Psalm 5:2 NKJV
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
When Your Prayer Is Simply a Cry
My Notes
Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. Psalm 5:2 (NKJV)
David’s prayer in Psalm 5:2 feels raw, honest, and beautifully human. He isn’t offering polished language or carefully crafted phrases—he’s crying. And he asks God to give heed to that cry.
There’s something comforting here: God hears cries just as clearly as words.
Sometimes prayer is articulate. Sometimes it’s a whisper. Sometimes it’s a sob. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a deep ache inside the chest. But God hears all of it.
“The voice of my cry…”
In Psalm 5:2, he asks God to listen not just to formal words, but to the “voice of my cry.” Just as weeping has a distinct, plaintive tone, a soul-moving cry carries an eloquence of its own. It comes straight from the depths of a human heart and goes directly to the heart of God. To an earthly father, the cries of his children command immediate attention; how much more does our Heavenly Father lean in when His children call out to Him in earnest desire? When words fail, cries speak—and God understands every syllable of the heart.
“My King and my God…”
Even though David was himself the anointed king of Israel, he readily bowed his knee to Jehovah as his supreme Ruler. He recognized that his earthly crown meant nothing without the sovereign authority of the King of kings.
Pay close attention to those two small, personal words: “My.”
- He isn’t calling upon a distant, abstract deity or the God of someone else’s tradition.
- He is appealing to his King and his God—a God bound to him by covenant, grace, and personal relationship.
If a citizen has the right to appeal to their king for protection, how much more can a child of God come boldly before their covenant Father?
“For to You I will pray.”
Finally, David makes an unshakable declaration of focus: “For to You I will pray.”
It sounds simple, but true prayer requires consciously directing our hearts to God alone. So often, we enter prayer so consumed by our problems, our feelings, or our panic that we forget to look up and fix our eyes on the One we are actually addressing. David turns away from the broken reservoirs of human aid and resolves that as long as he has breath, his prayers will be directed solely to the living God.
Psalm 5:2 invites us to pray honestly, personally, and persistently—because our King hears every cry.
Prayer
Abba Father, give heed to the voice of my cry. Hear not only the words I speak, but the longings I cannot express. You are my King and my God, and I come to You because I belong to You. Teach me to pray honestly, to approach You intentionally, and to trust that You hear every cry of my heart. Let my prayers rise to You with confidence, knowing You listen with love. I ask You for this, and I thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- God hears the cry of the heart — Even when words fail, cries speak, and God understands.
- Prayer is personal — “My King and my God” shows deep relationship, not distant religion.
- God welcomes fervent prayer — Crying, longing, and urgency are not weaknesses; they are invitations.
- Prayer is an intentional approach — David consciously turns toward God, not toward alternatives.
- God hears His people — Kings may ignore, people may overlook, but God listens.
Cross References (NKJV)
Psalm 6:9
“The Lord has heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer.”
Psalm 38:9
“Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.”
Hebrews 4:16
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Isaiah 33:22
“For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us.”
Things to Think About:
- When was the last time you brought a raw, unstructured “cry” to God? How does knowing He interprets your heart’s intent give you freedom in prayer?
- What does it mean for you personally to call God “my King” in your daily choices, schedule, and priorities?
- What distractions often keep you from focusing on God Himself during your prayer time, and how can you intentionally direct your mind toward His presence today?
Proverb for Today
Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5 NKJV
Daily Scripture
These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 CJB
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
David’s prayer is a fervent cry that God hears even when words fail. “My King and my God” expresses covenant intimacy and becomes the basis for confidence in being heard. Though a king, David submits to God as his true ruler and sole refuge. His resolve—“unto You will I pray”—shows exclusive devotion, persistent dependence, and a life shaped by continual, heartfelt prayer in every need.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“The voice of my cry.” In another Psalm we find the expression, “The voice of my weeping.” Weeping has a voice—a melting, plaintive tone, an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God; and crying hath a voice—a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God’s heart. Ah! my brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord can comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a loving father his children’s cries are music, and they have a magic influence which his heart cannot resist.
“My King, and my God.” Observe carefully these little pronouns, “my King, and my God.” They are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God should answer prayer—because he is our King and our God. We are not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to him; we are his worshippers, and he is our God: ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by blood.
