Psalm 52–55

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.

PSALM 54

To the choirmaster: 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 thy name,

and vindicate me by thy might.

²Hear my prayer, O God;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For insolent men have risen against me,

ruthless men seek my life;

they do not set God before them. [Selah]

⁴Behold, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

⁵He will requite my enemies with evil;

in thy faithfulness put an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee;

I will give thanks to thy name, O Lord, for it is good.

⁷For thou hast delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

PSALM 55

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

¹Give ear to my prayer, O God;

and hide not thyself from my supplication!

²Attend to me, and answer me;

I am overcome by my trouble.

I am distraught ³by the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they bring trouble upon me,

and in anger they cherish enmity 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;

⁷yea, I would wander afar,

I would lodge in the wilderness, [Selah]

⁸I would haste to find me a shelter

from the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹Destroy their plans, O Lord, confuse their tongues;

for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it

on its walls;

and mischief and trouble are within it,

¹¹ruin is in its midst;

oppression and fraud

do not depart from its market place.

¹²It is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

¹⁴We used to hold sweet converse together;

within God’s house we walked in fellowship.

¹⁵Let death come upon them;

let them go down to Sheol alive;

let them go away in terror into their graves.

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 deliver my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for many are arrayed against me.

¹⁹God will give ear, and humble them,

he who is enthroned from of old;

because they keep no law,

and do not fear God. [Selah]

²⁰My companion stretched out his hand against his friends,

he violated his covenant.

²¹His speech was smoother than butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

²³But thou, O God, wilt cast them down

into the lowest pit;

men of blood and treachery

shall not live out half their days.

But I will trust in thee.