The Morning Resolve: Finding God's Straight Path in a Crooked World
Sermon on Psalm 5
Introduction
What is the very first thing that occupies your mind when you wake up in the morning? Before your feet even touch the floor, in that quiet, vulnerable moment between sleep and the full awareness of the day, where does your mind go? If we are truly honest, most of us are immediately pulled into a vortex of digital demands and daily duties. The soft blue light of the phone screen is our sunrise. We are greeted not by the stillness of dawn, but by a deluge of emails, a torrent of breaking news, a stream of social media posts showing us the curated highlights of everyone else's life. Before we have even had a chance to fully form a thought of our own, our minds are hijacked by the world's agenda. The anxieties of the day rush in like a flood-the looming deadline at work, the tension in a relationship, the health concern that won't go away, the financial pressure that feels like a physical weight upon our chests.
The psalmist David, though living three millennia ago, knew this battle for the first thoughts of the day. As a shepherd, a fugitive, and then a king, his mornings likely dawned with immense pressure. He faced threats of assassination, the burden of national leadership, and the constant danger of his own moral failings. His life was anything but peaceful. And yet, it is precisely out of that pressure-cooker existence that he pens this 5th Psalm. This is not a song from a peaceful monastic retreat; it is a battle plan from the front lines of a difficult life. It is a morning prayer, a divine blueprint for how to orient our hearts and minds at the dawn of each new day, a lesson in how to find a straight path in what is, and always has been, a very crooked world.
In this powerful Psalm, David gives us four foundational pillars for a life that walks in God's favor. It begins with a simple, yet profound, morning resolve.
1. The Priority of Morning Prayer (vv. 1-3)
David begins with an impassioned cry. Notice the two distinct requests in verse 1: "Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation." He asks God to hear not only his articulated, spoken prayers-the "words"-but also the silent, formless groaning of his soul-his "meditation." He is inviting God into the deepest, most hidden parts of his being.
But it is verse 3 that contains the revolutionary strategy: "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Let's not read that verse too quickly. The word "direct" here is a powerful, sacrificial term. It's the Hebrew word used for laying the wood and the sacrifice in order upon the altar in the Tabernacle. David isn't just tossing a sleepy, casual prayer toward heaven. He is deliberately, carefully, and reverently preparing his heart. He is saying, "God, the very first and best part of my day-my time, my attention, my energy-I am placing it on Your altar as a dedicated offering."
Imagine a world-class musician before a concert. Does she just walk on stage and start playing? No. She meticulously tunes her instrument. If even one string is off, the entire performance will be dissonant. David is teaching us to tune the instrument of our souls to the pitch of heaven before we attempt to play the music of our day. If we don't, we will be out of tune with God's will all day long.
And after he directs his prayer, he says, "...and will look up." This is not a posture of doubt, but of eager expectation. He doesn't just launch his prayer like a message in a bottle into the cosmic ocean. He looks up, scanning the horizon of his day, expecting to see God at work. He believes the God he prays to will hear, and that He will answer.
Application: What would change in our lives if we adopted this single verse as our own? What if, for one week, we made a covenant to give God the "firstfruits" of our day? This means the phone stays on the nightstand. The TV stays off. Before the worries of your world rush in, you find a quiet corner and you deliberately direct your prayer to God. You don't have to be eloquent. You can simply pray this psalm back to Him. Tell Him, "Lord, today I direct my prayer to you, and I am looking up, expecting you to lead me." You are setting the spiritual tone for your entire day, declaring your dependence on Him before you declare dependence on your own strength, your own plans, or your morning cup of coffee.
2. The Reality of a Holy God (vv. 4-6)
Why is this morning prayer so vital? Because of who we are praying to. David's confidence is rooted in the unshakable character of God. He is not praying to a vague, malleable "higher power." He is praying to the Holy One of Israel.
Look at the stark language of verses 4-6: "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing (lies): the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man."
This language makes our modern, sanitized sensibilities uncomfortable. The word "hatest" grates on our ears. But we must understand this is not a fickle, human emotion. This is a divine, settled opposition to all that is corrupt, all that destroys, and all that defiles His beautiful creation. God's hatred of sin is the necessary other side of His love for righteousness. A doctor who truly loves his patient must hate the cancer that is killing them. In the same way, God loves humanity so much that He hates the sin that infects and destroys us. He hates lies because He is the God of Truth. He abhors deceit because He is the God of Faithfulness.
Application: Understanding God's holiness is a critical check for our prayer life. It reminds us that we cannot approach a holy God with a flippant attitude or a heart that is secretly cherishing sin. It exposes the hypocrisy of praying, "Lord, lead me," while simultaneously planning to engage in something that He abhors. This part of the psalm calls us to a moment of self-examination. Are we asking God to bless our path while we are willfully walking in the mud? Our prayer for guidance must be coupled with a genuine desire for personal holiness, a willingness to say, "Lord, show me anything in my life that is not pleasing to you, and give me the grace to forsake it."
