PSALMS LESSON 52

     We will begin by giving this Psalm in metre to show how easily it
could be sung.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                             Chapter 52

Verse 1  "Why dost thou boast, O mighty of mischief and of ill?  [man,
          The goodness of Almighty God Endureth ever still."
Verse 2  "Thy tongue doth slanders mischievous Devise most cunningly,
          Like to a razor sharp to cut, It works deceitfully."
Verse 3  "Ill more than good, and more than truth Thou lovest speaking
          wrong: Thou lovest all-devouring words, O thou deceitful
          tongue."
Verse 4  "So God shall thee destroy for aye, Remove thee, pluck thee
          out Quite from thy house, and from the land of life he shall
          thee root."
Verse 5  "The righteous shall it see, and fear, And laugh at him they
          shall: Lo, this the man is that did not Make God his
          strength at all."
Verse 6  "But he in his abundant wealth His confidence did place; He
          also to himself took strength From his own wickedness."
Verse 7  "But I within the house of God Am like an olive green; My
          confidence forever hath Upon God's mercy been."
Verse 8  "And I forever will thee praise, Because thou hast done this;
          I on thy name will wait, for good before thy saints it is."

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 52nd Psalm
taken from the King James version of the Bible. Psalms 52:1 "{To the
chief Musician, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David, when Doeg the Edomite
came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of
Ahimelech.} Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the
goodness of God [endureth] continually."

     David is saying that mischief should never be boasted about. We
know that many in our day have called themselves great men, when in
truth, all they know how to do is to tear down something someone else
has built. I do not admire people who tear down. I admire the builders
in our society. David is saying, you say you are this great man; show
me the great things you have done. Goodness is in creation, not in
destruction. The goodness of God lives on forever. We can look at the
past and not learn anything. We must be able to apply these lessons
David is teaching to our lifetime for it to be profitable to study
this.

     Psalms 52:2 "Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor,
working deceitfully."

     The untamed tongue is a deadly weapon. The comparison of the
tongue to a razor is a good comparison. They can both cut you to
pieces. Many a person has had their reputation destroyed by the lies
of someone's tongue. Deceit indicates that the person whose tongue is
doing all of this damage is a liar, as well. The truth is not in him.

     Psalms 52:3 "Thou lovest evil more than good; [and] lying rather
than to speak righteousness. Selah."

     This is speaking of a person who is evil all the way through. He
is of his father the devil. This is the person the Bible speaks of
when it says, he loveth and maketh a lie. His heart is stayed upon
evil all the time. He has chosen the devil as did the one third of the
angels who followed Lucifer. Lucifer, Satan, the devil, or whatever
you would like to call him, is evil and all of those who choose to
follow him are evil, also. They are not interested in being righteous,
they have chosen evil.  Selah, means pause and think on these things.

     Psalms 52:4 "Thou lovest all devouring words, O [thou] deceitful
tongue."

     The root cause of a deceitful tongue is a deceitful heart
operating the tongue. Out of the issue of the heart, the tongue
speaketh. Devour means to destroy. These devouring words are intended
to destroy the person who listens to them.

     Psalms 52:5 "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."

     The land of the living could be speaking of heaven where we will
live forever. We know the parable of the fruit tree tells us that
those who are not fruit bearers are to be plucked up by the root and
burned.  They are, also, the chaff in the parable of the wheat. The
chaff is gathered up and burned.  It is fit for nothing, but
destruction.  There is no good future in store at all for those who
hate goodness.  This pause Selah, means again, stop and think about
this.

     Psalms 52:6 "The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall
laugh at him:"

     Those who laugh last, laugh best. Perhaps, this does not mean
hilarious laughter, but more a knowing that there would come a time of
payment by this evil one. Those in right standing with God, looking at
the punishment of those who hate God, would be a very sobering and
fearful thing. When Moses came down the mountain and God destroyed
some of the revilers, it was a frightening thing to those left. It is
the wisest thing you ever did to fear God.

     Psalms 52:7 "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."

     Earthly riches and fame are soon gone, for death of the flesh
comes to us all. The sad thing is that, wicked people have no future
worth living for beyond the grave. Their eternal life is spent in
continual torment. Riches may buy you a big car, and a big house, and
fine clothes in the earth, but someone else will benefit from them
when you die. No amount of money or fame can purchase eternal life for
you.

     Psalms 52:8 "But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of
God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever."

     I am told that olive trees live for thousands of years. To be a
green tree, would show that the life was still in the tree. Possibly,
this tree was mentioned here to show that life with God is forever.
His mercy endureth for ever. I have placed my trust in God who will
never fail me, and I shall live with Him forever.

     Psalms 52:9 "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."

     There is no other way the Christian can show God how pleased we
are over what He has done for us. I will lift up the name of Jesus all
the days of my life, for He has done mighty things in my behalf. Not
the least of which is , He saved me by His grace. Hebrews 13:15 "By
him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name."


     We will continue this lesson by giving the 53rd Psalm in metre.

