Psalm 52-54
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 52
God Judges the Proud
For the choir director. A Davidic Maskil. When Doeg the Edomite went and reported to Saul, telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.”(A)
1 Why brag about evil, you hero!(B)
God’s faithful love is constant.(C)
2 Like a sharpened razor,
your tongue devises destruction,
working treachery.(D)
3 You love evil instead of good,
lying instead of speaking truthfully.(E)
4 You love any words that destroy,
you treacherous tongue!(F)
5 This is why God will bring you down forever.
He will take you, ripping you out of your tent;
He will uproot you from the land of the living.(G)
6 The righteous will look on with awe
and will ridicule him:(H)
7 “Here is the man
who would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”[a](I)
8 But I am like a flourishing olive tree
in the house of God;(J)
I trust in God’s faithful love forever and ever.(K)
9 I will praise You forever for what You have done.
In the presence of Your faithful people,
I will put my hope in Your name, for it is good.(L)
Psalm 53
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director: on Mahalath.[b](M) A Davidic Maskil.
1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.(N)
2 God looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.(O)
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.(P)
4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume My people as they consume bread;(Q)
they do not call on God.(R)
5 Then they will be filled with terror—
terror like no other(S)—
because God will scatter
the bones of those who besiege you.(T)
You will put them to shame,
for God has rejected them.(U)
6 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,[c]
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.(V)
Psalm 54
Prayer for Deliverance
For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A Davidic Maskil. When the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding among us?”(W)
1 God, save me by Your name,
and vindicate me by Your might!(X)
2 God, hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my mouth.(Y)
3 For strangers rise up against me,
and violent men seek my life.
They have no regard for God.[d](Z)
4 God is my helper;
the Lord is the sustainer of my life.[e](AA)
5 He will repay my adversaries for their evil.
Because of Your faithfulness, annihilate them.(AB)
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You.(AC)
I will praise Your name, Yahweh,
because it is good.(AD)
7 For He has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked down on my enemies.(AE)
Footnotes
- Psalm 52:7 Or riches, and grew strong in his evil desire; lit his destruction
- Psalm 53:1 Perhaps a tune, a musical instrument, or a dance; this may be related to Hb word for “sickness.”
- Psalm 53:6 Or restores His captive people
- Psalm 54:3 Lit They do not set God before them
- Psalm 54:4 Or is with those who sustain my life
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