supplications? We are like the ostrich, which
lays her eggs and looks not for her young. We sow the seed, and are
too idle to seek a harvest. How can we expect the Lord to open the
windows of his grace, and pour us out a blessing, if we will not open
the windows of expectation and look up for the promised favour? Let
holy preparation link hands with patient expectation, and we shall
have far larger answers to our prayers.
Verse 4. And now the Psalmist having thus expressed his resolution to
pray, you hear him putting up his prayer. He is pleading against his
cruel and wicked enemies. He uses a most mighty argument. He begs of
God to put them away from him, because they were displeasing to God
himself. "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:
neither shall evil dwell with thee." "When I pray against my
tempters," says David, "I pray against the very things which thou
thyself abhorrest." Thou hatest evil: Lord, I beseech thee,
deliver me from it!
Let us learn here the solemn truth of the
hatred which a righteous God must bear toward sin. He has no
pleasure in wickedness, however wittily, grandly, and proudly it
may array itself. Its glitter has no charm for him. Men may bow
before successful villainy, and forget the wickedness of the battle
in the gaudiness of the triumph, but the Lord of Holiness is not
such-an-one as we are. "Neither shall evil dwell with thee."
He will not afford it the meanest shelter. Neither on earth nor in
heaven shall evil share the mansion of God. Oh, how foolish are we if
we attempt to entertain two guests so hostile to one another as
Christ Jesus and the devil! Rest assured, Christ will not live in the
parlour of our hearts if we entertain the devil in the cellar of our
thoughts.
Verse 5. "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight." Sinners
are fools written large. A little sin is a great folly, and the
greatest of all folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as these must
be banished from the court of heaven. Earthly kings were wont to have
fools in their trains, but the only wise God will have no fools in
his palace above. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." It is
not a little dislike, but a thorough hatred which God bears to
workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful thing. O let us
be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be a
terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God!
Verse 6. Observe, that evil speakers must be punished as well as evil
workers, for "thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing." All
liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone. A man may lie without danger of the law of man, but he
will not escape the law of God. Liars have short wings, their flight
shall soon be over, and they shall fall into the fiery floods of
destruction. "The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful
man." Bloody men shall be made drunk with their own blood, and