Psalms 49-55

Psalm 49

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high, rich and poor alike.

³My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me?

⁶They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.

⁷No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

⁸For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice,

⁹that he should live on forever and not see decay.

¹⁰For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves are their eternal homes— their dwellings for endless generations— even though their lands were their namesakes.

¹²But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of the self-confident and their followers who endorse their sayings. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.

¹⁵But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah

¹⁶Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.

¹⁸Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul— and men praise you when you prosper—

¹⁹he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.

²⁰A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 50

¹A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.

²From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

³Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.

⁴He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people:

⁵“Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

⁶And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah

⁷“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.

⁸I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

⁹I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,

¹⁰for every beast of the forest is Mine— the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?

¹⁷For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit.

²⁰You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.

²¹You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

²²Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

²³He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

Psalm 51

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

⁴Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.

⁵Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

⁶Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.

⁹Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.

¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Psalm 52

¹For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

³You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah

⁴You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous will see and fear; they will mock the evildoer, saying,

⁷“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”

⁸But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.

⁹I will praise You forever, because You have done it. I will wait on Your name— for it is good— in the presence of Your saints.

Psalm 53

¹For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

³All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon God.

⁵There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

⁶Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion! When God restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!

Psalm 54

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. When the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “Is David not hiding among us?” Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!

²Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life— men with no regard for God. Selah

⁴Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

⁵He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.

⁶Freely I will sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

⁷For He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eyes have stared down my foes.

Psalm 55

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, and do not ignore my plea.

²Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and distraught

³at the voice of the enemy, at the pressure of the wicked. For they release disaster upon me and revile me in their anger.

⁴My heart murmurs within me, and the terrors of death assail me.

⁵Fear and trembling grip me, and horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.

⁷How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah

⁸I would hurry to my shelter, far from this raging tempest.”

⁹O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.

¹¹Destruction is within; oppression and deceit never leave the streets.

¹²For it is not an enemy who insults me; that I could endure. It is not a foe who rises against me; from him I could hide.

¹³But it is you, a man like myself, my companion and close friend.

¹⁴We shared sweet fellowship together; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

¹⁵Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.

¹⁶But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.

¹⁷Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

¹⁸He redeems my soul in peace from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

¹⁹God will hear and humiliate them— the One enthroned for the ages— Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God.

²⁰My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

²²Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.

²³But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.