Psalm 5 - A Long dark night of the Soul

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. David 2 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. 3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I offer you my prayer, watching and waiting. David's Enemies 4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. David 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down towards your holy temple in the fear of you. 8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. David's Enemies 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. David 11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. 12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favour as with a shield.

The final part of the trilogy. In this Psalm, David's thoughts flit back and forwards between himself and the confidence and encouragement he has in God and his enemies and the pain of the evil they have done.  David awakes in the night, in a cold sweat, his heart pounding, with a knot in his stomach.  The confidence he felt in the daylight has evaporated. The weight of the rebellion and the betrayal of his friends heavy on his heart.  He cries out to God. Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning Give attention to .. my cry, my King and my God, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I offer you my prayer,  watching and waiting.  David is waiting in anticipation of God's response, he starts to dwell on his enemies deeds, he knows God does not support the evildoers and will not let them stay in His city for long. evil may not dwell with you But I .... will enter your house David recognises that he has access to God's house, he is welcome there. But sinner's don't.  Absalom doesn't. Even though he loves his son Absalom, he recognises that what he is doing is wrong.  He understand's that God:- abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. He asks God to:- make your way straight before me.    He doesn't want Absalom dead and indeed later when Absalom is killed in 2 Samuel 18:33 he is 'Deeply shaken, the king went up .... weeping bitterly and crying out ..., "My son Absalom! My son! My son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you.' David's thought's turn back to his enemies, to Ahithophel who has been his confidant and advisor for many years who betrayed him to work for Absalom:- there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. What is inside is rotten and filthy, they deceive with sweet words of flattery. David's asks God to deal with him.  Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; In 2 Samuel 15:31 David prays "Lord, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness." There biggest sin? they have rebelled against you In times of crisis and turmoil, our courage and confidence tends to leak and despair and anger can gain a foothold. But David's anger and fear fades as he re-establishes his connection with God. all who take refuge in you rejoice let them ever sing for joy spread your protection over them those who love your name may exult you bless the righteous you cover him with favour as with a shield