Psalms 52 KJV
The Fate of the Wicked
About This Psalm
Addressed to a powerful liar. Why do you boast in evil? God will uproot you. A warning to those who use their tongue as a weapon.
1hy boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
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Did You Know?
The psalm's superscription ties it explicitly to Doeg the Edomite's report in 1 Samuel 22, framing the wicked man's tongue as the catalyst for the massacre of 85 priests at Nob and thus portraying verbal betrayal as an act of genocidal violence against the sanctuary itself.
The closing image of the righteous as a 'green olive tree in the house of God' draws on ancient Levantine cultic associations of olive trees with enduring divine presence and fertility, positioning the temple not merely as refuge but as the site of perpetual covenantal vitality against the wicked's rootlessness.
Verse 5's declaration that God 'shall destroy thee for ever' employs the rare Hebrew root ืืชื in a way that evokes both plucking up and swallowing, creating a double image of exile from land and consumption by Sheol that resonates with covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28.
The psalm inverts the typical wisdom motif of the 'two ways' by making the wicked's self-made 'strong city' (v. 7) the very object of divine derision, revealing that human security structures become self-condemning when severed from steadfast love (ืืกื).
Its placement among the 'Davidic' maskils in the first Psalter book creates a literary arc with Psalm 51, moving from personal penitence over Bathsheba to public confrontation with state-sponsored violence, thereby modeling how private repentance equips one to indict systemic evil.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain mighty man โ literally, "hero." Doeg may be thus addressed, ironically, in respect of his might in slander.
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Psalms 52 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Compare 1sa 21:1-10; 22:1-10, for the history of the title. Ps 52:1 gives the theme; The boast of the wicked over the righteous is vain, for God constantly cares for his people. This is expanded by describing the malice and deceit, and then the ruin, of the wicked, and the happy state of the pious.
- 1
- mighty man โ literally, "hero." Doeg may be thus addressed, ironically, in respect of his might in slander.
- 2
- tongue โ for self. mischiefs โ evil to others (Ps 5:9; 38:12). working deceitfully โ (Ps 10:7), as a keen, smoothly moving razor, cutting quietly, but deeply.
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