PRAY FOR YOUR NEEEDS (PSALMS 5)
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Here is a list of Irish curses:
If your crop is tall, may your help be small
May the devil take your last shilling!
May you marry in haste and repent at leisure.
If you eat, that you may not shit!
May you be eaten by an awful itch!
May you be afflicted with an itch and have no nails to scratch with!
May you die without a priest in a town with no clergy.
May you leave without returning.
Have you prayed against your enemies, pronounced woe upon them and wished for their misfortune? There are23 or more Psalms ( Psalms 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 58, 69, 79, 83, 109, 137, 139, and 143 which are considered imprecatory prayers – praying against our enemies for their defeat, disgrace and destruction.
These “imprecatory psalms” are prayer songs that come from the sadness and suffering, pain and persecution inflicted at the hands of their enemies. The verb “imprecate” means “to pray evil against” or “to invoke curse upon another.”
The New Testament has its version:
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
1 Corinthians 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Bible commentators suggest David’s enemies could refer to his son Absalom, Saul’s servant Doeg the Edomite (1 Sam 22:9) and Saul’s adviser Ahithophel (2 Sam 16:21, 17:1).
What can we do in the presence and prevalence of evil, wickedness and injustice? How do we pray when our enemies overwhelm us? Why is it better to pray instead of to pout?
Reach for Our Help from the Lord
1 Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. 4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. 5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; 6 you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest. 7 But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.
In the Fiddler on the Roof, the rabbi, a student in the tiny Jewish communityof Anatevka in Russia, came up to the beloved rabbi, the town’s most important person, and asked him: “Rabbi ( Rabbi), may I ask you a question?” “Of course, Leibesh” the rabbi replied. “Is there a proper blessing for the Tzar?” Everybody can’t help but roared in laughter when the Rabbi said, “A blessing for the Tzar? Of course. May God bless and keep the Tzar…far away from us!”
Pope Francis has admitted that he sometimes nods off while praying. "When I pray, sometimes I fall asleep," he said in a television program published on Youtube. "Saint Therese used to do it too", the 80-year-old pontiff said - in reference to the 19th Century Catholic saint. But he said that falling asleep during prayer actually pleased God and that Christians were called to "feel like children lying in their fathers' arms.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41829338#
Listen (v 1) Consider (v 1) Hear (v 2)
Lord (v 1 Yahweh) King (v 2) God (v 2, Elohim)
My words (say) My lament My cry
A psalm can operate on three levels, as praise, poem and prayer. There is more talk of enemy or enemies in Psalms than any book in the Bible, but the first thing the psalmist did is to pray to God, talk to Him or look to Him. There are three “hear” verbs in the chapter (vv 1, 2, 3). Listen (v 1) is an imperative and it can be translated as hearken (Gen 4:23), give ear (Ex 15:26) and perceive (Isa 64:4). An imperative mood can be a command or an urgent request. All of the traditional versions from KJV to NASB and RSV still prefer to use the old translation “give ear” because the verb is taken from the noun “ear.” The corresponding imperative in verse 1 “consider” (which I like) is to understand. The noun “meditation” is radically translated as “groaning” by NASB, RSV and ESV and “sighing” by Holman Publishers, which means with voice (v 3) and noise rather than in peace and quiet, because the word has a sense of murmuring or muttering. The third imperative “hear” (v 2) is translated as mark well (Job 33:31), attend (Ps 17:1), regard (Prov 1:24), incline (Prov 2:2) and give heed (Jer 18:18). For a Psalm to begin with three imperatives, it could only mean turning to God, talking with Him and trusting in Him.
Listen (v 1) Consider (v 1) Hear (v 2)
Ear Understand (62x), understanding (32x), Pierce
Stretch Sympathize Sharpen
Lord (v 1 Yahweh) King (v 2) God (v 2, Elohim)
National Personal Universal
Master Monarch Maker
My words (say) My lament (sigh), feeling
indistinct My cry (s) grief
Say Sigh Sobs
Talk Tenderness Tears
The personal or possessive pronoun “my” in “my King” and “my God” implies a close, consistent and continuous relationship, not a cold, contingent or conditional relationship. The phrase “My God” is the most personal, precious and passionate cry and title in the Psalms. You cannot follow with an “I” after “My Lord” or “My king” in Psalms, but you can follow by an “I” after “my God”:
Ps 25:2, O my God, I trust in thee…
Ps 30:2, O Lord my God, I cried unto thee…
Ps 118:28, Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
It is a call more than exclamation
My lament and my cry are progressive in that whimper versus wailing, grumbling versus grieving, from feeling to freeing the emotions.
