Psalm 52: Coping with a Betrayer

For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

[Preliminary Comments: For the historical context see 1 Sam 21:7-22:6-23). While David, on the run from Saul, had gone to Ahimelek the priest for help. While he was there, Saul’s chief shepherd, Doeg, happened to be there and overheard all that had gone on and reported it back to Saul. As a result Saul had Ahimelek killed and the other priests killed at the hand of Doeg. We assume this psalm was written by David when he heard what had happened. We see David exposing Doeg for what he is, a boaster, a lover of evil a bad-speaker, [v.1-4] but he is one who will be judged by God [v.5-7]. David by comparison feels secure in the Lord.[v.8,9]

v.1-4 Doeg’s evil speaking and wrong heart

v.1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast all day long,
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
v.2 You who practice deceit,
    your tongue plots destruction;
    it is like a sharpened razor.
v.3 You love evil rather than good,
    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
v.4 You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!

v.5-7 Doeg will be judged by God

v.5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living.
v.6 The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh at you, saying,
v.7 “Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

v.8,9 David contrasts himself, in relationship with God

v.8 But I am like an olive tree
    flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
    for ever and ever.
v.9 For what you have done I will always praise you
    in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
    for your name is good.

[Additional Thoughts: The words and actions of Doeg reveal an evil man, but he will be dealt with by God. Although he had plotted David’s downfall on Saul’s behalf, David is secure in his relationships with the Lord.

After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through

1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast all day long,
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,
    your tongue plots destruction;
    it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
4 You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!

5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    he will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh at you, saying,
7 ‘Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
    and grew strong by destroying others!’

8 But I am like an olive tree
    flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
    for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
    in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
    for your name is good.

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: