🎵WEB · Psalms 5:4
What does Psalms 5:4 mean?
"For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you."
— Psalms 5:4 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Give ear to my words, Yahweh. Consider my meditation.
Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for to you do I pray.
Yahweh, in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.
For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you.
The arrogant shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
You will destroy those who speak lies. Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you.
Explanation
Psalm 5:4 in the World English Bible reads, "For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can't live with you." In plain language, David is declaring a basic truth about God's character: God does not delight in sin, and evil finds no home or welcome in his presence. This isn't a statement about God's power or knowledge, but about his moral nature — he is fundamentally opposed to wickedness, not indifferent to it or entertained by it.
This verse comes from a psalm of David, traditionally understood as a morning prayer offered before facing the day, likely amid opposition from enemies or false accusers. The psalm opens with David crying out to God for help, expressing confidence that God hears him because of who God is. Verses 4-6 form the theological foundation for David's plea: he reasons that because God hates wickedness, boastfulness, lying, and bloodshed, God will not ignore evildoers or the psalmist's righteous cause. David is essentially building his case for why he can trust God to act — not because David is flawless, but because God's very nature is set against evil, and David is appealing to that nature for vindication and protection.
Theologically, this verse speaks to the holiness of God — a central biblical theme meaning God is set apart from sin, morally pure, and incapable of taking pleasure in what corrupts or destroys. This isn't merely a legal or forensic statement (God punishes sin) but a relational and dispositional one (sin cannot coexist with God's presence). This idea echoes throughout Scripture, from the holiness codes in
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