Psalm 52
Your Tongue Is a Razor
Heading
For the choir director. A maskil[a] by David.
When Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul
and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”[b]
Doeg’s Sin
1 Why do you boast about evil, you hero?
The mercy of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue plans destruction.
It is like a sharpened razor, you scheming liar.
3 You love evil rather than good. Interlude
You love lying rather than speaking what is right.
4 You lying tongue, you love every word that devours!
Doeg’s Judgment
5 But God will tear you down forever.
He will grab you and pull you out of your tent. Interlude
He will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 Then the righteous will see and fear.
Then they will laugh at him:
7 “Look, here is the man who did not make God his stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth.
He grew strong by his destructive deeds!”
David’s Delivery
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever because you have done this.
I will hope in your name in the presence of your favored ones
because it is good.
Footnotes
- Psalm 52:1 A maskil is a type of hymn. It means a song that makes one wise or a skillful song. Other maskils include Psalms 53–55.
- Psalm 52:1 See 1 Samuel 21 and 22.