PSALM 49

The Folly of Trusting in Riches.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1Hear this, all peoples;

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

2Both low and high,

Rich and poor together.

3My mouth will speak wisdom,

And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.

4I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will express my riddle on the harp.

5Why should I fear in days of adversity,

When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,

6Even those who trust in their wealth

And boast in the abundance of their riches?

7No man can by any means redeem his brother

Or give to God a ransom for him—

8For the redemption of his soul is costly,

And he should cease trying forever—

9That he should live on eternally,

That he should not undergo decay.

10For he sees that even wise men die;

The stupid and the senseless alike perish

And leave their wealth to others.

11Their inner thought is that their houses are forever

And their dwelling places to all generations;

They have called their lands after their own names.

12But man in his pomp will not endure;

He is like the beasts that perish.

13This is the way of those who are foolish,

And of those after them who approve their words. Selah.

14As sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd;

And the upright shall rule over them in the morning,

And their form shall be for Sheol to consume

So that they have no habitation.

15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,

For He will receive me. Selah.

16Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich,

When the glory of his house is increased;

17For when he dies he will carry nothing away;

His glory will not descend after him.

18Though while he lives he congratulates himself—

And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—

19He shall go to the generation of his fathers;

They will never see the light.

20Man in his pomp, yet without understanding,

Is like the beasts that perish.

PSALM 50

God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

1The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,

And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God has shone forth.

3May our God come and not keep silence;

Fire devours before Him,

And it is very tempestuous around Him.

4He summons the heavens above,

And the earth, to judge His people:

5“Gather My godly ones to Me,

Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

6And the heavens declare His righteousness,

For God Himself is judge. Selah.

7“Hear, O My people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you;

I am God, your God.

8I do not reprove you for your sacrifices,

And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

9I shall take no young bull out of your house

Nor male goats out of your folds.

10For every beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.

11I know every bird of the mountains,

And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

12If I were hungry I would not tell you,

For the world is Mine, and all it contains.

13Shall I eat the flesh of bulls

Or drink the blood of male goats?

14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving

And pay your vows to the Most High;

15Call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

16But to the wicked God says,

“What right have you to tell of My statutes

And to take My covenant in your mouth?

17For you hate discipline,

And you cast My words behind you.

18When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,

And you associate with adulterers.

19You let your mouth loose in evil

And your tongue frames deceit.

20You sit and speak against your brother;

You slander your own mother’s son.

21These things you have done and I kept silence;

You thought that I was just like you;

I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

22“Now consider this, you who forget God,

Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

23He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;

And to him who orders his way aright

I shall show the salvation of God.”

PSALM 51

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;

According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity

And cleanse me from my sin.

3For I know my transgressions,

And my sin is ever before me.

4Against You, You only, I have sinned

And done what is evil in Your sight,

So that You are justified when You speak

And blameless when You judge.

5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,

And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness,

Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9Hide Your face from my sins

And blot out all my iniquities.

10Create 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 Holy Spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a willing spirit.

13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will be converted to You.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;

Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.

15O Lord, open my lips,

That my mouth may declare Your praise.

16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;

You are not pleased with burnt offering.

17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

18By Your favor do good to Zion;

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,

In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

PSALM 52

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the choir director. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?

The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.

2Your tongue devises destruction,

Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.

3You love evil more than good,

Falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.

4You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

5But God will break you down forever;

He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,

And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.

6The righteous will see and fear,

And will laugh at him, saying,

7“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,

But trusted in the abundance of his riches

And was strong in his evil desire.”

8But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;

I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.

9I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,

And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.