PSALMS 53-58

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There Is None Who Does GoodTo the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
53:1

The 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,

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,

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 restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. The Lord Upholds My LifeTo the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
54:1

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 strangers have risen against me;

ruthless men seek my life;

they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4

Behold, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life. 5

He will return the evil to my enemies;

in your faithfulness put an end to them.
6

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. 7

For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. Cast Your Burden on the LordTo the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
55:1

Give 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 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, divide 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 familiar friend. 14

We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in the throng. 15

Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol alive;

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 morning 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 companion stretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant. 21

His speech was smooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were drawn swords.
22

Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he 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 TrustTo the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56:1

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples 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 trust in you. 4

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?
5

All day long they injure my cause;

all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6

They stir up strife, they lurk;

they watch 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;

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your book? 9

Then my enemies will turn back

in the day when I call.

This I know, that God 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 delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

that I may walk before God

in the light of life. Let Your Glory Be over All the EarthTo the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
57:1

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

till the storms of destruction pass by. 2

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me. 3

He will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4

My soul is in the midst of lions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.
5

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!
6

They set a net for my steps;

my soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah 7

My heart is steadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody! 8

Awake, my glory!

Awake, O harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn! 9

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.
11

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth! God Who Judges the EarthTo the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.
58:1

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?

Do you judge the children of man uprightly? 2

No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.
3

The wicked are estranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies. 4

They have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear, 5

so that it does not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.
6

O God, break the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! 7

Let them vanish like water that runs away;

when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. 8

Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,

like the stillborn child who never sees the sun. 9

Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

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