Psalm 50-52

New American Standard Bible

God, the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.

A Psalm of ^[a]Asaph.

50 ^(A)The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken
And summoned the earth, ^(B)from ^[b]the rising of the sun to its setting.
²Out of Zion, ^(C)the perfection of beauty,
God ^(D)has shone.
³May our God ^(E)come and not keep silent;
^(F)Fire devours before Him,
And a storm is violently ^(G)raging around Him.
⁴He ^(H)summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
⁵“Gather My ^(I)godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a ^(J)covenant with Me by ^(K)sacrifice.”
⁶And the ^(L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For ^(M)God Himself is judge. Selah

⁷“^(N)Hear, My people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify ^[c]against you;
I am God, ^(O)your God.
⁸I do ^(P)not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
⁹I will not take a ^(Q)bull from your house,
Nor male goats from your folds.
¹⁰For ^(R)every animal of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹I know every ^(S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is ^[d]Mine.
¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the ^(T)world is Mine, and ^[e]everything it contains.
¹³Shall I eat the flesh of ^[f]^(U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
¹⁴Offer God ^(V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And ^(W)pay your vows to the Most High;
¹⁵^(X)Call upon Me on the day of trouble;
I will ^(Y)rescue you, and you will ^(Z)honor Me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to tell of My statutes
And to take ^(AA)My covenant in your mouth?
¹⁷For you yourself ^(AB)hate discipline,
And you ^(AC)throw My words behind you.
¹⁸When you see a thief, you ^(AD)become friends with him,
And ^[g]you ^(AE)associate with adulterers.
¹⁹You ^[h]^(AF)let your mouth loose in evil,
And your ^(AG)tongue harnesses deceit.
²⁰You sit and ^(AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
²¹These things you have done and ^(AI)I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will ^(AJ)rebuke you and present the case before your eyes.

²²“Now consider this, you who ^(AK)forget God,
Or I will ^(AL)tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to save you.
²³He who ^(AM)offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who ^(AN)sets his way properly
I will ^(AO)show the salvation of God.”

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, when ^[i]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 ^(AP)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of ^(AQ)Your compassion, ^(AR)wipe out my wrongdoings.
²^(AS)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And ^(AT)cleanse me from my sin.
³For I ^(AU)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
⁴^(AV)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is ^(AW)evil in Your sight,
So that ^(AX)You ^[j]are justified ^[k]when You speak
And ^[l]blameless when You judge.

⁵Behold, I was ^(AY)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶Behold, You desire ^(AZ)truth in the ^[m]innermost being,
And in secret You will ^(BA)make wisdom known to me.
⁷^[n]Purify me ^(BB)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
^[o]Cleanse me, and I will be ^(BC)whiter than snow.
⁸^[p]Let me hear ^(BD)joy and gladness,
Let the ^(BE)bones You have broken rejoice.
⁹^(BF)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.

¹⁰^(BG)Create ^[q]in me a ^(BH)clean heart, God,
And renew a ^(BI)steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹^(BJ)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your ^(BK)Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the ^(BL)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a ^(BM)willing spirit.
¹³Then I will ^(BN)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will ^[r]be ^(BO)converted to You.

¹⁴Save me from ^(BP)the guilt of bloodshed, God, ^(BQ)the God of my salvation;
Then my ^(BR)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
¹⁵Lord, ^[s]^(BS)open my lips,
So that my mouth may ^(BT)declare Your praise.
¹⁶For You ^(BU)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a ^(BV)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.

¹⁸^(BW)By Your favor do good to Zion;
^[t]^(BX)Build the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹Then You will delight in ^[u]^(BY)righteous sacrifices,
In ^(BZ)burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then ^[v]bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the music director. A ^[w]Maskil of David, ^[x]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you ^(CA)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The ^(CB)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
²Your tongue devises ^(CC)destruction,
Like a ^(CD)sharp razor, ^(CE)you worker of deceit.
³You ^(CF)love evil more than good,
^(CG)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
You ^(CH)deceitful tongue.

⁵^[y]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and ^(CI)tear you away from your tent,
And ^(CJ)uproot you from the ^(CK)land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous will ^(CL)see and fear,
And they will ^(CM)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But ^(CN)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And ^(CO)was strong in ^[z]his evil desire.”

⁸But as for me, I am like a ^(CP)green olive tree in the house of God;
I ^(CQ)trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever.
⁹I will ^(CR)praise You forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, ^(CS)for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.