June 7 Psalms 51-57

Psalm 51
Prayer for Cleansing and PardonTo the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.


3For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgement.
5Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.


6You desire truth in the inward being;*
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.


10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right* spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing* spirit.


13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.


15O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.
17The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.


18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
19then you will delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Psalm 52
Judgement on the DeceitfulTo the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’
1Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done against the godly?*
All day long 2you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of treachery.
3You love evil more than good,
and lying more than speaking the truth.
Selah
4You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.


5But God will break you down for ever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
Selah
6The righteous will see, and fear,
and will laugh at the evildoer,* saying,
7‘See the one who would not take
refuge in God,
but trusted in abundant riches,
and sought refuge in wealth!’*


8But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
for ever and ever.
9I will thank you for ever,
because of what you have done.
In the presence of the faithful
I will proclaim* your name, for it is good.
Psalm 53
Denunciation of GodlessnessTo the leader: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
1Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts;
there is no one who does good.


2God looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.


3They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.


4Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?


5There they shall be in great terror,
in terror such as has not been.
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;*
they will be put to shame,* for God has rejected them.


6O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
Psalm 54
Prayer for VindicationTo the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, ‘David is in hiding among us.’
1Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.


3For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them.
Selah


4But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of* my life.
5He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.


6With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
Psalm 55
Complaint about a Friend’s TreacheryTo the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
1Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.
2Attend to me, and answer me;
I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught 3by the noise of the enemy,
because of the clamour of the wicked.
For they bring* trouble upon me,
and in anger they cherish enmity against me.


4My heart is in anguish within me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6And I say, ‘O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;
Selah
8I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest.’


9Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10Day 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 market-place.


12It is not enemies who taunt me—
I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—
I could hide from them.
13But it is you, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend,
14with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.
15Let death come upon them;
let them go down alive to Sheol;
for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.


16But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
18He will redeem me unharmed
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19God, who is enthroned from of old,
Selah
will hear, and will humble them—
because they do not change,
and do not fear God.


20My companion laid hands on a friend
and violated a covenant with me*
21with speech smoother than butter,
but with a heart set on war;
with words that were softer than oil,
but in fact were drawn swords.


22Cast your burden* on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.


23But you, O God, will cast them down
into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
Psalm 56
Trust in God under PersecutionTo the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
2my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many fight against me.
O Most High, 3when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me?


5All day long they seek to injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They stir up strife, they lurk,
they watch my steps.
As they hoped to have my life,
7 so repay* them for their crime;
in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!


8You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your record?
9Then my enemies will retreat
on the day when I call.
This I know, that* God is for me.
10In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?


12My vows to you I must perform, O God;
I will render thank-offerings to you.
13For you have delivered my soul from death,
and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Psalm 57
Praise and Assurance under PersecutionTo the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
1Be 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,
until the destroying storms pass by.
2I cry to God Most High,
to God who fulfils his purpose for me.
3He will send from heaven and save me,
he will put to shame those who trample on me.
Selah
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.


4I lie down among lions
that greedily devour* human prey;
their teeth are spears and arrows,
their tongues sharp swords.


5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.


6They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they have fallen into it themselves.
Selah
7My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
9I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the clouds.


11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.