Psalm 52

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast all day long,
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
You who practice deceit,
    your tongue plots destruction;
    it is like a sharpened razor.
You love evil rather than good,
    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living.
The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh at you, saying,
“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
    and grew strong by destroying others!”
But I am like an olive tree
    flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
    for ever and ever.
For what you have done I will always praise you
    in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
    for your name is good.

• Psalm 52:1-9

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“David, no doubt, was in very great grief when he said to Abiathar (1 Sa. 22:22), ‘I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house,’ who were put to death upon Doeg’s malicious information; to give some vent to that grief, and to gain some relief to his mind under it, he penned this psalm, wherein, as a prophet, and therefore with as good an authority as if he had been now a prince upon the throne, I. He arraigns Doeg for what he had done, ver. 1. II. He accuses him, convicts him, and aggravates his crimes, ver. 2-4. III. He passes sentence upon him, ver. 5. IV. He foretells the triumphs of the righteous in the execution of the sentence, ver. 6, 7. V. He comforts himself in the mercy of God and the assurance he had that he should yet praise him, ver. 8, 9. In singing this psalm we should conceive a detestation of the sin of lying, foresee the ruin of those that persist in it, and please ourselves with the assurance of the preservation of God’s church and people, in spite of all the malicious designs of the children of Satan, that father of lies.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 52:8-9 “In response to the request of the disciples, Jesus gave them the Lord’s Prayer. Every prayer is contained in it. Whatever is included in the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer is prayed aright; whatever is not included is no prayer. All the prayers of Holy Scripture are summarized in the Lord’s Prayer and are contained in its immeasurable breadth. They are not made superfluous by the Lord’s Prayer but constitute the inexhaustible richness of the Lord’s Prayer as the Lord’s Prayer is their summation. Luther says of the Psalter, ‘It penetrates the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer penetrates it, so that it is possible to understand one on the basis of the other and to bring them into joyful harmony.’ Thus the Lord’s Prayer becomes the touchstone for whether we pray in the name of Jesus Christ or in our own name. It makes good sense, then, that the Psalter is often bound together in a single volume with the New Testament. It is the prayer of the Christian church. It belongs to the Lord’s Prayer.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible

My Thoughts

This was the aftermath of the priest helping David when David escaped Saul’s wrath.  Saul killed Abiathar’s family as a result.  And all due to Saul’s shepherd, an Edomite telling Saul what had happened.

The psalm fits any evil betrayal.  What was Doeg’s desire?  Probably a great reward.  Evil boils down to just a few things: money, power, fame.  Doeg had used his evil tongue with his evil desires.  He was deceitful, and good men died as a result.

When this type of betrayal affects you, you might have the same desires that David did when he wrote this psalm.  Surely, someone that evil will meet an unpleasant end.  David wanted him dead and without forgiveness.  If David had known that his adversary would repent, he might have been less imprecatory.  We should have imprecatory prayers when there is no face that is applied, but in this case, David should have added that if there is no repentance, removing this person from the land of the living is a good idea.  We need to have a merciful out applied here, but we should always pray that God’s perfect justice is served.

Then, David ends this psalm by comparing himself to an olive tree in the Lord’s garden.

When we plant ourselves in God’s presence, and keep our eyes on Him, good things happen and God keeps us safe.

Psalm 53

The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
    there is no one who does good.
God looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on God.
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    where there was nothing to dread.
God scattered the bones of those who attacked you;
    you put them to shame, for God despised them.
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

• Psalm 53:1-6

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“God speaks once, yea, twice, and it were well if man would even then perceive it; God, in this psalm, speaks twice, for this is the same almost verbatim with the fourteenth psalm. The scope of it is to convince us of our sins, to set us a blushing and trembling because of them; and this is what we are with so much difficulty brought to that there is need of line upon line to this purport. The word, as a convincing word, is compared to a hammer, the strokes whereof must be frequently repeated. God, by the psalmist here, I. Shows us how bad we are, ver. 1. II. Proves it upon us by his own certain knowledge, ver. 2, 3. III. He speaks terror to persecutors, the worst of sinners, ver. 4, 5. IV. He speaks encouragement to God’s persecuted people, ver. 6. Some little variation there is between Ps. 14 and this, but none considerable, only between v. 5, 6; there, and v. 5 here; some expressions there used are here left out, concerning the shame which the wicked put upon God’s people, and instead of that, is here foretold the shame which God would put upon the wicked, which alteration, with some others, he made by divine direction when he delivered it the second time to the chief musician. In singing it we ought to lament the corruption of the human nature, and the wretched degeneracy of the world we live in, yet rejoicing in hope of the great salvation.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 53:5 : ”The third line of this verse describes the scattered corpses of a defeated army after God’s great victory. For a body to remain unburied was a great disgrace in the ancient Near East; even an executed criminal was supposed to have a decent burial (Deut. 21:23; see 2 Kin. 23:14; Ezek. 6:5). The Lord despised the arrogance of the Assyrians and put them to open shame. So will He do to the armies of the world that oppose Him (Rev. 19:11–21).”

