Psalm 51–53

PSALM 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

¹Have mercy on me, O God,

according to thy steadfast love;

according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

³For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,

and done that which is evil in thy sight,

so that thou art justified in thy sentence

and blameless in thy judgment.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Fill me with joy and gladness;

let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.

⁹Hide thy face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence,

and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors thy ways,

and sinners will return to thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

thou God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips,

and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

¹⁶For thou hast no delight in sacrifice;

were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased.

¹⁷The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure;

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,

¹⁹then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on thy altar.

PSALM 52

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

¹Why do you boast, O mighty man,

of mischief done against the godly?

All the day

²you 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 for ever;

he will snatch and tear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living. [Selah]

⁶The righteous shall see, and fear,

and shall laugh at him, saying,

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

but trusted in the abundance of his riches,

and sought refuge in his wealth!”

⁸But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

for ever and ever.

⁹I will thank thee for ever,

because thou hast done it.

I will proclaim thy name, for it is good,

in the presence of the godly.

PSALM 53

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

¹The fool says in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none that does good.

²God looks down from heaven

upon the sons of men

to see if there are any that are wise,

that seek after God.

³They have all fallen away;

they are all alike depraved;

there is none that does good,

no, not one.

⁴Have those who work evil no understanding,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

⁵There they are, in great terror,

in terror such as has not been!

For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;

they will be put to shame, 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 and Israel be glad.