O Lord, in the morning You hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for You and watch.
Psalm 5:3
Psalm 5 is a morning prayer of David where he cries out urgently to the Lord, asking God to lead him in righteousness and bring justice to the wicked. This psalm contrasts the holiness of God and the ways of evildoers, showing both God’s hatred for sin and His steadfast love for those who take refuge in Him.
David’s confidence in God is rooted in God’s character. The Lord does not delight in wickedness, and evil cannot dwell in His presence (v. 4). David is confident he can enter God’s presence — not by his merit but God’s through the abundance of God’s steadfast love (v. 7).
This psalm also highlights the effects of sin. David illustrates the wicked as having no truth in their mouths and calls their throats open graves (v. 9), which is quoted by Paul in Romans 3:13 to show the depths of sin in all people. Left to ourselves and our own desires, we are no different. The difference is taking refuge and finding salvation in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Seeing Jesus in Psalm 5
David’s prayer finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. Jesus loved us so much that He took the wrath of God due our sin on Himself. Rather than standing before God in our wickedness, we can stand covered by Jesus’s righteousness.
Jesus also illustrated what it looks like to pray like David, rising early to talk to His Father (Mark 1:35). Let’s follow His example.
Reflection
As we meditate on Psalm 5, we are invited to pray like David. Each morning, we can cry out to God for guidance, trusting Him to lead us in righteousness and protect us from sin.
Just as David relied on God’s faithfulness, we can approach God today through Jesus, the perfect representation of God’s steadfast love. Jesus bore the penalty for our sins so that we can come boldly into God’s presence (Hebrews 10:19-22).
The #dailyPSALMSchallenge gives us the opportunity to start 2025 in God’s Word by digging into a psalm a day. Each day will identify a key passage for us to meditate on as well as seeking to help us see Jesus in the psalm and reflect on what we have read.
Won’t you take the challenge?
Just Keith Harris 