Not Welcome Not Stand? Hate Destroy Detest
Dismiss
Distant
Differentiate Destroy Despise
There is no place, patience and ppity from God for evil men and their practices.
Rest Upon Hope in the Lord
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. 4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. 5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong; 6 you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, Lord, detest.
One day a guest teacher was sent to visit a particular (sick) child to help him keep up with their school work during stays in the city's hospitals. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned, was in great pain and had given up hope. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I've been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn't accomplished much.
But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don't know what I mean. We've been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live."
Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?" ( Bits & Pieces, July 1991)
“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my cry” does not mean we can only pray to him in the morning, but that He is available to hear you whenever you are ready in the morning. It means the Lord can hear you the moment you are awake, alone or active. Lay/direct (v 3) is array (Judg 20:22), set it in order (Isa 44:7) and prepare (Isa 65:11), while wait is watch (Gen 31:49, as in the famous watchman passage in Ezekiel 33:6. Who knows what a day may bring forth? (Barnes, Albert) There are three “not” in verse 4-5. Cannot stand means no habitation, housing or host or harbor. No friendship, fellowship or fraternity with them.
Lay/direct Wait/look Up
Arrange Abandon
Task-oriented Time-oriented
Qal (regular verb) Piel (intensive verb “surely”)
Welcome (v 4) is sojourn (Gen 12:10), dwell (Job 19:15), abide (Ps 15:1), gather together (Ps 56:6) and assemble (Hos 7:14). Stand (v 5) means present oneself (
Deut 31:14) and withstand (2 Chron 20:6). It is welcome versus withstand. Hate and abhor is different. Abhor is abominable.
Not Welcome Not Stand Hate Destroy Detest
Dismiss Distant Differentiate Destroy Despise
7 But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple. 8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me. 9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. 10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.
“I will worship” is not found in anywhere in Psalms except this passage and Psalm 138:2. One of the authority of the believer is the ability to come into God’s presence. The statement “I will worship” is a clear and unmistakable confidence, courage and conscience to know God will accept us.
The imperative “lead” (v 8) can be translated as straighten (Job 12:23), guide (Job 31:18) and govern (Ps 67:4). It is not to fight in your own strength or strategy against your enemies (plural). The other imperative “make straight” (v 8) is right (1 Chron 13:4), pleased (2 Chron 30:4), direct (Job 37:3) and uprightly (Prov 15:21).
Lead Make straight
Steer Smoothen
Oversee Overcome
Rule Right
The reason (v 9 “ki”) is because of internal issues with the character of the enemy: not a word from their mouth can be trusted (establish); their heart/inward part is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.” Tell lies/flatter is to divide (Gen 14:15), part (1 Sam 30:24), distribute (1 Chron 24:3) and separate (Jer 37:12). The dangers are all there: vague (mouth), vile (heart), voracious (throat) and void (lies).
Mouth Heart Throat Tongues
Deceive Damage Damn Divide
The verbs “declare guilty/destroy” (v 10) and “banish/cast out” are imperatives. Guilty (v 10) is trespass (Lev 5:19), desolate (Ps 34:21) and offend (Jer 2:3). “Intrigues/counsels” (v 10) and “sins/transgressions” are plural, not withstanding “multitude.” Banish is drive (Deut 4:19), thrust (Deut 13:5), expel (2 Sam 14:14) and outcast (Isa 16:3). Guilty is the examination and evidence, and banish is the eviction or exile, the crime and the consequences, the offense and the outcome.
Declare guilty is to examine, expose and embarrass them.
Banish is to expel, exclude and extinguish imprison them.
Declare guilty/destroy… their intrigues Banish/cast … their many sins
Their thoughts (plural) Their transgressions
Their devises Their deeds
Their schemes Their sins
The psalmist is not trying to stain, smear or slander the enemies’ guilt, but he is not willing to speak his case, submit share and support his stand and supply his evidence strengthen his argument supplement not suppress his emotions or subdue still or stifle his voice or seethe in anger . What drives us to God? Sin, enemies and even our weaknesses, inabilities and failures.
