Psalm 5: What does the New Testament say about it?

The New Testament contains a limited but significant engagement with Psalm 5, concentrated primarily on the psalm’s depiction of the wicked and their destructive speech.

Paul draws directly from Psalm 5:9 in Romans 3:13, incorporating the psalm’s assessment of humanity’s spiritual corruption into his broader indictment of all mankind[1]. Specifically, Romans 3:13 quotes the description of the wicked: “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive” and “The venom of asps is under their lips”—language that mirrors Psalm 5:9’s portrayal of enemies whose “throat is an open grave” and who “flatter with their tongue”.

Beyond this direct quotation, the New Testament’s use of Psalm 5 appears more thematic than explicit. Early Christian interpreters understood the corporate solidarity of King David and Israel as foreshadowing the corporate solidarity of Christ and his church, with Psalm 5 depicting how corporate Israel typifies the church whose life is threatened by fraud and deceit[2]. This connection surfaces in Christ’s warning to his disciples: “Slaves are not greater than their master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20)[2]—a principle that echoes Psalm 5’s concern with enemies and persecution.

The psalm’s emphasis on sins of the tongue and the character of the wicked aligns broadly with New Testament ethical teaching, particularly in James and the Gospels’ treatment of speech and hypocrisy, though these passages do not cite Psalm 5 directly. The most concrete New Testament engagement remains Paul’s incorporation of Psalm 5:9 into his theological argument about universal human depravity.

[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005).

[2] Bruce K. Waltke, James M. Houston, and Erika Moore, The Psalms as Christian Lament: A Historical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 24–25.

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