Psalm 52

Commonplace –

“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” (Superscription to Psalm 52).

In this Psalm, David is addressing his enemy.

“Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually” (Psalm 52:1)

Here is a prescription for how to deal with people in our lives who use their tongue for evil against us. David turns to God. In verse 1, he poses a rhetorical question to his enemy and then answers himself with a truth about God – “the goodness of God endureth continually”. While his enemy might have caused mischief, David called on his faith in God’s goodness to reassure himself that God’s goodness overcomes all evil done to and against us. David placed his faith in God and like Joseph believed God would work it to the good.

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

But God! David eventually becomes King, but at this moment he is in the midst of struggle. In the midst of his struggle, when evil seems to be winning, David reminds himself that the evil man “made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness” (Pslam 52:7). Unlike like the wicked man, David committed himself to God:

“But I [David] am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou has done it: and I will wait on thy name , for it is good before thy saints” (52:8-9).

This is a good example of how to deal with an enemy. Matthew Henry notes, “In singing this psalm we should conceive a detestation of the sin of lying, foresee the ruin of those that persist in it, and please ourselves with the assurance of the preservation of God’s church and people, in spite of all the malicious designs of the children of Satan, that father of lies” (356).

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 52.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg