Salmene 5:3

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Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Gill's Notes on the Bible

My voice shall thou hear in the morning, O Lord,.... These words may be considered either as expressing the confidence of the psalmist, that the Lord would hear and answer him, and that in the morning, every morning, as soon and as often as he prayed; or that he would hear him early, quickly, speedily, seasonably, and at the best time; or else as declaring what he would do in consequence of his resolution to pray to the Lord in Psalms 5:2; he would pray to him every morning: the morning is a proper time for prayer, both to return thanks to God for refreshing sleep and rest, for preservation from dangers by fire, by thieves and murderers, and for renewed mercies in the morning; as also to pray to God to keep from evil and dangers the day following; to give daily food, and to succeed in business and the employments of life; and for a continuation of every mercy, temporal and spiritual. God should be served and sought in the first place; and so to do looks as if God was with his people, and they with him, when they awake in the morning. The Targum and Arabic version consider the words as a petition, and render them, "Hear d in the morning, O Lord, my voice", or "my petition"; and so bear the same sense as the other petitions;

in the morning will I direct [my prayer] unto thee; or "set [it] in order" e: not so much respecting the order of words, the method of prayer, which is sometimes very broken and confused, and yet regarded by God; but in allusion either to the shewbread, placed in order on the table, which was typical of Christ's continual intercession for his people, Exodus 40:4; or to the offering of incense and other sacrifices, which when offered were put in order upon the altar; and to which prayer is compared, Psalms 141:2. Or the words may be rendered, "I will stand before thee in the morning", as the Arabic version; or, "I will present unto thee", as the Septuagint; that is, myself; see Job 1:6

Romans 12:1; though the supplement, "my prayer", seems to be a good one; and so the words are supplied by the Jewish commentators f;

and will look up; or "out" g as out of a watch tower, Habakkuk 2:1; to see if help is coming, and for an answer of prayer: the phrase is expressive of hope, expectation, faith, and confidence, that an answer would be returned; and therefore the psalmist determines to look upwards to heaven, whither he directed his prayer, and from whence the answer must come; and to look out from his watch tower, where he was waiting for it, and to continue patiently expecting it till he had it: and the ground of his confidence were the nature and perfections of God, particularly his purity and holiness, as appears from Psalms 5:4.

d תשמע "audi", Vatablus, Gejerus. e אערך "disponam", Montanus, Michaelis; "praeparabo", Pagninus, Musculus; "ordinabo", Piscator, Gejerus. f Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Ben Melech in loc. g אצפה "speculabor", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Michaelis "speculatorus", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord - The voice of prayer. Compare the notes at Psalms 3:5. Probably he refers here to a general habit of praying in the morning, though he makes a particular reference to his circumstances at that time. Compare Psalms 55:17. The psalmist felt, doubtless, that while it was a general duty and privilege to call upon God with the return of each morning, there was a special reason for it in the circumstances in which he then was. See the introduction to the psalm. He was then surrounded by enemies, and was in danger, and it was only in God that he could hope for protection even for a single day. The propriety of looking to God in the morning by prayer commends itself to any reflecting mind. Who knows what a day may bring forth? Who knows what temptations may await him? Who can protect himself from the dangers which may encompass him? Who can enable us to discharge the duties which are incumbent on us every day? Feeble, helpless, sinful, prone to err, in a world of temptation, and surrounded by dangers alike when we see them and when we do not, there is an obvious fitness in looking to God each morning for his guidance and protection; and the resolution of the psalmist here should be the firm purpose of every man.

In the morning - Regularly; each morning.

Will I direct my prayer unto thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, “set in order.” The word used here - ערך ‛ârak - means properly to place in a row, to put in order, to arrange, e. g., to place wood upon the altar Genesis 22:9; Leviticus 1:7; to arrange the showbread on the table Exodus 40:23; Leviticus 24:6, Leviticus 24:8. There is, not improbably, an allusion to these customs in the use of the word here; and the meaning may be, that his prayer would be a regularly arranged service before God. It would be a kind of morning sacrifice, and it would be arranged and performed with a suitable regard to the nature of the service - the fact that it was rendered to the great God. There would be a devout regard to propriety - a serious and solemn attention to the duties involved in the act as the worship of a holy God. Prayer should not be rash; it should not be performend negligently or with a light spirit; it should engage the profound thought of the soul, and it should be performed with the same serious regard to time and to propriety which was demanded in the solemn and carefully prescribed rites of the ancient temple-service.

And will look up - The word used here - צפה tsâphâh - means, properly, to look about, to view from a distance. In Isaiah 21:5, it refers to a tower which has a wide prospect. Compare Song of Solomon 7:4. The idea here is properly that he would watch, narrowly and carefully (as one does who is stationed on a tower), for some token of divine favor - for some answer to his prayer - for some divine interposition - for some intimation of the divine will. This is, perhaps, equivalent to the Saviour’s repeated command to “watch and pray.” The notion of looking “up” is not necessarily in the word used here, but it indicates the state of mind where there is deep and careful solicitude as to the answer to prayer.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning — We find from this that he had not prayed in vain. He had received a blessed answer; God had lifted upon him the light of his countenance; and he therefore determines to be an early applicant at the throne of grace: "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning." He finds it good to begin the day with God; to let Divine things occupy the first place in his waking thoughts; as that which first occupies the mind on awaking is most likely to keep possession of the heart all the day through.

In the morning will I direct my prayer — Here seems to be a metaphor taken from an archer. He sees his mark; puts his arrow in his bow; directs his shaft to the mark, i.e., takes his aim; lets fly, and then looks up, to see if he have hit his mark. Prayers that have a right aim, will have a prompt answer; and he who sends up his petitions to God through Christ, from a warm, affectionate heart, may confidently look up for an answer, for it will come. If an immediate answer be not given, let not the upright heart suppose that the prayer is not heard. It has found its way to the throne; and there it is registered.