• Warren w. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Study Bible

My Thoughts

This psalm is almost identical to Psalm 14.  The following is my thoughts on these two psalms.

The first verse is relatively definitional. I have heard and read many scholars say that the biblical definition for a fool is one who does not believe in God.

The fool lives a miserable life. The leading evolutionists talk about how we are a cosmic accident, by mere chance, evolved from goo.

That leaves mankind without purpose. As the psalm says we devour one another.

If there is no God, there is no purpose in life. Why are we here?

The answer is we are here to worship God and enjoy Him forever, and only those who seek out God will ever understand that. And notice that God is seeking those who seek Him. He loves us that much to go on a quest to save our soul.

Psalm 54

Save me, O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.
Arrogant foes are attacking me;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    people without regard for God.
Surely God is my help;
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.
Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
    in your faithfulness destroy them.
I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
    I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
You have delivered me from all my troubles,
    and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

• Psalm 54:1-7

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Imprecatory psalms: Asking for vengeance against enemies.  From the two examples above, these requests for vengeance are usually not specific in how God does it.  I have written about this type of psalm or prayer in that they are legitimate requests to God.  We know that God will eventually stamp out all evil in the world.  Praying that God would do as He promises that He will eventually do is legitimate, but when a face is applied to that evil, our first reaction should be one of forgiveness and mercy.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“The key of this psalm hangs at the door, for the title tells us upon what occasion it was penned—when the inhabitants of Ziph, men of Judah (types of Judas the traitor), betrayed David to Saul, by informing him where he was and putting him in a way how to seize him. This they did twice (1 Sa. 23:19; 26:1), and it is upon record to their everlasting infamy. The psalm is sweet; the former part of it, perhaps, was meditated when he was in his distress and put into writing when the danger was over, with the addition of the last two verses, which express his thankfulness for the deliverance, which yet might be written in faith, even when he was in the midst of his fright. Here, I. He complains to God of the malice of his enemies, and prays for help against them, ver. 1-3. II. He comforts himself with an assurance of the divine favour and protection, and that, in due time, his enemies should be confounded and be delivered, ver. 4-7. What time we are in distress we may comfortable sing this psalm.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 54:3 strangers: “Either non-Israelites or Israelites who had broken the covenant with God might be called strangers. Since in this case Saul and the Ziphites are the oppressors, the strangers are apostate Israelites (cf. 1 Sam. 23:19; 26:1).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

This is a good psalm to pray when under attack: physical, mental, emotional, etc.

God will save us if we trust in Him.  In Him is the answer.

Our enemies will recoil from the slander they use against us, but be careful.

The psalm ends with promises to God for our deliverance.  We need to make those promises come true even before God has executed our salvation in the matter at hand.  We should avoid an oath, but if we make one, our fulfilling the oath shows our faith in God.  Waiting for God to deliver us first shows no faith at all.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 52

“1. Doeg was someone who ‘’used people and loved things’: Where do, you see that attitude in others or in yourself today?
“2. Has anyone ever suffered for helping or taking a risk for you? What happened? What did you feel: guilt? Regret? Shame? Nonchalance?
“3. Are you ‘flourishing in the house of God’? What is lacking in your spiritual community? What helps you flourish?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 53

“1. Have you ever been one of these tools: (a) The intellectual seeker? (b) The practical atheist? (c) Sell-destructive? (d) Ravenous in relationships?
“2. What tempts you to think ‘there is no God’? Does distance from God affect your behavior?
“3. What part of your life runs without regard to God? How will you put your faith to work today?”

Psalm 54

“1. Has your faith ever been attacked? Was the attack: (a) Intellectual? (b) Theological? (c) Emotional? (d) Social? How do you respond?
“2. Have you seen evil recoil back on those who promote it? When has this happened to you?”

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.