Psalm 5 starts the day with morning prayer (Lauds): “In the morning you hear me; in the morning I offer you my prayer watching and waiting” (v. 4).
Tension and bitterness might shape one’s day and prayer. But John Paul II reminds us, “confidence in God is never weakened because he is always ready to sustain the faithful person so that he will not stumble on the path of life.”
We can have such confidence because the Church has received the inheritance of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that adhering to him, we find and possess happiness in Him.
As a psalm of “supplication” praying to be freed from evil, three persons are pictured in Psalm 5. Above all, God appears (vv. 2-7), he is the real You to whom the person praying turns with confidence. He is far removed from any compromise with evil: “You are not a God who delights in wickedness” (v. 5).
A long list of evil persons: the boastful, foolish, evildoers, liars, the bloodthirsty, the deceitful pass before the Lord’s gaze. The holy and just God is on the side of truth and love, so the faithful person will not feel alone and abandoned, even when confronted with evil.
In verses 8-9 the second person, the person who prays, presents himself as dedicating his whole person and entire day to God and to his “great mercy”.
From his morning prayer, the faithful one receives the interior energy to face an often hostile world. The Lord will lead him and “will make straight his way”. A simple but provocative image of the covenant that unites the Lord with his people.
Finally, we see outlined the third character of the daily drama: the enemies. After the “You” of God and the “I” of the person who prays, there is now a “They” that symbolizes of the evil of the world (vv. 10-11). Four elements express the radical nature of their inner malice: Their mouth is full of falsehood, their heart constantly plots perfidy, their throat is like an open tomb, quick to wish only death, their tongue is seductive poison.
But the prayer of the Psalmist does not end with that dark profile of the sinner, but with an end full of light and peace (vv. 12-13). The Pope notes, “A wave of serenity and joy wraps the one who is faithful to the Lord. The day which now begins, opens up before the believer. Even though it may be marked by effort and anxieties, it will always have over it the sun of divine blessing.”
You are invited to meditate on Psalm 5.
With the Psalmist, do not doubt the profound heart, mercy and salvation of God: “Lord, you bless the just; you cover him with benevolence as with a shield” (v. 13).