Psalm 53
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ עַֽל מָחֲלַ֗ת מַשְׂכִּ֥יל לְדָוִֽד
BSB
The Fool Says There Is No God
(Psalms 14:1–7; Isaiah 59:1–17; Romans 3:9–20)
For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
1The 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!
Introduction
Psalms 53
God speaks once, yea, twice, and it were well if man would even then perceive it; God, in this psalm, speaks twice, for this is the same almost verbatim with the fourteenth psalm. The scope of it is to convince us of our sins, to set us a blushing and trembling because of them; and this is what we are with so much difficulty brought to that there is need of line upon line to this purport. The word, as a convincing word, is compared to a hammer, the strokes whereof must be frequently repeated. God, by the psalmist here, I. Shows us how bad we are (Psa 53:1). II. Proves it upon us by his own certain knowledge (Psa 53:2, Psa 53:3). III. He speaks terror to persecutors, the worst of sinners (Psa 53:4, Psa 53:5). IV. He speaks encouragement to God's persecuted people (Psa 53:6). Some little variation there is between Psa 14:1-7 and this, but none considerable, only between Psa 14:5, Psa 14:6, there, and Psa 53:5 here; some expressions there used are here left out, concerning the shame which the wicked put upon God's people, and instead of that, is here foretold the shame which God would put upon the wicked, which alteration, with some others, he made by divine direction when he delivered it the second time to the chief musician. In singing it we ought to lament the corruption of the human nature, and the wretched degeneracy of the world we live in, yet rejoicing in hope of the great salvation.
To the chief musician upon Mahalath, Maschil. A psalm of David.
Cross-references: Ps 53:1 · Ps 53:2 · Ps 53:3 · Ps 53:4 · Ps 53:5 · Ps 53:6 · Ps 14:1 · Ps 14:5 · Ps 14:6