Psalm 52–55

God’s Judgment on the Wicked and Love for the Faithful

52For the music director. A maskil of David.

When Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul.

And he said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”^a

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

The loyal love of God endures continually.^b

²Your tongue plans destruction,

like a sharp razor, working deceit.

³You love evil more than good,

a lie more than speaking what is right.^c Selah

⁴You love all devouring words,

O deceitful tongue,

⁵but God will pull you down forever.

He will snatch you and tear you away from your tent,

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

⁶And the righteous will see and fear,

and will laugh at him, saying,

⁷“Look, the man who would not make God his refuge,

but he trusted in the greatness of his wealth;

he took refuge in his destructiveness.”

⁸But I am like an olive tree flourishing

in the house^d of God.

I trust the loyal love of God forever and ever.

⁹I will give thanks to you forever, because of what you have done,

and I will wait on your name, because it is good,

in the presence of your faithful ones.

The Folly of the Godless and Salvation for Israel

53For the music director, according to Mahalath.

A maskil of David.^a

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

They are corrupt and they have done abominable iniquity.

There is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind

to see whether there is one who has insight,

one who seeks God.

³All of them^b have turned back.

They are altogether corrupt.

There is none who does good;

there is not even one.

⁴Do not evildoers know,

they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?

They do not call on God.

⁵There they are very fearful^c

where no fear had been,

because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.

You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that from Zion^d would come salvation for Israel!

When God returns the fortunes^e of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries

54For the music director, with stringed instruments.

A maskil of David,

when the Ziphites went and said to Saul,

“Is not David hiding himself among us?”^a

¹O God, by your name save me,

and by your power vindicate me.

²O God, hear my prayer;

heed the words of my mouth.

³For foreigners have risen against me,

and ruthless men seek my life.

They have not set God before them. Selah

⁴See, God is my helper;

The Lord is with those who sustain my life.^b

⁵He will repay^c my enemies for their^d evil;

in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶I will freely sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name,

O Yahweh, because it is good.

⁷Because he has delivered me from all trouble,

and my eye has looked with satisfaction on my enemies.

Betrayal of a Friend and Trust in God

55For the music director, with stringed instruments.

A maskil of David.^a

¹Give ear, O God, to my prayer,

and do not hide yourself from my plea.

²Attend to me and answer me.

I am restless in my lamenting and I groan,

³because of the voice of an enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked,

because they bring down evil on me,

and in anger they hold a grudge against me.

⁴My heart trembles within me,

and deathly terrors fall on me.

⁵Fear and trembling come on me,

and horror overwhelms me.

⁶So I say, “Oh, that^b I had wings like a dove.

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷Look, I would flee far away.

I would dwell in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would hurry to my refuge

from the raging wind and storm.”

⁹Confuse, O Lord; divide their speech,

because I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls,

and iniquity and trouble are in its midst.

¹¹Destruction is within it,

and oppression and deceit

do not depart from its public square.

¹²For it is not an enemy that taunts me,

or I could bear it.

It is not one who hates me that magnifies himself over me,

or I could hide myself from him.

¹³But it is you, a man my equal,

my friend and confidant.

¹⁴We who would take sweet counsel together;

in the house^c of God

we would walk with the throng.

¹⁵Let death deceive them. May they descend to Sheol alive,

because evil is in their home and heart.^d

¹⁶As for me, I will call to God,

and Yahweh will save me.

¹⁷Morning, noon and night^e I will lament and groan loudly,

and he will hear my voice.

¹⁸He safely redeems my life from the battle against me,^f

because those standing against me are among many.

¹⁹God will hear and answer them,^g

he who is enthroned from of old, Selah

Because they do not change,

and they do not fear God.

²⁰He has put forth his hands against his friends;^h

he has defiled his covenant.

²¹The buttery wordsⁱ of his mouth were smooth,

but there was battle in his heart.

His words were smoother than oil,

but they were drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on Yahweh,

and he will sustain you.

He will never allow the righteous to be moved.^j

²³But you, O God, you will bring them down to the pit of corruption.

The men of bloodshed and deceit will not live half their days,

but I will trust you.