Psalm 5 Story behind the Psalm
Overview
In order to understand a Psalm, we have to understand not only what is said, but also what is assumed and left unsaid. Psalm 5, like many other Psalms, assumes a certain state of affairs (a story "behind the Psalm"). We can summarise this story as follows: King David's enemies rebel (see v. 11d) and force him into exile (cf. Ps. 3:1; 2 Sam. 15ff.). In exile, David brings his case to YHWH, his king (Psalm 5). The psalm envisions a future in which YHWH hears and understands David's case (see vv. 2-3), he punishes David's enemies and forces them into exile (see vv. 10-11), and he brings David back (see vv. 8-9). In response, God's people rejoice (see v. 12).
"The context may well fit with the period of Absalom’s rebellion (cf. Pss 3, 4), for David was separated from the ark of the covenant, experienced animosity, was in great need of deliverance, and was concerned for the godly in his kingdom (vv. 11–12). The expressions of fondness for God’s “house” (cf. 23:6; 27:4; 84) often appear in the context of separation from God’s presence (cf. 42, 43) or in an experience of deep emotional or physical distress (Pss 23; 27; cf. Isa 38:11, 20, 22; Jnh 2:4). In his separation from the ark (cf. 2 Sa 15:24–29) and distress caused by enemies, David prayed to experience again the presence of his God and King (v. 2)."[1]
Background Ideas
- In ancient Israel, the king was also the judge who decided cases (2 Sam. 15:2; 1 Kgs 3:16-24).
- YHWH is King David's "King" (see v. 3), and his heavenly court is the highest court in the land.
- The rising of the morning sun was associated with the enactment of justice, and people would bring their cases before the king in the morning (cf. 2 Sam. 15:2).
- God's house was the place of worship and God's immediate presence (cf. Pss. 42-43). To be away from God's house was distressing.
- When David was away from the temple, he longed to return (cf. 2 Sam. 15:25; Pss. 27).
- Since the temple is YHWH's "house" (v. 8), YHWH is a host to those sojourning in, or traveling to, his house.
- In the ancient Near East, hosts were obligated to keep their guests safe from enemies (cf. Ps. 23:5-6).
Background Situation
Expanded Paraphrase
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- Close but Clear (CBC) translation
- Assumptions which provide the most salient background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences
v. 1
For the director, on the flutes, a psalm by David.
v. 2
Listen to my words (which I am about to present to you in this psalm), YHWH. (Listen closely, so that you) Understand my murmuring.
v. 3
(I am in distress). Pay attention to the sound of my cry for help (and deliver me from my distress). (You are) my king and my God (with whom I, as your vassal king, am in a privileged relationship).[2] (Listen), for (I have not sought help from anyone else. Instead,) I am praying to you.
v. 4
YHWH, (anytime I have a legal case to make against my enemies, who cause me distress, I bring it before you, because) (you are my king) (and the king is responsible for deciding legal cases).[3] In the morning, (the time when the sun, a symbol of justice, rises to expose the darkness and judicial proceedings usually commence),[4] you hear my voice. In the morning, I arrange my words into a legal case for you and wait (expectantly for your response and decision, like a watchman standing watch atop a citadel in eager expectation of what is to come).
v. 5
(I am now bringing case before you,) (and here is the first part of my argument). (You should decide in my favour) For you are not a god pleased with wickedness. (Therefore,) Evil (like a nomad seeking to reside for a while under your provision and protection) will not sojourn with you. (And so, my enemies, who are wicked, should not experience your pleasure, provision or protection.)
v. 6
Boasters will not stand before your eyes, (because) You hate all workers of evil, (and my enemies are boastful workers of evil).
v. 7
You will destroy speakers of falsehood. (YHWH acts in this way, because) YHWH abhors a person of bloodshed and treachery. (My enemies are characterised by these very things: falsehood, bloodshed, and treachery. Therefore, if you are true to your character, YHWH, you will destroy them).
v. 8
But (You have made a covenant with me, YHWH, and you are always true to your covenant promises). (Therefore, whereas my enemies cannot be in your presence,) I, in the greatness of your loyalty, will go to your house, (the place, in Jerusalem, where you are worshipped). (I am currently away from your house), (and so I am away from your special presence.) (My enemies within my own kingdom have rebelled and driven me into exile). (I long to be in your presence again and to look again upon the ark of your covenant).[5] (Surely, you will bring me back, and) I will bow down toward your holy temple (your royal residence) in fear of you.
v. 9
YHWH, (you are righteous, and you always act right by your covenant). (As I seek to return to your house in Jerusalem,) lead me in your righteousness. (My enemies prevent me from returning safely. So, I need you to lead me back)[6] because of my enemies. Make your way straight before me.