3. The Path of the Righteous (vv. 7-8, 12)
After describing the God who is utterly holy, David makes a stunning turn in verse 7. Given God's holiness, we would expect David to say, "Therefore, I must stay far away." Instead, he declares with confidence: "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple."
How can he, an imperfect man, dare to enter the house of a perfectly holy God? He gives us the answer: not by his own merit, not by his own righteousness, but by "the multitude of thy mercy." He is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of God's grace. For us who live on this side of the cross, that mercy has a name: the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only because of the blood of Jesus that we can be washed clean and enter the presence of God without being consumed.
And notice the result of experiencing this mercy. It doesn't lead to a casual, "buddy-buddy" relationship. It leads to worship "in thy fear." This isn't a cowering terror; it is a reverent awe. The more we grasp the magnitude of His mercy, the more profound our reverence for Him becomes.
It is from this place brought near by mercy and bowed in awe-that David makes the central request of the entire psalm in verse 8: "Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face."
David was surrounded by a crooked world and cunning enemies. He describes them vividly: their mouths are unfaithful, their hearts are wicked, their throats are like an open grave, reeking of death, and their tongues are slick with flattery. He knew that left to his own wisdom, he would stumble. He would be deceived. He would take a wrong turn. So his desperate, essential prayer is, "God, the path is confusing. The fog is thick. My enemies are whispering, trying to lure me off the cliff. I need You to be my guide. Shine a light. Make your path for me so clear, so plain, so straight that I cannot miss it."
Application: Your enemies may not carry swords, but they are just as real. The enemy of your soul whispers lies. The culture around you presents crooked paths as enlightened ones. The pride in your own heart tells you that you don't need a guide.
Our daily, desperate prayer must be the same as David's. "Lord, make your way straight before me in this difficult meeting. Lead me in righteousness in this conversation with my spouse. Guide my financial decisions. Direct my parenting."
And what is the result? Verse 12 is one of the most glorious promises in all the Psalms: "For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield." The shield in mind here isn't a small buckler that deflects a few blows. This is the great Roman scutum, the full-body shield that a soldier could crouch behind, completely protected. God is saying that His favor will surround you, protecting you from all sides-front, back, above, and below.
4. The Joy of the Trusting (v. 11)
So, what is the emotional climate of a life lived this way? Is it a life of grim, white-knuckled duty? A life of constant anxiety about staying on the path? Absolutely not. The destination of this path is exuberant joy.
Look at the explosion of praise in verse 11: "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee."
Joy is the inevitable byproduct of trust. Shouting joy is the natural response of a soul that knows it is defended by Almighty God. This is not the fleeting, circumstantial happiness that the world chases. Happiness depends on happenings. If things are going well, we're happy. If they're not, we're unhappy. But the joy David speaks of is a deep, abiding, supernatural delight that is rooted not in our circumstances, but in the unchanging reality of our Defender.
Application: Is your faith characterized by this kind of joy? It is the great litmus test. This joy is a powerful witness to a watching world. When everything in our lives seems to be going wrong, but we have a settled joy in our hearts, people will ask, "What is the source of your hope?" And we can answer with the assurance of David: "My joy is not in my circumstances; my joy is in my Defender. I am joyful because the God of the universe loves my name and compasses me with His favor as a shield."
Conclusion
So we see the divine pattern David lays out for us. It is a four-fold morning resolve:
1. The Discipline of the Morning Prayer: Committing the first and best of our day to Him.
2. The Doctrine of the Holy God: Remembering who it is we pray to, which inspires both reverence and self-examination.
3. The Direction of the Straight Path: Humbly asking for His guidance, knowing we enter His presence only by His mercy.
4. The Delight of the Defended Soul: Living in the shouting joy that comes from trusting our Divine Shield.
How you begin your day matters more than you can possibly imagine. It sets the trajectory not just for the next 24 hours, but for your life.
I want to challenge you, not just with a vague encouragement, but with a specific call to action. I am asking you to make a one-week covenant with God. Seven days. For the next seven mornings, before your feet hit the floor, before the phone screen lights up, before the coffee starts to brew, you will find a quiet place and open your Bible to Psalm 5. You will make verse 8 your personal prayer: "Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness... make thy way straight before my face." Lay the specific challenges of your day before Him and ask for His clear-as-daylight guidance.
Do this for seven days and see if it does not change the trajectory, not just of your day, but of your heart. See if you do not begin to walk with a greater sense of purpose, a deeper holiness, and a more resilient joy.
their week, may You, Lord, bless them, the righteous. May You compass them, this very week, with favour as with a shield. In the mighty and joyful name of Jesus, our Defender. Amen.
