Why read Psalm 5?
Read Psalm 5 at the start of the day when you seek guidance and integrity. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer and lead him along a straight path, away from deceit.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 5 — “Hear my words, Lord! Understand my cry...” — is the prayer through which the Psalmist places the experience of an entire hour of life before God. It belongs to the 1st Kathisma and has 12 verses, which you will find in full below.
The text of Psalm 5
1. Hear my words, Lord! Understand my cry!
2. Pay heed to the voice of my prayer, my King and my God, for to You I shall pray, Lord!
3. In the morning You will hear my voice; in the morning I shall stand before You, and You will see me.
4. For You are God, who does not desire lawlessness, nor will the deceitful dwell beside You.
5. Lawbreakers will not stand before Your eyes. You have hated all who work lawlessness.
6. You will destroy all who speak lies; the Lord hates the murderer and the deceitful.
7. But I, in the abundance of Your mercy, shall enter Your house; I shall bow towards Your holy dwelling in fear of You.
8. Lord, guide me in Your righteousness because of my enemies! Make Your way straight before me.
9. For there is no truth in their mouths, their heart is empty; their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they practise deceit.
10. Judge them, God; let them fall through their own counsels; according to the multitude of their lawless deeds, drive them away, for they have grieved You, Lord,
11. And let all who hope in You rejoice; for ever they will be glad, and You will be their dwelling, and all who love Your name will glory in You.
12. For You will bless the righteous, Lord, for with the weapon of goodwill You have crowned us.
When Psalm 5 is read
- in the morning — a psalm of Matins.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
Read also
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
