Psalms 52:1

Psalm 52 ¹ 

For the music director; a well-written song ²  by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” ³ 

52:1 Why do you boast about your evil plans, ⁴  O powerful man?

God’s loyal love protects me all day long! ⁵ 

Psalms 86:5

86:5 Certainly ⁶  O Lord, you are kind ⁷  and forgiving,

and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.

Psalms 106:1

Psalm 106 ⁸ 

106:1 Praise the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

and his loyal love endures! ⁹ 

Psalms 107:1

Book 5
(Psalms 107-150)

Psalm 107 ¹⁰ 

107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

and his loyal love endures! ¹¹ 

Psalms 107:8

107:8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ¹² 

Psalms 107:15

107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ¹³ 

Psalms 107:22

107:22 Let them present thank offerings,

and loudly proclaim what he has done! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 119:68

119:68 You are good and you do good.

Teach me your statutes!

Jeremiah 33:11

33:11 Once again there will be sounds ¹⁵  of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms. ¹⁶  Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the Lord and will say, “Give thanks to the Lord who rules over all. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever.” ¹⁷  For I, the Lord, affirm ¹⁸  that I will restore the land to what it was ¹⁹  in days of old.’ ²⁰ 

¹ sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.

² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

³ tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”

⁴ tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”

⁵ tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.

⁶ tn Or “for.”

⁷ tn Heb “good.”

⁸ sn Psalm 106. The psalmist recalls Israel’s long history of rebellion against God, despite his mighty saving deeds on their behalf.

⁹ tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”

¹⁰ sn Psalm 107. The psalmist praises God for his kindness to his exiled people.

¹¹ tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”

¹² tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.”

¹³ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and let them proclaim his works with a ringing cry.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “33:10 Thus says the Lord, ‘There will again be heard in this place of which you are saying [masc. pl.], “It is a ruin without people and without animals,” [that is] in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem which are desolate without people and without inhabitants and without animals 33:11 the sound of….” The long run-on sentence in Hebrew has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.

¹⁶ sn What is predicted here is a reversal of the decimation caused by the Babylonian conquest that had been threatened in 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.

¹⁷ sn This is a common hymnic introduction to both individual songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 118:1) and communal songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 136 where it is a liturgical refrain accompanying a recital of Israel’s early history and of the Lord’s continuing providence).

¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁹ tn Or “I will restore the fortunes of the land.”

²⁰ tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.