Psalm 5
Pastor Mark Hudson

Psalm 5 is a morning psalm that contrasts God’s differing relationship with the wicked and the righteous.  The Psalmist is a man of prayer who recognizes his dependence on God.  First, he is praying which is a signal that he is looking outside himself to Someone greater.  He looks away from himself and he looks toward God.  This indicates he knows his place in the universe and knows something of the majesty of God.  One can’t remain proud and look to God in prayer.  Humble people pray; proud people do not.

He calls God his Lord and “my King and my God” in v. 2.  In this short Psalm, the writer displays theological depth that should not be overlooked.  We will explore this more.  The Psalmist has a deep, personal, familiar relationship with God.  He often prays to God.  He specifically says, “for to You do I pray.”  This Psalmist is speaking to God not about God.   He is worshipping God, praying to God, and in doing this he gives us a theological lesson about God.

Verse 3b may indicate this prayer was part of a morning sacrifice or ritual.  Wherever he is praying, this is deliberate and expectant (Give ear to my words, consider my groaning, you hear my voice, and watch vs. 1, 3).  His prayer is not mere emotions.  Yet emotions are certainly involved and must be involved.  He tells us things about God that many of us really prefer to ignore.

You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with You” according to v. 4.  Knowing God is essential for holiness.  The more we know God the more we grow in sanctification.  We cannot grow spiritually without a proper knowledge of God.  This is why the authority of God’s Word is critical.  It is not in our gardens or a walk in the woods where we learn about God but in His Word.   By worshipping a holy God, we strive to be holy as He is. We become like the person we worship.

As you read this, think of the phrase that God loves the sinner but hates the sin.  It depends on what we mean by love of course.  But notice the way this Psalm states what God hates:

You hate all evildoers (not merely evil, but evildoers) v. 5.

You destroy those who speak lies (those who speak lies, he does not just hate lies) v. 6.

The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man (God abhors the man) v. 6.

Then in verses 9-10, David prays these imprecatory petitions.  Some believers think this is restricted to Old Testament times.  But consider Jesus’ own words in Matthew:

Matt. 23:13   “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. ¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Matt. 23:16   “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

Matt. 23:27   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and ^pall uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matt. 23:29   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Obviously, we are not Christ, so we have to use caution in harsh language to others in public.  Yet God is just, and he hates sin.  But when we tell unbelievers that God loves (depending on what you mean and what they hear in the word love) them, how does that square with John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”   In Eph 2:3 we are called ‘children of wrath.’

Yet, what we see in the Bible is the one hand of God reaching out to us in love inviting us to come to Him for forgiveness, grace, and healing.  That hand is only one hand.  The other hand is His promised wrath.  God saves us from Himself for Himself.  God’s wrath is not impersonal but an expression of His holiness.  He hates sin because He loves righteousness so very much.  But that other hand of wrath is as much a part of God as His loving hand.  God is not only love.  God is not only wrath.  Both are perfectly balanced in God.   God is love and God is wrath.  Let us strive to sound these notes at the appropriate time.  Not softer or louder than they should be.

One of the ways theologians have understood and explained this is by three distinctions in God’ love.  He loves the unsaved world with benevolence, he acts toward the unsaved world with beneficence, but His love to the elect is one of complacency.  Here is a brief explanation: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/qas/does-god-love-the-wicked-the-same-way-he-loves-the-elect.   As you can surmise, our question may seem basic to us, but theologians have thought about these type of questions for ages.

Our heavenly Father who is perfect, holy, worthy, just, and altogether glorious, we praise You.  You are infinite in Your perfections.  All You do is just and right because You are eternally just and right.  We run to You to escape Your just wrath and find that You are an infinite ocean of eternal love, a fountain of joy, acceptance, and peace.  In the cross, burial, and resurrection of Christ we see all of Your heavenly goodness.  We then humbly worship You and strive to obey You.  In Christ’s name, Amen.