Psalm 50–52

Psalm 50

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,

And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God hath shined forth.

³Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:

A fire devoureth before him,

And it is very tempestuous round about him.

⁴He calleth to the heavens above,

And to the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵Gather my saints together unto me,

Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

⁶And the heavens shall declare his righteousness;

For God is judge himself. Selah

⁷Hear, O my people, and I will speak;

O Israel, and I will testify unto thee:

I am God, even thy God.

⁸I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;

And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.

⁹I will take no bullock out of thy house,

Nor he-goats out of thy folds.

¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine,

And the cattle upon a thousand hills.

¹¹I know all the birds of the mountains;

And the wild beasts of the field are mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;

For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

¹³Will I eat the flesh of bulls,

Or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;

And pay thy vows unto the Most High;

¹⁵And call upon me in the day of trouble:

I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

¹⁶But unto the wicked God saith,

What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,

And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,

¹⁷Seeing thou hatest instruction,

And castest my words behind thee?

¹⁸When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,

And hast been partaker with adulterers.

¹⁹Thou givest thy mouth to evil,

And thy tongue frameth deceit.

²⁰Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;

Thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.

²¹These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;

Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:

But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

²²Now consider this, ye that forget God,

Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:

²³Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;

And to him that ordereth his way aright

Will I show the salvation of God.

Psalm 51

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.

¹Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:

According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions;

And my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,

And done that which is evil in thy sight;

That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest,

And be clear when thou judgest.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity;

And in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts;

And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.

⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness,

That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide thy face from my sins,

And blot out all mine iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God;

And renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence;

And take not thy holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;

And uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;

And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation;

And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips;

And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

¹⁶For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it:

Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:

Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then wilt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,

In burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering:

Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Psalm 52

For the Chief Musician. Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.

¹Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?

The lovingkindness of God endureth continually.

²Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness,

Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

³Thou lovest evil more than good,

And lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah

⁴Thou lovest all devouring words,

O thou deceitful tongue.

⁵God will likewise destroy thee for ever;

He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent,

And root thee out of the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous also shall see it, and fear,

And shall laugh at him, saying,

⁷Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength,

But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

And strengthened himself in his wickedness.

⁸But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God:

I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever.

⁹I will give thee thanks for ever, because thou hast done it;

And I will hope in thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints.