Psalm 52-56

New American Standard Bible

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you ^(A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The ^(B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
²Your tongue devises ^(C)destruction,
Like a ^(D)sharp razor, ^(E)you worker of deceit.
³You ^(F)love evil more than good,
^(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
You ^(H)deceitful tongue.

⁵^[c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and ^(I)tear you away from your tent,
And ^(J)uproot you from the ^(K)land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous will ^(L)see and fear,
And they will ^(M)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But ^(N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And ^(O)was strong in ^[d]his evil desire.”

⁸But as for me, I am like a ^(P)green olive tree in the house of God;
I ^(Q)trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever.
⁹I will ^(R)praise You forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, ^(S)for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

Foolishness and Wickedness of People.

For the music director; according to ^[e]Mahalath. A ^[f]Maskil of David.

53 ^(T)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
^(U)There is no one who does good.
²God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there is ^(V)anyone who ^[g]understands,
Who ^(W)seeks after God.
³^(X)Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Have the workers of injustice ^(Y)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people like they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?
⁵They were in great ^[h]fear there, ^(Z)where no ^[i]fear had been;
For God ^(AA)scattered the bones of ^[j]him who encamped against you;
You ^(AB)put them to shame, because ^(AC)God had rejected them.
⁶Oh, that ^(AD)the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[k]Maskil of David, ^[l]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”

54 Save me, God, by ^(AE)Your name,
And ^[m]vindicate me by ^(AF)Your power.
²^(AG)Hear my prayer, God;
^(AH)Listen to the words of my mouth.
³For strangers have ^(AI)risen against me
And ^(AJ)violent men have ^(AK)sought my ^[n]life;
They have ^(AL)not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, ^(AM)God is my helper;
The Lord is ^[o]the ^(AN)sustainer of my soul.
⁵^[p]He will ^(AO)pay back the evil to my enemies;
^[q]^(AP)Destroy them ^(AQ)in Your ^[r]faithfulness.

⁶^[s]^(AR)Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will ^(AS)praise Your name, Lord, for it is good.
⁷For ^[t]He has ^(AT)saved me from all ^[u]trouble,
And my eye has ^(AU)looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[v]Maskil of David.

55 ^(AV)Listen to my prayer, God;
And ^(AW)do not hide Yourself from my pleading.
²Give Your ^(AX)attention to me and answer me;
I am restless in my ^(AY)complaint and ^[w]^(AZ)severely distracted,
³Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the ^(BA)pressure of the wicked;
For they ^(BB)bring down ^[x]trouble upon me
And in anger they ^(BC)hold a grudge against me.

⁴My ^(BD)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of ^(BE)death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fear and ^(BF)trembling come upon me,
And ^[y]^(BG)horror has ^[z]overwhelmed me.
⁶I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and ^[aa]^(BH)be at rest.
⁷Behold, I would flee far away,
I would ^(BI)spend my nights in the wilderness. Selah
⁸I would hurry to my place of refuge
From the ^(BJ)stormy wind and heavy gale.”

⁹Confuse them, Lord, ^(BK)divide their tongues,
For I have seen ^(BL)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And evil and harm are in her midst.
¹¹^(BM)Destruction is in her midst;
^(BN)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her ^[ab]streets.

¹²For it is ^(BO)not an enemy who taunts me,
Then I could endure it;
Nor is it one who hates me who ^(BP)has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
¹³But it is you, a man ^[ac]my equal,
My ^(BQ)companion and my ^(BR)confidant;
¹⁴We who had sweet ^[ad]fellowship together,
^(BS)Walked in the house of God among the commotion.
¹⁵May ^[ae]death come ^(BT)deceitfully upon them;
May they ^(BU)go down alive to ^[af]Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, I shall ^(BV)call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
¹⁷^(BW)Evening and ^(BX)morning and at ^(BY)noon, I will complain and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
¹⁸He will ^(BZ)redeem my soul in peace ^[ag]from the battle which is against me,
For they are ^(CA)many who are aggressive toward me.
¹⁹God will ^(CB)hear and humiliate them—
Even the one ^(CC)who ^[ah]sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah
With whom there ^[ai]is no change,
And who ^(CD)do not fear God.
²⁰He has put forth his hands against ^(CE)those who were at peace with him;
He has ^[aj]^(CF)violated his covenant.
²¹His ^[ak]speech was ^(CG)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were ^(CH)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn ^(CI)swords.

