Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

Psalm 52

Israel’s prayers give language for praise, grief, repentance, and trust. Poetry uses imagery and parallel lines; each psalm should be read as a whole rather than as a detached promise.

Historical context & book outline

1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why 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.

Read closely

  1. What repeated words, contrasts, or actions stand out in this chapter?
  2. How does this chapter fit the surrounding chapters and the book’s purpose?
  3. What did it communicate to its first hearers, before applying it to your life?