“For unto thee will I pray.” Here David expresses his declaration that he will seek to God, and to God alone. God is to be the only object of worship: the only resource of our soul in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the godless, and let the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. “Unto thee will I pray.” He makes a resolution that as long as he lived he would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the answer should not come.
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Enduring Word
For to You I will pray: David prayed to God. This may sound elementary, but it is an essential aspect of prayer. Often, we come to prayer so full of our request or our feelings that we never consciously focus on God and sense His presence. David was a great man of prayer because his prayer time was focused on God. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Hearken unto the voice of my cry — My cry for assistance. The word “voice” refers to the utterance of his desires, or to his “expressed” wishes in a time of trouble.
My King, and my God — Though he was himself a king, yet he acknowledged his subjection to God as his supreme Ruler, and looked up to Him to protect him in his dangers, and to restore him to his rights. He was, at the same time, his God – his covenant God – to whom he felt that he was permitted to come in the hour of trouble, and whose blessing he was permitted to invoke.
For unto thee will I pray — He had no one else to go to in his troubles, and he felt that he “might” approach the living God. It was his fixed purpose – his regular habit – to pray to him, and to seek his favor and friendship, and he felt that he was permitted to do so now.
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John Gill
Hearken unto the voice of my cry,…. Which seems to intend more than groans or words, even a loud outcry, as of a person in great distress; such as the strong crying of Christ, in the days of his flesh, when on the cross, forsaken by God, deserted by his friends, and surrounded by his enemies, Hebrews 5:7; and such, in some measure, was the case of David. The arguments used by him, that the Lord would hearken to him, are as follow: and the first is taken from his interest in the Lord, and his relation to him,
my King and my God; the Lord was David’s King in a civil sense; though David was a king over others, yet the Lord, who is the King of kings, was King over him, and he owned him to be so; he was set upon the throne by him, had his kingdom from him, and was accountable to him: and he was his King in a natural sense, the kingdom of nature and providence belonging to him, as he was his Creator, preserver, protector, and defender; and in a spiritual sense, he being delivered from the dominion of other lords, sin, Satan, and the world, and brought to a subjection to him by his Spirit and grace; and so to own him as his King and Lawgiver, as well as his Savior. And he was his God; not in a general way, as he is the God of the spirits of all flesh living; nor merely in the peculiar way in which he was the God of the people of Israel; but in a most special manner, as being his covenant God and Father in Christ. He was his God, not only as the God of nature and providence, but as the God of all grace; who had distinguished him by special and spiritual blessings and favors; and whom David loved, believed in, and worshipped as his God. And this his interest in him, and relation to him, he uses with great pertinence and propriety, as an argument that he might be heard by him; since the Lord was his King, and he his subject; the Lord was his God, and he one of his people; the Lord was his father, and he a child of his; and therefore entreats and hopes to be heard; see Isaiah 63:15. His next argument is taken from his resolution to pray to him, and to continue to do so:
for unto thee will I pray; and only to thee: not to the gods of the Heathen, to idols, the works of men’s hands, who can neither hear nor save: and to thee always; suggesting, that he would never leave off praying till he was heard; he would give him no rest, day nor night, until he received an answer.
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Matthew Henry
That he will, in due time, return a gracious answer of peace; for so he prays (v. 2): Hearken to the voice of my cry. His prayer was a cry; it was the voice of his cry, which denotes fervency of affection and importunity of expression; and such effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much and do wonders.
That he will pray, that he will make conscience of praying, and make a business of it: Unto thee will I pray.“Others live without prayer, but I will pray.” Kings on their own thrones (so David was) must be beggars at God’s throne. “Others pray to strange gods, and expect relief from them, but to thee, to thee only, will I pray.” The assurances God has given us of his readiness to hear prayer should confirm our resolution to live and die praying.
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Benson’s Commentary
Hearken unto the voice of my cry — The sincerity and earnestness of our cry to God will be in proportion to the sense we have of our sins and wants.
My King — It is the part and duty of a king to answer the just and humble desires of his subjects;
and my God: for unto thee will I pray — To thee alone will I direct all my prayers, for to whom should a sinner pray but to his God? and therefore, from thee alone I expect succor and relief.
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