²²^(CJ)Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
^(CK)He will never allow the righteous to ^[al]^(CL)be shaken.
²³But You, God, will bring them down to the ^(CM)pit of destruction;
^(CN)Men of bloodshed and deceit will ^(CO)not live out half their days.
But I will ^(CP)trust in You.

Pleading for Help and Grateful Trust in God.

For the music director; according to ^[am]Jonath elem rehokim. A ^[an]Mikhtam of David, ^[ao]when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

56 Be gracious to me, God, for a man has ^[ap]^(CQ)trampled upon me;
^[aq]Fighting all day long he ^(CR)oppresses me.
²My enemies have ^(CS)trampled upon me all day long,
For ^[ar]they are many who ^(CT)fight proudly against me.
³^[as]When I am ^(CU)afraid,
^[at]I will ^(CV)put my trust in You.
⁴^(CW)In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
^(CX)What can mere ^[au]mortals do to me?
⁵All day long they ^(CY)distort my words;
All their ^[av]^(CZ)thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶They ^[aw]^(DA)attack, they lurk,
They ^(DB)watch my ^[ax]steps,
As they have ^(DC)waited to take my ^[ay]life.
⁷Because of their wickedness, will there be an ^(DD)escape for them?
In anger ^(DE)make the peoples fall down, God!

⁸You ^(DF)have taken account of my ^[az]miseries;
Put my ^(DG)tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in ^(DH)Your book?
⁹Then my enemies will ^(DI)turn back ^(DJ)on the day when I call;
This I know, ^[ba]that ^(DK)God is for me.
¹⁰In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹In God I have put my ^[bb]trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can mankind do to me?
¹²Your ^(DL)vows are binding upon me, God;
I will render thanksgiving offerings to You.
¹³For You have ^(DM)saved my soul from death,
^[bc]Indeed ^(DN)my feet from stumbling,
So that I may ^(DO)walk before God
In the ^(DP)light of the ^[bd]living.

Footnotes

Psalm 52 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
Psalm 52 Title 1 Sam 22:9
Psalm 52:5 Or Also
Psalm 52:7 Or his destruction
Psalm 53 Title I.e., sickness, a sad tone
Psalm 53 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
Psalm 53:2 Or acts wisely
Psalm 53:5 Or dread
Psalm 53:5 Or dread
Psalm 53:5 Or possibly those
Psalm 54 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
Psalm 54 Title 1 Sam 23:19; 26:1
Psalm 54:1 Lit judge
Psalm 54:3 Or soul
Psalm 54:4 Lit as those who sustain
Psalm 54:5 LXX; MT The evil will return
Psalm 54:5 Or Put to silence
Psalm 54:5 Or truth
Psalm 54:6 Or With a voluntary offering
Psalm 54:7 Or it; i.e., His name
Psalm 54:7 Or distress
Psalm 55 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
Psalm 55:2 Another reading is I must moan
Psalm 55:3 Or wickedness
Psalm 55:5 Lit shuddering
Psalm 55:5 Lit covered
Psalm 55:6 Lit settle down
Psalm 55:11 Or plaza
Psalm 55:13 Lit according to my valuation
Psalm 55:14 Lit counsel; or intimacy
Psalm 55:15 Another reading is devastation be upon them
Psalm 55:15 I.e., the netherworld
Psalm 55:18 Or so that none may approach me
Psalm 55:19 Or remains from
Psalm 55:19 Lit are no changes
Psalm 55:20 Lit profaned
Psalm 55:21 Lit mouth
Psalm 55:22 Or totter
Psalm 56 Title Or The silent dove of those who are far off; or The dove of the distant terebinths
Psalm 56 Title Possibly Epigrammatic Poem; or Atonement Psalm
Psalm 56 Title 1 Sam 21:10, 11
Psalm 56:1 Or snapped at
Psalm 56:1 Or A fighting man
Psalm 56:2 Or many are fighting
Psalm 56:3 Lit The day
Psalm 56:3 Or I am one who puts
Psalm 56:4 Lit flesh
Psalm 56:5 Or purposes
Psalm 56:6 Or stir up strife
Psalm 56:6 Lit heels
Psalm 56:6 Lit soul
Psalm 56:8 Or wanderings
Psalm 56:9 Or because
Psalm 56:11 Or trust without fear
Psalm 56:13 Or Have You not delivered
Psalm 56:13 Or life