v. 10
(Here is the second part of my argument for why you should declare my enemies guilty): (Not only do you hate evildoers in general, but my enemies are evildoers). For there is nothing true in his mouth. (Their speech can't be trusted because), Their inner parts are disaster. Their throat (an organ of speech) is an open tomb (which they fill with their dead victims).[7] They make their tongues deceitful.
v. 11
(Having heard my case for why my enemies are guilty,) Make them bear their guilt, God. (They have, in violence, deceit, and treachery, designed plots against me.) Let them fall from their designs. (They have driven me out of the land, away from your presence), (but it is they who deserve to be driven from the land). Drive them out because of the greatness of their crimes, for (by rebelling against me, your anointed king,)[8] they have rebelled against you.
v. 12
And (as a result of your justice being executed, your realm purged of evildoers and your anointed king restored), let all those who take refuge in you (as their king)[9] (who have remained loyal to me and to you, and who will live in your protective presence) rejoice. Let them shout forever, and may you shelter them, and let those who love you exult in you.
v. 13
For you (as the righteous king and judge of all) bless the righteous one, (the one whose behavior conforms to your requirements), (and not the wicked one). YHWH, like a large shield (which gives protection in battle),[10] you surround him with favour.
End-notes
- ↑ VanGemeren 2008:114. Cf. Botha (2018) who argues that "the editors of the Psalter attempted to present the psalm as a prayer of David at the time of his flight from Absalom."
- ↑ Cf. Ps. 89:27, "[the king] will call to me, 'You are my father, my God'"). "With the phrase, 'my God', "he expresses his personal covenant with God, just as the national covenant gives rise to the phrase, 'our God.' The king's use of 'my God' is often bound up with more particularizing expressions of God's relation to his king (18:3; 40:18; 91:2; 94:22 etc.). That 'my God' is a strong expression of privileged relationship is apparent in 89:27; God grants the king to use the expression and in the same breath declares his unique exaltation" (Eaton 1975:170-171).
- ↑ Cf. 2 Sam. 15:2; 1 Kgs 3:16-24. In 2 Sam. 15:2, we read about people bringing their cases before the king early in the morning.
- ↑ "Morning is the normal time for the liturgy and legal proceedings (cf. Ps 59:16; Exod 29:38–40; Lev 6:12; 2 Kgs 3:20); dawn is also a symbol of deliverance (cf. Pss 46:5; 90:14; 143:8; Exod 14:24; Isa 33:2; 37:36)" (Schaefer 2001:15).
- ↑ When David was away from YHWH's house, he longed to return to it. During Absalom's rebellion: “Bring the Ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in YHWH’s eyes, he will bring me back, and he will show me the ark and its habitation” (2 Sam. 15:25).
- ↑ Cf. connection between YHWH's house, guidance on a journey, and enemies in Pss 27; 43.
- ↑ Cf. Jer 5:16-17. The open grave is "the place of death and ruin - a place that continues to receive the dead" (Kraus 1988:156). "The tomb was a construction for the burial of the dead. Since much of the land of Israel, especially in the hilly regions, has little topsoil, tombs were often hewn out of bedrock. In some cases natural caves were used for burial. The entrance to a tomb was closed with a stone" (Pritz 2009:279). "The characteristic Judahite form of elite burial was the bench tomb... Common people tended to bury their dead in simple pit graves" (Christopher Hays, "Death and Burial in the Iron Age Levant", in BSOT 2018). Tombs were "associated with death, stench and decay, uncleanness" (SDBH)
- ↑ "The Israelite king's view of his enemies can be compared with that of other sacred kings. The Assyrian king, for example, considered his enemies as enemies of his gods, guilty of impious rebellion" (Eaton 1975:141).
- ↑ "'King' and 'refuge' stand on common ground: both connote protection and security for Israel's sake, including the impoverished" (e.g., 14:6; 68:5-6; 72:12-14)... [The metaphor] highlights the royal role of God, of the King who is intent on making the world a refuge and provides protection to those in distress" (Brown 2002:29-30).
- ↑ "The large shield (TSINA vs MAGEN [small shield]) was a long, oblong shield. It was about the height of a man since it was intended to protect the entire body" (Pritz 2009:102). The standing shield (TSINA), which went out of use in the seventh century BC, is mentioned in formulalike contexts in Pss 5:12; 35:2; and 91:4" (Keel 1997:223). "Sometimes the shield metaphor appears as a royal idiom, for kings were responsible for protecting their subjects (Ps 47:10; 84:10)" (DBI "Shield"). In the ANE, the king was said to have God has his shield. "Ishtar of Arbela, for example, addresses an Assyrian king as follows: 'Asarhaddon, in Arbela I am your gracious shield" (Keel 1997:223), cited in ANET 605.