Psalm 52
לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מַשְׂכִּ֥יל לְדָוִֽד בְּב֤וֹא דּוֹאֵ֣ג הָאֲדֹמִי֮ וַיַּגֵּ֪ד לְשָׁ֫א֥וּל וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֑וֹ בָּ֥א דָ֝וִ֗ד אֶל בֵּ֥ית אֲחִימֶֽלֶךְ
BSB
Why Do You Boast of Evil?
(1 Samuel 22:6–23)
For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”
1Why 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.
Introduction
Psalms 52
David, no doubt, was in very great grief when he said to Abiathar (Sa1 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 (Psa 52:1). II. He accuses him, convicts him, and aggravates his crimes (Psa 52:2-4). III. He passes sentence upon him (Psa 52:5). IV. He foretels the triumphs of the righteous in the execution of the sentence (Psa 52:6, Psa 52:7). V. He comforts himself in the mercy of God and the assurance he had that he should yet praise him (Psa 52:8, Psa 52:9). 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.
To the chief musician, Maschil. A psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.
Cross-references: 1Sam 22:22 · Ps 52:1 · Ps 52:2 · Ps 52:5 · Ps 52:6 · Ps 52:7 · Ps 52:8 · Ps 52:9