                             Chapter 53

Verse 1  "That there is not a God, Fools in their heart conclude;
          Corrupt they are, their works are vile, Not one of them doth
          good.
Verse 2  "Upon the sons of men God looked from heaven abroad, To see
          if any understood, If any sought for God.
Verse 3  "Together all are vile, They all aside are gone; And there is
          none that doeth good, No, not so much as one.
Verse 4  "These men of wicked works, Do they not know at all? My
          people they devour like bread, on God they do not call.
Verse 5  "Great terror on them came, And they were much dismayed,
          Although there was no cause why they should be at all
          afraid.
Verse 6  "His bones who thee besieged God hath dispersed abroad: Thou
          hast them put to shame, because They were despised of God.
Verse 7  "From Zion, Lord, give help, and back thy captives bring;
          Then Jacob shall exult with joy, And Israel shall sing.

     We will begin this portion of the study with the verse to verse
study of the 53rd chapter of Psalms. Psalms 53:1 "{To the chief
Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David.} The fool hath
said in his heart, [There is] no God. Corrupt are they, and have done
abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good."

     As we have said so many times, a man is what his heart is. Only a
fool could look around himself and conclude there is no God. An
atheist is not an atheist on his dying bed. This suddenly changes when
he is faced with something he cannot control himself. Death is one of
the surest reasons to believe in God. Only a fool would decide that
this world and everything in it just happened. Even science shows us
that a far superior intelligence than mere man has set this all in
order. It is much easier to believe that God created the universe and
all that is in it, than to believe any of the far fetched theories
that atheists have come up with. A person who does not believe in God
is, of all men, most deceived.

     Psalms 53:2 "God looked down from heaven upon the children of
men, to see if there were [any] that did understand, that did seek
God."

     In our world today, He would probably find just a very few who do
truly understand and truly seek God. We know that just before the
great flood, God looked down at man, and He was grieved that He had
made man. He looked and there was a man called Noah who sought God and
understood. We know that God saved Noah and his family and destroyed
all the others who did not believe. We know, also, that God looked at
Sodom and Gomorrah and could not even find 10 righteous men. I greatly
wonder just how many He would find today who love Him and serve Him.
A few, understand and seek God, but as a whole, I am afraid most of
the dwellers on earth do not understand and seek God.

     Psalms 53:3 "Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether
become filthy; [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one."

     The secret of there not being one, lies in verse 2 above.
Children of men are those who have not been adopted in to the family
of God and made sons of God. The sons of God stop being children of
men when they give themselves entirely to the Lord. Worldly people
{children of men} are all living in sin, as this Scripture says.
Christians, look at the blessedness of being sons of God. I John 3:1
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,
because it knew him not." I John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is." There is a special name that only the sons of God can call Him.
Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father."  Can you call the Father Abba?

     Psalms 53:4 "Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat
up my people [as] they eat bread: they have not called upon God."

     The answer to their problem is before them here. They have not
called on the name of God. When they do evil to the people of God,
they are actually attacking God. It is as if they are blind and deaf
to the things of God. They have eyes to see, but they do not see and
ears to hear, but they do not hear. To deny there is God is the most
insane thing anyone could do.

     Psalms 53:5 "There were they in great fear, [where] no fear was:
for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth [against] thee:
thou hast put [them] to shame, because God hath despised them."

     We see, with David, that the people of the world, who deny God
have no future to look to. Their fate is hell. Luke 21:26 "Men's
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."
Those who do not trust in God have terror overcoming them in our day,
because they can see how man can destroy the earth and everyone in it.
The only people who can feel peace in this is those who have heaven to
look forward to. God Himself will destroy the wicked.

     Psalms 53:6 "Oh that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of
Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall
rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad."

     This is two-fold in its meaning. Israel being established as a
nation, and the natural Jew coming back into the land is the first
part of this. The other meaning here is the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the second coming of Christ. There is a physical house of
Israel, who are the natural Hebrews. They are Israelites by birth.
Spiritual Israel is the Christians who are adopted into the family of
God.  Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise."  What rejoicing there will
be when we see our King of kings and Lord of lords!




























                             Questions 52

1.  Is the man David is speaking of in verse 1 really a mighty man?
2.  The author does not admire men that ______ ______.
3.  Goodness is in _________, not in ______________.
4.  How can it be profitable for us to study about David?
5.  What is the tongue compared to in verse 2?
6.  Why is the comparison a good one?
7.  What are some of the names of the devil?
8.  Why is Selah used after verse 3?
9.  What is the root cause of a deceitful tongue?
10. What does devour mean?
11. What is {land of the living} speaking of?
12. What 3 things do the righteous do in verse 6?
13. Those who laugh last laugh, ______ _____.
14. What is the wisest thing you could do?
15. What does the evil man trust in?
16. What is the meaning of the green olive tree?
17. Quote Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15.
18. The fool hath said in his heart, ______ __ __ ___.
19. When is an atheist not an atheist?
20. In verse 2 of chapter 53 of Psalms, God looked down to see if
    there were any that did what?
21. What city did God destroy, because He could not find 10 righteous
    men?
22. Where is the secret of there not being one found who sought God?
23. What are Christians called that shows God is our Father?
24. Quote 1 John chapter 3 verses 1, and 2.
25. What is a name that only the sons of God can call Him?
26. When an evil person attacks a believer, who is he really
    attacking?
27. They have eyes to see, but they do not ____.
28. Quote Luke chapter 21 verse 26.
29. Who are the only people in this world who know true peace?
30. Who is the physical house of Israel?
31. Who is the spiritual house of Israel?