“I will make preparations for you.” The Hebrew verb about making preparations was used about making preparations for sacrifices, but it was also used for making verbal preparations; in this case, it would be preparing words to speak to God. In any case, the fact that Psalm 5:1-2 are about praying and crying out to God, and this verse, Psalm 5:3, begins with “you will hear my voice” and ends with “and will carefully watch” indicates that the psalmist is speaking of making preparations to petition God in what he says, whether or not his petition was accompanied by a sacrifice. The psalmist would prepare his petition to God and then would carefully watch for an answer.

There are some wonderful lessons in what the psalmist does here. For one thing, he starts preparing to approach God “in the morning.” He understands that it is important to magnify God, recognize Him for who He is, and ask for His help as the day starts. The psalmist does not ignore God, forget Him, or “put Him on a back burner” until later in the day “when I have time for Him.” Also, the fact that the psalmist prepared to approach God shows that his prayer or petition was deliberate and well thought through. He knew what he was asking God for, and why. This was not a “memorized prayer” that he had said hundreds of times before and could say in his sleep. The Psalmist had some specific requests and genuinely wanted and expected God’s help.

We also see that the psalmist trusts that God would hear and answer his prayer, because after praying, the psalmist “will carefully watch” to see what God’s answer is and what God does. Too many people pray to God but do not expect an answer and do not even watch to see if and how God answers their prayer. This psalmist prayed to God first thing, prayed a deliberate and well-thought-through prayer, and then watched for God’s answer. That is a wonderful example of how to pray.