Old Testament

Psalms 52

The Boaster Falls, the Faithful Flourish

3 passages

Overview

Psalm 52 moves from a divine indictment of a treacherous, tongue-wielding boaster — cast in the shadow of Doeg the Edomite's betrayal of David — through the righteous witnessing God's uprooting of those who trust in wealth rather than in his steadfast love, to the psalmist's closing declaration of himself as a flourishing olive tree within God's house, committed to everlasting thanksgiving for what God has already accomplished.

Passages

1–4Accusation Against the Treacherous Boaster 5–7Uprooted from the Living: God's Judgment and the Lesson of the Wicked 8–9Rooted in the House of God: Olive Tree and Everlasting Praise

Study Resources

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Psalms 52

¹For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to Ahimelech’s house.” Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.

²Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

³You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.

⁴You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue.

⁵God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.

⁶The righteous also will see it, and fear, and laugh at him, saying,

⁷“Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

⁸But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house. I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.

⁹I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it. I will hope in your name, for it is good, in the presence of your saints.

Psalms 51 Psalms 53