Psa 52-55 | ESV | STEP | To the choirmaster . A Maskil of David , when Doeg , the Edomite , came and told Saul , David has come to the house of Ahimelech . Why do you boast of evil , O mighty man ? The steadfast love of God endures all the day .

Psalms 52

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil ^{▼▼Probably a musical or liturgical term} of David, when ^bDoeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your ^ctongue plots destruction,
like ^da sharp razor, you ^eworker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
and ^flying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and ^gtear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from ^hthe land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall ⁱsee and fear,
and shall ^jlaugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but ^ktrusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!” ^{▼▼Or in his work of destruction}
8 But I am like ^ma green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ⁿfor it is good,
in the presence of the ^ogodly.

Psalms 53

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to ^pMahalath. A Maskil ^{▼▼Probably musical or liturgical terms} of David.

1 ^rThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand, ^{▼▼Or who act wisely}
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
^twhere there is no terror!
For God ^uscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalms 54

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with ^vstringed instruments. A Maskil ^{▼▼Probably a musical or liturgical term} of David, ^xwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1 O God, save me by your ^yname,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, ^zhear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 ^aaFor ^abstrangers ^{▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)} have risen against me;
ruthless men ^adseek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, ^aeGod is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your ^affaithfulness ^agput an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^ahfor it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has ^ailooked in triumph on my enemies.

Psalms 55

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with ^ajstringed instruments. A Maskil ^{▼▼Probably a musical or liturgical term} of David.

1 ^alGive ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless ^amin my complaint and I ^anmoan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they ^aodrop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
^apthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and ^aqhorror ^aroverwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 ^asyes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from ^atthe raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, ^audivide their tongues;
for I see ^avviolence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and ^awiniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
^axoppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who ^aydeals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 ^azBut it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in ^bathe throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol ^bbalive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 ^bcEvening and ^bdmorning and at ^benoon
I ^bfutter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for ^bgmany are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is ^bhenthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not ^bichange
and do not fear God.
20 My companion ^{▼▼Hebrew He} ^bkstretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His ^blspeech was ^bmsmooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were ^bndrawn swords.
22 ^boCast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
^bphe will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, ^bqwill cast them down
into ^brthe pit of destruction;
men of ^bsblood and treachery
shall not ^btlive out half their days.
But I will ^butrust in you.