Psalm 52–55

Psalm 52

To the chief Musician, ^*Maschil, A Psalm 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 ^amighty man?

The goodness of God endureth continually.

^2bThy tongue deviseth ^cmischiefs;

^dLike a sharp rasor, ^ddworking 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 shall likewise ^†destroy thee for ever,

He shall take thee away, and ^epluck thee out of thy dwelling place,

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

⁶The righteous also shall ^gsee, and ^gfear,

And ^hshall laugh at him:

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

But ⁱtrusted in the abundance of his riches,

And strengthened himself in his ^||cwickedness.

⁸But I am like ^ka green olive tree in the house of God:

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

⁹I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it:

And I will wait on thy name; ^lfor it is good before ^mthy saints.

Psalm 53

To the chief Musician upon ^*Mahalath, ^†Maschil, A Psalm of David.

^1aThe fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity:

^bThere is none that doeth good.

²God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there were ^bany that did understand, that did seek God.

^3bEvery one of them is ^cgone back: they are altogether become filthy;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

⁴Have ^dthe workers of iniquity no knowledge?

Who eat up my people as they eat bread:

They have not called upon God.

⁵There ^†were they in great fear, ^ewhere no fear was:

^fFor God hath ^ghscattered ^hthe bones of him that encampeth against thee:

Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

^6†Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!

When God bringeth back the captivity of his people,

Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Psalm 54

To the chief Musician on ^*Neginoth, ^†Maschil, A Psalm of David, ^*when the ^†Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

¹Save me, O God, by thy name,

And judge me by thy strength.

^2aHear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For ^bstrangers are risen up against me,

And oppressors seek after my soul:

They have not set God before them. Selah.

⁴Behold, ^cGod is mine helper:

The Lord is ^cwith them that uphold my soul.

⁵He shall reward evil unto ^†mine enemies:

^dCut them off ^ein thy truth.

⁶I will ^ffreely sacrifice unto thee:

I will praise thy name, O Lord; ^gfor it is good.

⁷For he hath delivered me out of all trouble:

And mine eye hath ^hseen his desire upon mine enemies.

Psalm 55

To the chief Musician on ^*Neginoth, ^†Maschil, A Psalm of David.

^1*aGive ear to my ^bprayer, O God;

And hide not thyself from my ^bsupplication.

^2aAttend unto me, and ^chear me:

I mourn in my ^dcomplaint, and ^emake a noise;

³Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked:

For ^fthey cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

⁴My heart is sore pained within me:

And ^gthe terrors of death are fallen upon me.

^5hFearfulness and ^htrembling are come upon me,

And ⁱhorror hath ^†overwhelmed me.

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

For then would I fly away, and be at rest.

⁷Lo, then would I wander far off,

And remain in the wilderness. Selah.

⁸I would hasten my escape

From the windy storm and ^jtempest.

^9jjDestroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues:

For I have seen ^kviolence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:

Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.

^11lWickedness is in the midst thereof:

^mDeceit and guile depart not from her streets.

¹²For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it:

Neither was it he that hated me that did ⁿmagnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

¹³But it was thou, ^†a man mine equal,

My ^oguide, and mine ^pacquaintance.

^14†We took sweet ^qcounsel together,

And ^rwalked unto the house of God in ^qcompany.

¹⁵Let death seize upon them,

And let them ^sgo down ^squick into ^||hell:

For wickedness is in their ^tdwellings, and among them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God;

And the Lord shall save me.

^17uEvening, and morning, and ^wat noon, will I ^xpray, and ^xcry aloud:

And he shall hear my voice.

¹⁸He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me:

For there were ^ymany ^zwith me.

¹⁹God shall hear, and afflict them,

Even he that abideth ^aof old. Selah.

^||Because they have no ^bchanges,

Therefore they fear not God.

²⁰He hath put forth his hands against ^csuch as be at peace with him:

^†He hath broken his covenant.

^21dThe words of his mouth ^ewere smoother than butter, but war was in his heart:

^eHis words were softer than oil, ^efyet were they drawn swords.

^22gCast thy ^||burden upon the Lord, and he shall ^hsustain thee:

He shall never suffer the righteous ⁱto be moved.

²³But thou, O God, ^jshalt bring them down into ^kthe pit of destruction:

^†Bloody and deceitful men ^†lshall not live out half their days;

But ^mI will trust in thee.