Ps. 5:4

Ps. 5.4

Diag.

O Lord  /  in the morning  /  hear  /  my voice

In the morning  /  I make  /  preparations  /  and watch.

I only want to make a few observations of this verse. First, an entirely speculative one: The first seven (7) lines concern the petitioner’s request to be heard. This is followed by six (6) lines describing those evil men the Lord abhors. There are three sets of four lines and then the concluding seven (7) lines concern those who take refuge in the Lord and their joy. Might we see in the two seven (7) lines an expression of the perfect number? The first as the perfect expression of a request, the last a perfect expression of their fulfillment? And, further, could we see in the six lines devoted to the wicked a literary sign of their lack of completion, their inability to enter into the ‘rest’ of the seventh (remember, in Daniel, the statute is made up of ‘six’ and the beast in Revelation is “666”)?

“make preparations”: this phrase could indicate two things. It could indicate the making preparations for the morning sacrifice (as in, placing wood upon the altar). On the other hand, it could indicate the preparing of one’s words (for a defense or a debate, for example). Along the first lines, we see a man making his prayer to be heard and preparing to make his sacrifice.

“watch”: it is not, to me, clear what this man is watching for. A few possibilities though come to mind. In vs. 9 this man prays the Lord would guide him in righteousness because of those “lying in watch for me”. This man may then say his prayer to the Lord and then watch for this ‘guidance’ and the Lord’s “making straight his way” before him (vs. 10). Along these same lines it may be important that this prayer is being said in the morning and that this man does not apparently have specific evil men in mind. He merely knows that some are “lying in watch” (meaning, they are hidden to him). These observations would tie in nicely with what we saw in our previous reflections: this man is intensely aware of a need for protection and, immediately upon waking, he begins his day with this deeply felt request for protection against enemies he cannot see. For this reason all he can do is “watch”. He must wait to see what is revealed throughout the day. In a way, this lack of identity on his part concerning who is ‘watching’ him is why his prayer too is so shrouded in ‘murmuring’ and the ‘sound of his voice’. He cannot put any more form to his words except for this felt need for protection.