Ps. 5:2-3

Ps. 5.2-3

Diag.

Give ear  /  to my words  /  O Lord.

Consider /  my murmuring.

Give attention /  to the sound  /  of my plea

My King  /  and  /  my God

For  /  it is to you  /  that I pray.

We are in familiar territory with the opening of this Psalm. We, again, find at the beginning a triple repeated description. So far they have looked like this: Ps. 1 (description of wicked men avoided by blessed man); Ps. 2 (the nations’ actions as they prepare to make war); Ps. 3 (David’s thrice repeated, “How many…”); Ps. 4 (asking of sons of men how long they will continue their violence). One thing I have avoided doing until now is looking at whether there they contain any real progression of thought. We have made some observations in this regard (Ps. 1: all consuming; Ps. 2: the progressive alienation; Ps. 3 the sense of a growing heaviness; Ps. 4: the sarcasm) but we have not looked much at whether the three develop; I have generally assumed a type of parallelism. Here, I want to look at these three because I sense more than the parallelism of the previous Psalms.

“Give ear to my words”: We have seen something similar to this already in Ps. 3 and 4. In Ps. 3 David says he cries out and the Lord will “answer from Zion”. In Ps. 4 (a closer analogy), the righteous man “calls out” and demands an answer. He also says the Lord “will hear” when I call to him. In both of these Psalms the “calling out” emerges from a sense of impending danger. It is an attempt, therefore, to “prick the Lord’s ears”. We have noted how these calls are also seen as jolting time forward, of getting things “back on track”. Furthermore, we have seen how the covenant provides the context for these prayers. In a sense, reality is grounded on this dialogue between the Lord and his people and his people (the blessed man, the ‘anointed’ son, David, the righteous man) have been given a very active and positive role in “moving things along”. The righteous man must identify when a prayer for deliverance is required. Without it, time stalls and justice is allowed to continue being flaunted.

In this Psalm, however, the reason for the prayer is not at all immediately obvious. In fact, what we will later come to learn is that this prayer is spoken first thing in the morning. It is a call for protection, not from known dangers, but from unknown ones. We have here, then, something we haven’t seen before. This is a prayer, actively seeking protection although the danger is not immediately obvious. This experience is new in that the previous calls for God to ‘hear’ were essentially responsive to a danger. Here, we find a ‘morning’ call for protection that is proactive in seeking protection. This man knows there is danger but he doesn’t know where or when it will strike.

“Consider my murmuring”: In one sense this is set as a parallel to “give ear to my words”. However, the description is full of the sense that the “words” spoken are surrounded by a ‘murmuring’; it is as if the man were stuttering because of a nervous sense of need. And he wants the Lord to consider this aspect of his speech. It is just as much a part of the meaning he is attempting to convey because it, in its weakness, is conveying (or, revealing) something. His desperation cannot be communicated if only his words are regarded. His being is actually perceived in the poverty of his murmuring and stammering.

“Give attention to the sound of my plea”: The full picture of his communication is provided here. He wants his King to pay close attention to the very sound of his plea. This man is straining; he knows his words alone (even his murmuring) do not at all convey his prayer. He is desperate that he be heard and his desperation can only be gathered from the sound of his voice. Just as one listens to the sound of symphony and observes certain themes and developments within them is this man asking that God appreciate his “sound”.

“My King, and my God”: he had previously only said, “O Lord”. Now, after this desperate call for an audience he includes the very touching word “my”. What began as a reverential distance “O Lord” has now, at the tail end of this plea, become something like a grabbing onto his garments. There is contained in this simple word a hidden demand. (“Because you are my King, you must listen to your servant.”) Likewise, the addition of the descriptive “King” is important. He could have just said “my God”. However, a king is a much more relational term. A king is a king because he is a shepherd of a nation. There is no such thing as a king without subjects. And a king is, first and foremost, a protector. His very office is one of clear responsibilities and duties. One can almost hear this man’s voice by his including this description in his plea.