The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A cMaskil1 of David, dwhen Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your tongue plots destruction,
like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3 You elove evil more than good,
and lying 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 tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall see and fear,
and shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but ftrusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”2
8 But I am like a ggreen olive tree
in the house of God.
I htrust 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, ifor it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to jMahalath. A Maskil1 of David.
53 kThe fool says in his heart, l“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
mthere is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,2
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
nthere is none who does good,
not even one.
4 oHave 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,
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.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God prestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
The Lord Upholds My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David, qwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
54 O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For rstrangers2 have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, God is my shelper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 tHe will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness uput an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
vI will give thanks to your name, O Lord, wfor it is good.
7 For he has xdelivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has ylooked in triumph on my enemies.
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and zhide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because 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.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, adivide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day 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.
12 For 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.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my bfamiliar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked cin the throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol dalive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and emorning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.
20 My companion2 stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His speech was smooth as butter,
fyet war was in his heart;
ghis words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
22 hCast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
ihe will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But 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.
In God I Trust
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam1 of David, jwhen the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man ktramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I put my ltrust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; mI shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;2
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They nstir up strife, they lurk;
they owatch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;3
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in pyour book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that4 qGod is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have rdelivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may swalk before God
in the tlight of life.
