Psalm 5 Devotional

Waiting at Daybreak

“In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.”Psalm 5:3 (BSB)

At daybreak, David lays his plea before the LORD and then waits in expectation (5:3). He is honest about what troubles him: people whose words cannot be trusted, whose throats are like open graves (5:9). He asks God to declare them guilty and let their own schemes bring them down (5:10). He is not taking revenge into his own hands. He is handing the matter to a God who takes no pleasure in wickedness (5:4).

That holiness could be frightening, since no one is spotless before such a God. But David does not enter God's house on his own merit. He comes by the abundance of God's loving devotion (5:7), the steady love God has pledged to his people. The same holiness that shuts out evil opens the door to all who take refuge in him, and surrounds them like a shield (5:11-12). Beginning the day with God is not a way to earn his favor. It is a way to stand in it.

To think about: What could you lay before God at the start of tomorrow, and how might you watch for his answer through the day?