“Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.”
The invocation to give heed to the sound of the speaker's cry and the petition for the Lord to hear as King suggests addressing God in His royal capacity as one who possesses both power to aid and obligation to hear subjects' petitions. The emphasis on sound emphasizes that prayer must reach God's perception, whether through articulation or the deeper communication of embodied distress. The mention of kingship establishes a feudal relationship where the speaker addresses God as vassal approaching the throne, making prayer an act that presumes access and relationship. This verse establishes the psalm's theological framework: the speaker's crisis presents itself to God's royal court as matter requiring sovereign attention.
Church Fathers on Psalms 5:2
1. The title of the Psalm is, “For her who receives the inheritance.” The Church then is signified, who receives for her inheritance eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ; that she may possess God Himself, in cleaving to whom she may be blessed, according to that, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.” Matthew 5:5 What earth, but that of which it is said, “You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living”? And again more clearly, “The Lord is the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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