Psalm 52

Psalm 52 belongs to Book II of the Psalms (Psalms 42–72). The preceding psalm, Psalm 51, is David's psalm of repentance for his own sin. Psalm 52 shifts its focus to the tongue of the wicked man who harms others and to the end that awaits him. The superscription calls the psalm "Maschil, A Psalm of David" (maskil is usually understood to mean an instructive or contemplative psalm). It dates the psalm to the time when Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and reported that David had come to the house of Ahimelech.

Structure

• Verses 1–4 The psalmist asks the mighty man why he boasts in mischief. His tongue, like a sharp razor, works deceitfully, and he loves evil more than good and lying rather than righteousness.
• Verse 5 The psalmist declares that God will pluck him out of his dwelling place and root him out of the land of the living.
• Verses 6–7 The righteous see this and fear, and they laugh at him as the man who trusted in the abundance of his riches rather than in God.
• Verses 8–9 The psalmist compares himself to a green olive tree in the house of God. He confesses that he will trust in the mercy of God for ever and give thanks before the saints.

Key Verses

• Psalm 52:1 "The goodness of God endureth continually." From the outset, the psalm sets the boasting of the wicked against God's steadfast love (hesed).
• Psalm 52:7 "But trusted in the abundance of his riches." The psalm locates the essence of wickedness in making something other than God one's strength.
• Psalm 52:8 "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God." Through the image of a tree, the psalm contrasts the wicked, who are uprooted, with the righteous, who are firmly planted.

People and Places

• David — Named as the author in the superscription.
• Saul — The first king of Israel, who was pursuing David.
• Doeg — An Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. In 1 Samuel 22 he told Saul that David had received help from Ahimelech the priest at Nob, and at Saul's command he killed the priests of Nob.
• Ahimelech — The priest at Nob who gave bread and a sword to David as he fled.

Points for Reflection

• The background indicated by the superscription is found in 1 Samuel 21 and 22. The text of the psalm itself, however, does not mention Doeg or Nob. The traditional interpretation regards the superscription as historical information transmitted together with the psalm. Some scholars, by contrast, regard the superscription as a later addition and read the psalm as a general poem about the wicked.
• What Doeg reported to Saul was true. Interpreters therefore differ on how to relate the "lying" and the "deceitful tongue" of verses 2–4 to that event. Some take these terms to mean that his intent and its consequences were evil; others hold that the superscription and the text need not correspond point for point.
• Selah appears in verses 3 and 5.
• The warning against those who trust in riches is often read alongside the New Testament Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12) and the exhortation in 1 Timothy 6:17–19.