Psalm 5: The "In the Morning" Prayer Psalm
Psalm Five Stats: Superscription: "To the Chief Musician with Wind Instruments*, A Psalm of David" Book I # of Verses: 12 *Flutes
First Verse: "Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my meditation (sighing-groaning)."
Final Verse: "For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous with favor wilt thou compass (surround) him as with a shield."
Mark It! My and Thy Parts: My: (David) my words, my meditation, my cry, my King, my God, my voice, my prayer, my face. Thy: (The LORD) thy righteous, thy way, thy house, thy holy temple
A Morning Prayer: In the morning, says verse three, David would direct his prayer unto the LORD, and look up. Does the Lord hear your voice in the morning?
Mom's Morning Prayer Time: Every morning my mom got down on her knees beside her bed. Always first she would cover her head with a small handkerchief for mom believed this scriptural. Little feet would interrupt her many times, but faithful mom always kept her on-her-knees morning prayer time each and every day but Sunday. How blessed was I to have had a mother who demonstrated prayer and Scriptural reading all the days of her life. How I thank the Lord over and over for her godly example!
Illustrate It! Draw a picture of King David surrounded by an upward pointing arrow frame as he prayed to his King and his God.
Note It! The Evil Vs. The Righteous: David noted that God took no pleasure in wickedness. The foolish, says David, won't stand with you God. But, David ends with you Lord will bless the righteous.
Psalm 5's Five Stanzas: This psalm has five parts three positive, and two negative. Verses one-three finds David directing his morning prayer up to the Lord. Verses four-six describe God isn't pleased with wickedness-- the workers of iniquity. Verses seven, eight is positive again for David says, "as for me, I will come into thy house ... I will worship toward thy holy temple ... make thy way straight before my face ...." Verses nine, ten change once again that the wicked are not faithful ... they have rebelled against God. Finally, verses eleven, and twelve end with "But let all those trust in thee rejoice.... bless the righteous."
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down! Read aloud Psalm 5 with video. Discuss which parts or sections deserve and thumbs up, or a thumbs down. Practice reading Psalm using the thumb signal. See photo. Click here to listen to Psalm 5 audio. Bing Videos
A Psalm Story Con-verse-sation Starter: I have a book, a more than a hundred and forty-year-old book, from the reign of Queen Victoria who died at 81 in 1901--one of the longest reigning monarchs of the UK. Its black cover title is nearly unreadable except for the words "Church Hymns" at the bottom, but its inner pages though a bit tattered are not. Its exact title is: The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England: Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David ...." Its first section is "The Order for Morning Prayer" while the second section is "The Order for Evening Prayer."
This prayer book belonged to my Uncle John who lived in Burnley, England. He must have been a young man when he used this book as he came via boat to the United States about 1911 just before the Titanic sank. What a treasure and conversation starter for our grandchildren to talk about.
Con-verse-sation Starter: Explain that the Book of Common Prayer has many parts. One is "The Order for Morning and Evening Prayer" Now often the content of these prayers is straight from Scripture, while other times it is a prayer someone has written. Many of the prayers often tell you when to sit, and when to stand, and what to answer.
However, often while performing ritual like prayer that the more one repeats the same thing over and over the more one may not pay attention to what they are saying, and the prayers then become rote repetition or vain repetition. Be aware often some churches use endless ritual rather than the sure Word of God.
May the Lord hear our voices in the morning with prayers that come from our hearts. And like David may we put our trust in the Lord and in the morning may we direct our prayer to him and look up!
Parent Note: Often those who practice yoga lift up their eyes to the morning sun as do yogis, but may we direct our prayer to the Son of God. For more thoughts see the article from the series here: "ABC: Bible Meditation for Me! S Is for Sun!"
Learn to Discern Granny: ABC: Bible Meditation for Me!: S Is for Sun! (Click on this line to read "S Is for Sun!" Very informative!)
Stat Mat Statistics: View the Stat Mat at the bottom; click to enlarge. Note its statistics--it's a Book I Psalm of David lament with twelve verses. Look at the REF. suggested from Ps. 55:17 which begins with Evening Prayer to Morning Prayer to Noontime Prayer. Make a bright bookmark with a moon, rising sun, and noontime sun--click on the stat photo to see a closeup. Note the small pic of Wee Sing Bible Songs (1986); find it online here:
Illustrate or use a color book pic of David the author of this psalm. How many Psalms of David are there? Define "lament" --use a Bible concordance or online dictionary.
Chat Mat #1: At the start of this Psalm study, I found a bag of foam/sticker musical symbols to use round the mat in a variety of ways. Using page 37 from my Wee Sing Book I colored and popped up kids praising the Lord. Cutting round parts of pics is something younger kids enjoy as they move the figures while singing or repeating Scripture. See the little David with his tactile gear--his sword is movable, and his bottle top shield helps kids understand that a shield can be moved about to protect oneself. Note the last verse of the Psalm that uses the word--shield. Truly as another Psalm says the Lord is a shield for me, the lifter of mine head!
Chat Mat #2: This mat centers round comparing yogic salutations or greetings in the morning compared to Biblical ones said in morning prayers. Here is a terrific opportunity to teach your kids the difference. Youngsters and oldsters can easily learn to whom one should pray! Will one pray to the Hindu sun God Surya or the Biblical Lord? Many kid books make yoga poses into cute little exercises but that is not what they really are. Recall the commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." or the Verse from Deuteronomy which clearly tells one not to worship the sun, moon, or stars. By the way: What is the role according to Ps.148 of the sun, moon, and stars.?
Chat Mat Suggestion: Personalize this mat to fit the needs of your friends/family. As I possess a treasure trove of old books with interesting family history and history of England this is a great opportunity to share many scriptural prayer psalms and verses.
Action Rhyme for Kids
In the Morning Let's
Take a Psalm Break!
In the morning let's take a Psalm break!
A lift up your palms break.
An everyone be calm break.
A look up to God break, to pray:
"Hearken to the voice of my cry,
my King, and my God: for unto
thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou
hear in the morning, O LORD:
in the morning will I direct my prayer
unto thee and look up." (From Ps. 5:2-3)
LEP
Motions:
Lift up palms. Cross arms; sway.
Fold hands. Pray. Touch lips. Point up.
