Day 16

Psalm 5: Read here – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%205&version=NASB

– A Morning Prayer 

This psalm shows David coming to the LORD in the morning and receiving the strength and joy he needed to make it through the day against many difficulties. It should be our habit to honour God & start the day with careful meditation.While the dew is on the grass, let grace drip upon the soul. David would lay out his prayer upon the altar in the morning, just as the priest laid out the morning sacrifice.This was Jesus habit (Mark 1:35.) So should it be ours. A haphazard rushing into the day does not make spiritual sense. 

Using the Hebrew method of parallelism, he repeats the same idea three times v1-2. David prayed to God. This may sound elementary, but it is an essential aspect of prayer. Often, we come to prayer so full of our request or our feelings that we never consciously focus on God and sense His presence. David was a great man of prayer because his prayer time was focused on God. 

In order that prayer should be really unto God, there must be a definite and conscious approach to God when we pray; we must have a definite and vivid realization that God is bending over us and listening as we pray. Personally, I have always struggled with public prayer because I am more conscious of what I am saying to those around me than I am when in private prayer to God. 

David meditates on the righteous character of God. I love V7 because it contains the Hebrew word Chesed. As David drew closer to God, he became more aware of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. This is a good way to measure how well you are praying and whether, as you pray, you are drawing close to a Holy God or are merely mouthing words. David had “come into the house of mercy”. Not based on his feelings, but on his reverence for a righteous, merciful God. 

Vs 1- 7 David had done the talk, now V8ff he does the walk praying for God’s guidance.