Psalm 51–55

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

51To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^vNathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

^1wHave mercy on me,¹ O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your ^xabundant mercy

^yblot out my transgressions.

^2zWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and ^acleanse me from my sin!

^3bFor I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

^4cAgainst you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil ^din your sight,

^eso that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

⁵Behold, ^fI was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, you delight in truth in ^gthe inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me ^hwith hyssop, and I shall be clean;

^zwash me, and I shall be ⁱwhiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;

^jlet the bones ^kthat you have broken rejoice.

^9lHide your face from my sins,

and ^yblot out all my iniquities.

^10mCreate in me a ⁿclean heart, O God,

and ^orenew a right² spirit within me.

^11pCast me not away from your presence,

and take not ^qyour Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will ^rreturn to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from ^sbloodguiltiness, O God,

O ^tGod of my salvation,

and ^umy tongue will sing aloud of your ^vrighteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

^16wFor you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are ^xa broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

^18yDo good to Zion in your good pleasure;

^zbuild up the walls of Jerusalem;

¹⁹then will you delight in ^aright sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and ^bwhole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

52To the choirmaster. A Maskil¹ of David, when ^cDoeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

¹Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?

The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

²Your ^dtongue plots destruction,

like ^ea sharp razor, you ^fworker of deceit.

³You love evil more than good,

and ^glying more than speaking what is right. Selah

⁴You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

⁵But God will break you down forever;

he will snatch and ^htear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from ⁱthe land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous shall ^jsee and fear,

and shall ^klaugh at him, saying,

⁷“See the man who would not make

God his refuge,

but ^ltrusted in the abundance of his riches

and sought refuge in his own destruction!”²

⁸But I am like ^ma green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

forever and ever.

⁹I will thank you forever,

because you have done it.

I will wait for your name, ⁿfor it is good,

in the presence of the ^ogodly.

There Is None Who Does Good

53To the choirmaster: according to ^pMahalath. A Maskil¹ of David.

^1qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,²

who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

⁴Have those who work evil no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

⁵There they are, in great terror,

^rwhere there is no terror!

For God ^sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;

you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The Lord Upholds My Life

54To the choirmaster: with ^tstringed instruments. A Maskil¹ of David, ^uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

¹O God, save me by your ^vname,

and vindicate me by your might.

²O God, ^whear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

^3xFor ^ystrangers² have risen against me;

ruthless men ^zseek my life;

they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴Behold, ^aGod is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

⁵He will return the evil to my enemies;

in your ^bfaithfulness ^cput an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^dfor it is good.

⁷For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has ^elooked in triumph on my enemies.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

55To the choirmaster: with ^fstringed instruments. A Maskil¹ of David.

^1gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

²Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless ^hin my complaint and I ⁱmoan,

³because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they ^jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me;

^kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me,

and ^lhorror ^moverwhelms me.

⁶And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

⁷ⁿyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

⁸I would hurry to find a shelter

from ^othe raging wind and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, ^pdivide their tongues;

for I see ^qviolence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and ^riniquity and trouble are within it;

¹¹ruin is in its midst;

^soppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

¹²For it is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who ^tdeals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

^13uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

¹⁴We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in ^vthe throng.

¹⁵Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol ^walive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

^17xEvening and ^ymorning and at ^znoon

I ^autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

¹⁸He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for ^bmany are arrayed against me.

¹⁹God will give ear and humble them,

he who is ^centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not ^dchange

and do not fear God.

²⁰My companion^{2 e}stretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

²¹His ^fspeech was ^gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were ^hdrawn swords.

²²ⁱCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

^jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

²³But you, O God, ^kwill cast them down

into ^lthe pit of destruction;

men of ^mblood and treachery

shall not ⁿlive out half their days.

But I will ^otrust in you.