Psalm 52

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil[1] of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52:1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. ²Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. ³You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. 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 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 own destruction!”^[2]

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 you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

[1] Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] Or in his work of destruction

Psalm 53

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil[3] of David.

53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand,[4] who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

⁴Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

⁵There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

[3] Probably musical or liturgical terms [4] Or that act wisely

Psalm 54

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil[5] of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

54:1 O God, save me, by your name, and vindicate me by your might. ²O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers[6] have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. ⁵He will return the evil to my enemies; 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.

[5] Probably a musical or liturgical term [6] Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)

Psalm 55

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil[7] of David.

55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! ²Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, ³because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop 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, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; ⁷yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah ⁸I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; 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; ¹¹ ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.

¹²For it 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, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. ¹⁴We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng. ¹⁵Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. ¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. ¹⁸He redeems 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, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

²⁰My companion[8] stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. ²¹His speech was smooth as 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 you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

[7] Probably a musical or liturgical term [8] Hebrew He

Psalm 56

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam[9] of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

56:1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; ²my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. ³When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. ⁴In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

⁵All day long they injure my cause;[10] all their thoughts are against me for evil. ⁶They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. ⁷For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸You have kept count of my tossings;[11] put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? ⁹Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that^[12]God is for me. ¹⁰In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, ¹¹in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹²I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. ¹³For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

[9] Probably a musical or liturgical term [10] Or they twist my words [11] Or wanderings [12] Or because