Rebound with Happiness unto the Lord
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
McCullough and Emmons randomly assigned participants to three groups to rate their moods, physical health, and overall judgments concerning how their lives were going and to measure how happy these people were before and after a test. Every week for ten weeks each participant kept a short journal. “They either briefly described, in a single sentence, five things they were grateful for that had occurred in the past week (the gratitude condition), or they did the opposite, describing five daily hassles from the previous week (the hassles condition) that they were displeased about. The neutral group was simply asked to list five events or circumstances that affected them in the last week, and they were not told to accentuate the positive or negative aspects of those circumstances (the events condition).”
THE RESULTS: “Those in the gratitude condition reported fewer health complaints and even spent more time exercising than control participants did. The gratitude group participants experienced fewer symptoms of physical illness that those in either of the other two groups. Lastly, there was a main effect for hours of exercise: people in the gratitude condition spent significantly more time exercising (nearly 1.5 hours more per week) than those in the hassles condition”. They also studied people with Neuromuscular disorders (mostly people with post polio syndrome) and found “the participants showed significantly more positive affect and satisfaction with life, while also showing less negative affect than the control group. …Compared to those who were not jotting down their blessings nightly, participants in the gratitude condition reported getting more hours of sleep each night, spending less time awake before falling asleep, and feeling more refreshed upon awakening.”
MORE INFORMATION: Book: R. A. Emmons (2007) Thanks! How the new science of gratitude can make you happier. New York: Houghton Mifflin.Original study: Emmons, R. A. & McCullough, M. E. (2003) Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well being in daily life, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84: 377-89.
This is a seemingly simple strategy but I've personally found it to make a huge difference to my outlook. There are lots of ways to practice gratitude, from keeping a journal of things you're grateful for, sharing three good things that happen each day with a friend or your partner, and going out of your way to show gratitude when others help you.
In an experiment where participants took note of things they were grateful for each day, their moods were improved just from this simple practice:
The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures across the three studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits.
The Journal of Happiness studies published a study that used letters of gratitude to test how being grateful can affect our levels of happiness: Participants included 219 men and women who wrote three letters of gratitude over a 3 week period. Results indicated that writing letters of gratitude increased participants' happiness and life satisfaction while decreasing depressive symptoms.
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be-incredibly-happy-wed.html
There are at least eighteen psalms that end with a chorus or invitation or challenge for “all” in the last two verses (Ps 2:12, 5:12, 31:24, 32:11, 34:22, 40:16, 63:11, 64:10, 67:7, 69:34, 72:19, 76:11, 103:22, 106:48, 145:21, 148:14, 149:9, 150:6) to join in, including Psalm 5:12, to be of the same belief, behavior or bidding. Fewer psalms begin the chapter with “all” (Ps 47:1, 49:1, 66:1, 96:1, 117:1, 128:1, 134:1, 148:2). Psalm 5 turned out to be more educating, encouraging and edifying the community than personal vendetta. In Psalms readers are encourages to lift their eyes to the Lord (Ps 121:1), lift their hands (Ps 10:12) and lift their soul to the Lord (Ps 25:1). The genius is that you hear them out before you heal them inside, you feel for them before you fix them or find a solution, accept them before you advise them.
Be glad (v 11) means rejoice (Lev 23:40), shall joy (Ps 21:1) and be merry (Eccl 8:15). It occurs 52 times in Psalms, one of the chief distinctive of Psalms, a crown, climax. Sing for joy is “shout for joy” in KJV. 26 of its 54 occurrences times in Psalms. It can mean shout aloud ( Ps 51:14), cry out (Ps 84:2) and triumph (Ps 92:4), to a lesser degree. The last rejoice in verse 11 is “jump for joy.” Joy is an attitude, an action and an audacity, an assurance, an approach, an application, an attempt,
There are two reasons listed in verse 12. One is God’s blessing and one with God’s favor. 75 of 330 times of “bless” is found in Psalms. Bless is top down, surround is round about. The verb surround is more compass (1 Sam 23:26, Ps 5:12). Compass means to encircle, enclose, empower and enable. Joy can be a feeling or faith. Uplifting Live with a song in our heart, a psalm or a prayer when you’re down.
The Lord is both sword and shield, safeguard and sanctuary and shelter, your strength and your sufficiency shade. He will be before and behind us, left and right of us, up and about us.
