Psalm 51-55

New King James Version

A Prayer of Repentance

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David ^(A)when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
^(B)Blot out my transgressions.
²^(C)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

³For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
⁴^(D)Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil ^(E)in Your sight—
^(F)That You may be found just ^[a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

⁵^(G)Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

⁷^(H)Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be ^(I)whiter than snow.
⁸Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken ^(J)may rejoice.
⁹Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰^(K)Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your ^(L)Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your ^(M)generous Spirit.
¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

¹⁴Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
¹⁵O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
¹⁶For ^(N)You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
¹⁷^(O)The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹Then You shall be pleased with ^(P)the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

The End of the Wicked and the Peace of the Godly

To the Chief Musician. A ^[b]Contemplation of David ^(Q)when Doeg the Edomite went and ^(R)told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.
²Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
³You love evil more than good,
Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
⁴You love all devouring words,
You deceitful tongue.

⁵God shall likewise destroy you forever;
He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous also shall see and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,
⁷“Here is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his ^[c]wickedness.”

⁸But I am ^(S)like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
⁹I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it ^[d]is good.

Folly of the Godless, and the Restoration of Israel^(T)

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A ^[e]Contemplation of David.

53 The ^(U)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
^(V)There is none who does good.

²God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who ^(W)seek God.
³Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

⁴Have the workers of iniquity ^(X)no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon God?
⁵^(Y)There they are in great fear
Where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;
You have put them to shame,
Because God has despised them.

⁶^(Z)Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back ^[f]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries

To the Chief Musician. With ^[g]stringed instruments. A ^[h]Contemplation of David ^(AA)when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”

54 Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your strength.
²Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
³For strangers have risen up against me,
And oppressors have sought after my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who ^[i]uphold my life.
⁵He will repay my enemies for their evil.
^[j]Cut them off in Your ^[k]truth.

⁶I will freely sacrifice to You;
I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
⁷For He has delivered me out of all trouble;
^(AB)And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Trust in God Concerning the Treachery of Friends

To the Chief Musician. With ^[l]stringed instruments. A ^[m]Contemplation of David.

55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
²Attend to me, and hear me;
I ^(AC)am^[n] restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,
³Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked;
^(AD)For they bring down trouble upon me,
And in wrath they hate me.

⁴^(AE)My heart is severely pained within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,
And horror has overwhelmed me.
⁶So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷Indeed, I would wander far off,
And remain in the wilderness. Selah
⁸I would hasten my escape
From the windy storm and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, and divide their ^[o]tongues,
For I have seen ^(AF)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls;
^(AG)Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it.
¹¹Destruction is in its midst;
^(AH)Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.

¹²^(AI)For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has ^(AJ)exalted himself against me;
Then I could hide from him.
¹³But it was you, a man my equal,
^(AK)My companion and my acquaintance.
¹⁴We took sweet counsel together,
And ^(AL)walked to the house of God in the throng.

¹⁵Let death seize them;
Let them ^(AM)go down alive into ^[p]hell,
For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God,
And the Lord shall save me.
¹⁷^(AN)Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray, and cry aloud,
And He shall hear my voice.
¹⁸He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,
For ^(AO)there were many against me.
¹⁹God will hear, and afflict them,
^(AP)Even He who abides from of old. Selah
Because they do not change,
Therefore they do not fear God.

²⁰He has ^(AQ)put forth his hands against those who ^(AR)were at peace with him;
He has broken his ^[q]covenant.
²¹^(AS)The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.

²²^(AT)Cast your burden on the Lord,
And ^(AU)He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be ^[r]moved.

²³But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;
^(AV)Bloodthirsty and deceitful men ^(AW)shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in You.