Psalm 50–52

PSALM 50

God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.

A Psalm of ^†Asaph.

^1aThe Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,

And summoned the earth ^bfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.

²Out of Zion, ^athe perfection of beauty,

God ^bhas shone forth.

³May our God ^acome and not keep silence;

^bFire devours before Him,

And it is very ^ctempestuous around Him.

⁴He ^asummons the heavens above,

And the earth, to judge His people:

⁵“Gather My ^agodly ones to Me,

Those who have made a ^bcovenant with Me by ^csacrifice.”

⁶And the ^aheavens declare His righteousness,

For ^bGod Himself is judge.

¹Selah.

⁷“^aHear, O My people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify ¹against you;

I am God, ^byour God.

⁸“I do ^anot reprove you for your sacrifices,

And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

⁹“I shall take no ^ayoung bull out of your house

Nor male goats out of your folds.

¹⁰“For ^aevery beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹“I know every ^abird of the mountains,

And everything that moves in the field is ¹Mine.

¹²“If I were hungry I would not tell you,

For the ^aworld is Mine, and ¹all it contains.

¹³“Shall I eat the flesh of ^1abulls

Or drink the blood of male goats?

¹⁴“Offer to God ^aa sacrifice of thanksgiving

And ^bpay your vows to the Most High;

^15aCall upon Me in the day of trouble;

I shall ^brescue you, and you will ^chonor Me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says,

“What right have you to tell of My statutes

And to take ^aMy covenant in your mouth?

¹⁷“For you ^ahate discipline,

And you ^bcast My words behind you.

¹⁸“When you see a thief, you ^1aare pleased with him,

And ²you ^bassociate with adulterers.

¹⁹“You ^1alet your mouth loose in evil

And your ^btongue frames deceit.

²⁰“You sit and ^aspeak against your brother;

You slander your own mother’s son.

²¹“These things you have done and ^aI kept silence;

You thought that I was just like you;

I will ^breprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

²²“Now consider this, you who ^aforget God,

Or I will ^btear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

²³“He who ^aoffers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;

And to him who ^1borders his way aright

I shall ^cshow the salvation of God.”

PSALM 51

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when ^†Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

^1aBe gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;

According to the greatness of ^bYour compassion ^cblot out my transgressions.

^2aWash me thoroughly from my iniquity

And ^bcleanse me from my sin.

³For ¹I ^aknow my transgressions,

And my sin is ever before me.

^4aAgainst You, You only, I have sinned

And done what is ^bevil in Your sight,

So that ^cYou ¹are justified ²when You speak

And ³blameless when You judge.

⁵Behold, I was ^abrought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

⁶Behold, You desire ^atruth in the ¹innermost being,

And in the hidden part You will ^bmake me know wisdom.

⁷¹Purify me ^awith hyssop, and I shall be clean;

²Wash me, and I shall be ^bwhiter than snow.

⁸¹Make me to hear ^ajoy and gladness,

Let the ^bbones which You have broken rejoice.

^9aHide Your face from my sins

And blot out all my iniquities.

^10aCreate ¹in me a ^bclean heart, O God,

And renew ²a ^csteadfast spirit within me.

^11aDo not cast me away from Your presence

And do not take Your ^bHoly Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the ^ajoy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a ^bwilling spirit.

¹³Then I will ^ateach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will ¹be ^bconverted to You.

¹⁴Deliver me from ^abloodguiltiness, O God, ^bthe God of my salvation;

Then my ^ctongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, ^1aopen my lips,

That my mouth may ^bdeclare Your praise.

¹⁶For You ^ado not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;

You are not pleased with burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a ^abroken spirit;

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

^18aBy Your favor do good to Zion;

^1bBuild the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then You will delight in ^1arighteous sacrifices,

In ^bburnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then ²young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

PSALM 52

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the choir director. A ^†Maskil of David, ^•when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

¹Why do you ^aboast in evil, O mighty man?

The ^blovingkindness of God endures all day long.

²Your tongue devises ^adestruction,

Like a ^bsharp razor, ^cO worker of deceit.

³You ^alove evil more than good,

^bFalsehood more than speaking what is right.

¹Selah.

⁴You love all words that devour,

O ^adeceitful tongue.

⁵¹But God will break you down forever;

He will snatch you up and ^atear you away from your tent,

And ^buproot you from the ^cland of the living.

Selah.

⁶The righteous will ^asee and fear,

And will ^blaugh at him, saying,

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

But ^atrusted in the abundance of his riches

And ^bwas strong in ¹his evil desire.”

⁸But as for me, I am like a ^agreen olive tree in the house of God;

I ^btrust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.

⁹I will ^agive You thanks forever, because You have done it,

And I will wait on Your name, ^bfor it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.