Psalms 49-55

Psalm 49

¹For the Chief Musician; a Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all ye peoples; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

²Both low and high, rich and poor together.

³My mouth shall speak wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

⁴I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

⁵Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?

⁶They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

⁸(For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be let alone for ever:)

⁹That he should still live alway, that he should not see corruption.

¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die, the fool and the brutish together perish, and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.

¹²But man abideth not in honour: he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This their way is their folly: yet after them men approve their sayings. Selah

¹⁴They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd: and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for it.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: for he shall receive me. Selah

¹⁶Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased:

¹⁷For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸Though while he lived he blessed his soul, and men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself,

¹⁹He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see the light.

²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 50

¹A Psalm of Asaph. God, even God, the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined forth.

³Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

⁴He shall call to the heavens above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

⁶And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; for God is judge himself. Selah

⁷Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify unto thee: I am God, even thy God.

⁸I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; and thy burnt offerings are continually before me.

⁹I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds.

¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

¹¹I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

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

¹⁴Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High:

¹⁵And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

¹⁶But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes; and that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth?

¹⁷Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.

¹⁸When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

¹⁹Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.

²⁰Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.

²¹These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

²²Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:

²³Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

Psalm 51

¹For the Chief Musician. A psalm of David: when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight: that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

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

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and uphold me with a free spirit.

¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

¹⁶For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it: thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Psalm 52

¹For the Chief Musician. Maschil of David: when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the mercy of God endureth continually.

²Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

³Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah

⁴Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

⁵God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah

⁶The righteous also shall see it, and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,

⁷Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

⁸But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

⁹I will give thee thanks for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints.

Psalm 53

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.

²God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God.

³Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

⁴Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon God.

⁵There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.

⁶Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Psalm 54

¹For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David: when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us? Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy might.

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

³For strangers are risen up against me, and violent men have sought after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is of them that uphold my soul.

⁵He shall requite the evil unto mine enemies: destroy thou them in thy truth.

⁶With a freewill offering will I sacrifice unto thee: I will give thanks unto thy name, O LORD, for it is good.

⁷For he hath delivered me out of all trouble; and mine eye hath seen my desire upon mine enemies.

Psalm 55

¹For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

²Attend unto me, and answer me: I am restless in my complaint, and moan;

³Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me, and in anger they persecute me.

⁴My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

⁵Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

⁶And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! then would I fly away, and be at rest.

⁷Lo, then would I wander far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would haste me to a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest.

⁹Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go about upon the walls thereof: iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.

¹¹Wickedness is in the midst thereof: oppression and guile depart not from her streets.

¹²For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

¹³But it was thou, a man mine equal, my companion, and my familiar friend.

¹⁴We took sweet counsel together, we walked in the house of God with the throng.

¹⁵Let death come suddenly upon them, let them go down alive into the pit: for wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.

¹⁷Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan: and he shall hear my voice.

¹⁸He hath redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for they were many that strove with me.

¹⁹God shall hear, and answer them, even he that abideth of old, Selah the men who have no changes, and who fear not God.

²⁰He hath put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him: he hath profaned his covenant.

²¹His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

²²Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

²³But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.