Psalm 53

A David Psalm

^1–253Bilious and bloated, they gas,

“God is gone.”

It’s poison gas—

they foul themselves, they poison

Rivers and skies;

thistles are their cash crop.

God sticks his head out of heaven.

He looks around.

He’s looking for someone not stupid—

one man, even, God-expectant,

just one God-ready woman.

³He comes up empty. A string

of zeros. Useless, unshepherded

Sheep, taking turns pretending

to be Shepherd.

The ninety and nine

follow the one.

⁴Don’t they know anything,

all these impostors?

Don’t they know

they can’t get away with this,

Treating people like a fast-food meal

over which they’re too busy to pray?

⁵Night is coming for them, and nightmare—

a nightmare they’ll never wake up from.

God will make hash of these squatters,

send them packing for good.

⁶Is there anyone around to save Israel?

God turns life around.

Turned-around Jacob skips rope,

turned-around Israel sings laughter.