Psalms 5:1-12: a reflection

1Give ear to my words, LORD. Consider my meditation. 2Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you. 3LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly. 4For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you. 5The arrogant will not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity. 6You will destroy those who speak lies. The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 7But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you. 8Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face. 9For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue. 10Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you. 11But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you. 12For you will bless the righteous. LORD, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.

This is a morning psalm, and it has a rhythm worth borrowing. In the morning, the psalmist says, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and watch expectantly. Twice he says in the morning, marking the start of the day as the time to turn to God, before the day's noise crowds him out.

But notice the last part especially: I watch expectantly. He does not just say his prayers and move on. He lays out his requests and then watches, on tiptoe, expecting God to act. That is a different posture from the rushed, hopeless kind of praying we often fall into. He prays as one who actually expects an answer, and then keeps his eyes open to see it come.

And notice where the psalm lands: let all who take refuge in you rejoice; you bless the righteous and surround him with favor as with a shield. The one who starts the day in God's presence ends it under God's shield. So consider ordering your day the way this psalm does: bring your requests to God at the start, before everything else, and then go into the day watching expectantly, alert for how he answers, and covered by his favor like a shield.

Lord, in the morning hear my voice. Help me bring my requests to you first, before the day's noise, and then to watch expectantly for you to act, covered by your favor like a shield.