Psalm 52–55

Psalm 52

Judgment on the Deceitful

To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

¹Why do you boast, O mighty one,

of mischief done against the godly?^c

All day long^{* 2}you are plotting destruction.

Your tongue is like a sharp razor,

you worker of treachery.^*

³You love evil more than good

and lying more than speaking the truth.   Selah^*

⁴You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.^*

⁵But God will break you down forever;

he will snatch and tear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living.   Selah^*

⁶The righteous will see and fear

and will laugh at the evildoer,^d saying,^*

⁷“See the one who would not take

refuge in God

but trusted in abundant riches

and sought refuge in wealth!”^e*

⁸But I am like a 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 of what you have done.

In the presence of the faithful

I will proclaim^f your name, for it is good.^*

Psalm 53

Denunciation of Godlessness

To the leader: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

¹Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt; they commit abominable acts;

there is no one who does good.^*

²God looks down from heaven on humankind

to see if there are any who are wise,

who seek after God.^*

³They have all fallen away; they are all alike perverse;

there is no one who does good,

no, not one.^*

⁴Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon God?^*

⁵There they shall be in great terror,

in terror such as has not been.

For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;^g

they will be put to shame,^h for God has rejected them.^*

⁶O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.^*

Psalm 54

Prayer for Vindication

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”

¹Save me, O God, by your name,

and vindicate me by your might.^*

²Hear my prayer, O God;

give ear to the words of my mouth.^*

³For the insolent have risen against me;

the ruthless seek my life;

they do not set God before them.   Selah^*

⁴But surely, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder ofⁱ my life.^*

⁵He will repay my enemies for their evil.

In your faithfulness, put an end to them.^*

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

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

⁷For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.^*

Psalm 55

Complaint about a Friend’s Treachery

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

¹Give ear to my prayer, O God;

do not hide yourself from my supplication.^*

²Attend to me and answer me;

I am troubled in my complaint.

I am distraught^{* 3}by the noise of the enemy,

because of the clamor of the wicked.

For they bring^j trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.^*

⁴My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death have fallen upon me.^*

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me,

and horror overwhelms me.^*

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

I would fly away and be at rest;^*

⁷truly, I would flee far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness;   Selah

⁸I would hurry to find a shelter for myself

from the raging wind and tempest.”^*

⁹Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech,

for I see violence and strife in the city.^*

¹⁰Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and iniquity and trouble are within it;

¹¹ruin is in its midst;

oppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.^*

¹²It is not enemies who taunt me—

I could bear that;

it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—

I could hide from them.^*

¹³But it is you, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend,^*

¹⁴with whom I kept pleasant company;

we walked in the house of God with the throng.^*

¹⁵Let death come upon them;

let them go down alive to Sheol,

for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.^*

¹⁶But I call upon God,

and the Lord will save me.^*

¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon

I utter my complaint and moan,

and he will hear my voice.^*

¹⁸He will redeem me unharmed

from the battle that I wage,

for many are arrayed against me.^*

¹⁹God, who is enthroned from of old,   Selah

will hear and will humble them,

because they do not change

and do not fear God.^*

²⁰My companion laid hands on a friend

and violated a covenant with me^k*

²¹with speech smoother than butter

but with a heart set on war,

with words that were softer than oil

but in fact were drawn swords.^*

²²Cast your burden^l on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never permit

the righteous to be moved.^*

²³But you, O God, will cast them down

into the lowest pit;

the bloodthirsty and treacherous

shall not live out half their days.

But I will trust in you.^*