“Let Them Ever Shout for Joy”: A Dive Into Psalm Five

PLEASE PIN THIS IMAGE - The true meaning of Psalm 5

 Psalm 5 is a beloved morning prayer that countless Christians have turned to for comfort. Yet, even as we read the words, we miss the depth of meaning of this ancient poem due to our distance from the culture and awkward attempts to translate the nuanced Hebrew language.

If you’re interested in understand the true meaning of Psalm 5, keep reading.

The raw emotion of wordless prayer.

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I will pray [vs. 1-2].”

In a previous post on Psalm 1, I brought out the fact that the word translated as “meditation” refers to a muttering aloud. However, in Psalm 5:1, it carries the meaning of a stifled cry or inward moan.

It’s not a calm, articulate prayer, but a groaning of deep anguish from someone too distressed to form words. Much more emotional than we can glean from English translations, which make the prayer sound more composed than it actually is.

Morning prayer as sacred ritual.

The third verse states, “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

In attempt to remain consistent, I’ve been using the New King James Version for my past couple of article about Psalms. But the NKJV loses the meaning of this verse even worse than other translations, so here I’m switching to the English Standard Version.

Verse three is likely the most misunderstood verse in Psalm 5. The Hebrew phrase arakh lekha is often weakly translated as “lay my requests” or “prepare.”

But arakh means to arrange or to set in order – the exact same verb used in Leviticus for arranging sacrificial offerings on the altar. In other words, the psalmist isn’t casually mentioning morning prayer. He’s describing the deliberate arrangement of his prayers with the same sacred intentionality as a priest preparing a sacrifice.

The word that follows, tsaphpah, suggests waiting attentively to divine response, reminiscent of the time Elijah prayed for God to accept his sacrifice on the water-soaked altar.

The gist is that morning prayer is a liturgical act, not mere devotional habit.

Raise your hand if you feel as convicted as I do over that revelation.

Yeah. Thought so. ;)

He won’t put up with it.

“For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man [4-6].”

If those verses don’t tell you where you stand with God, nothing will!

Seriously, these verses establish what we might call the “legal geography” of God’s presence. The Hebrew gur translated as “dwell” would be better phrased as “to sojourn as a guest.”

In ancient Near Eastern culture, a traveler being allowed to temporarily reside in a foreign country was a big deal. Readers and hearers of this psalm would understand the huge implication: wicked people aren’t allowed to hang out with God even temporarily.

He will not be in the same room as evil.

Similarly, the phrase “shall not stand in Your sight” evokes the ancient practice of standing before a king. If you recall the book of Esther, to stand before a king means that the monarch offered you privilege and approval. The wicked are not legally allowed a divine audience, especially in worship contexts.

That God “hates” workers of iniquity should be a no-brainer, but it doesn’t refer to the modern way we use the word. Rather, it’s about covenantal rejection.

God refuses to be in relationship with those who violate the covenant. It’s a theme repeated many times in the various book of the prophets.

Temple geography, sacred orientation.

Verses seven and eight read, “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. Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before my face.”

Psalm 5:7 challenges modern worship. Where the NKJV reads “worship,” other translations say, “bow down.” This isn’t the polite bow of greeting of Victorian England. It refers to prostrating oneself on the ground, face down.

It is, physically speaking, the utmost expression of humility and vulnerability.

In verse eight, the verb translated as “lead,” combined with “make Your way straight,” may have referenced literal processional paths leading to ancient temples. The psalmist is praying for a clear, righteous path into God’s presence – one not obscured by deceit or enemies.

The power of the tongue.

In verse nine, we read, “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is destruction; their throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongue.”

The ancient Hebrew worldview understood speech as powerful. Words didn’t just describe reality, they shaped it (see James 3:6 and Proverbs 18:21).

The word havvah, translated as “destruction” suggests moral corruption, and the reference to the tomb or grave illustrates the wicked as speaking death rather than life. It’s a sharp contrast to the psalmist’s own words at the beginning of the psalm.

Let them ever shout for joy.

I have a pocket-sized Gideon New Testament-Psalm-Proverbs Bible that’s almost as old as God Himself, and which contains a font size much too small for my fifty-five-year-old eyes. However, about a hundred years ago I used it to memorize certain verses that struck me, and Psalm 5:11 is marked as one of them with a blue pen which has long since gone on to Writing Utensil Heaven.

Let me type it out by heart. 

“But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy because You defend them [I have to cheat now]; let those who also love Your name be joyful in You.”

Then there’s the final verse: “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.”

Like many of the psalms it begins with an individual petition, then ends with communal imagery. Most Western Christians glaze right over the fact, seeing only themselves as “the righteous,” completely ignoring the truth that the verses are referring to a large group of people.

A corporate entity, not a single one.

Then there is the phrase “take refuge,” totally flattened in the English translation. The Hebrew word, chasah, is a technical term for seeking asylum in a sanctuary city or temple. The word translated as either “defend” or “protect” means “to weave a covering.”

Modern Christians take the verses in the abstract. But the original intent was to describe a concrete sanctuary. The psalmist envisions fellow worshipers of God as sheltered and rejoicing together in God’s presence.

The final blessing is like a royal decree. God legally blesses and surrounds believers with protective favor. In fact, the word translated as “shield,” tzinnah, refers to a large body shield that would be used in formation fighting. This suggests corporate rather than individual protection.

We are His body. Not isolated worshippers who each get to invent our own idea of God.

Selah.