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Psalms 53:1-6 King James Version (KJV)

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1 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.

2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

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

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

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.

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.

Psalms 53:1-6 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

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1 [[To the chief Musician H5329 upon Mahalath, H4257 Maschil, H4905 A Psalm of David.]] H1732 The fool H5036 hath said H559 in his heart, H3820 There is no God. H430 Corrupt H7843 are they, and have done abominable H8581 iniquity: H5766 there is none that doeth H6213 good. H2896

2 God H430 looked down H8259 from heaven H8064 upon the children H1121 of men, H120 to see H7200 if there were H3426 any that did understand, H7919 that did seek H1875 God. H430

3 Every one of them is gone back: H5472 they are altogether H3162 become filthy; H444 there is none that doeth H6213 good, H2896 no, not one. H259

4 Have the workers H6466 of iniquity H205 no knowledge? H3045 who eat up H398 my people H5971 as they eat H398 bread: H3899 they have not called H7121 upon God. H430

5 There were they in great H6343 fear, H6342 where no fear H6343 was: for God H430 hath scattered H6340 the bones H6106 of him that encampeth H2583 against thee: thou hast put them to shame, H954 because God H430 hath despised H3988 them.

6 Oh that H5414 the salvation H3444 of Israel H3478 were come out of Zion! H6726 When God H430 bringeth back H7725 the captivity H7622 of his people, H5971 Jacob H3290 shall rejoice, H1523 and Israel H3478 shall be glad. H8055

Psalms 53:1-6 American Standard (ASV)

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1 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.

2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, That did seek after God.

3 Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people `as' they eat bread, And call not upon God?

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 of God hath rejected them.

6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Then shall Jacob rejoice, `and' Israel shall be glad. Psalm 54 For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David; when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

Psalms 53:1-6 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

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1 To the Overseer. -- `On a disease.' -- An instruction, by David. A fool said in his heart, `There is no God.' They have done corruptly, Yea, they have done abominable iniquity, There is none doing good.

2 God from the heavens looked on the sons of men, To see if there be an understanding one, `One' seeking God.

3 Every one went back, together they became filthy, There is none doing good -- not even one.

4 Have not workers of iniquity known, Those eating my people have eaten bread, God they have not called.

5 There they feared a fear -- there was no fear, For God hath scattered the bones of him Who is encamping against thee, Thou hast put to shame, For God hath despised them.

6 Who doth give from Zion the salvation of Israel? When God turneth back `to' a captivity of His people, Jacob doth rejoice -- Israel is glad!

Psalms 53:1-6 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

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1 {To the chief Musician. On Mahalath: an instruction. Of David.} The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God! They have corrupted themselves, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

2 God looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

3 Every one of them is gone back, they are together become corrupt: there is none that doeth good, not even one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people [as] they eat bread? they call not upon God.

5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God scattereth the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put [them] to shame, for God hath despised them.

6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God turneth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, Israel shall rejoice.

Psalms 53:1-6 World English Bible (WEB)

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1 > The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven on the children of men, To see if there are any who understood, Who seek after God.

3 Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And don't call on God?

5 There they were 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 rejected them.

6 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of his people, Then Jacob shall rejoice. Israel shall be glad.

Psalms 53:1-6 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

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1 <To the chief music-maker; put to Mahalath. Maschil. Of David.> The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.

2 God was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.

3 Every one of them has gone back; they are unclean: there is not one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food, as they would take bread; they make no prayer to God.

5 They were in great fear, where there was no cause for fear: for the bones of those who make war on you have been broken by God; you have put them to shame, because God has no desire for them.

6 May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! When the fate of his people is changed by God, Jacob will have joy, and Israel will be glad.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 53

Commentary on Psalms 53 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Keil & Delitzsch   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Psalm 53

God speaks once, yea, twice, and it were well if man would even then perceive it; God, in this psalm, speaks twice, for this is the same almost verbatim with the fourteenth psalm. The scope of it is to convince us of our sins, to set us a blushing and trembling because of them; and this is what we are with so much difficulty brought to that there is need of line upon line to this purport. The word, as a convincing word, is compared to a hammer, the strokes whereof must be frequently repeated. God, by the psalmist here,

  • I. Shows us how bad we are (v. 1).
  • II. Proves it upon us by his own certain knowledge (v. 2, 3).
  • III. He speaks terror to persecutors, the worst of sinners (v. 4, 5).
  • IV. He speaks encouragement to God's persecuted people (v. 6).

Some little variation there is between Ps. 14 and this, but none considerable, only between v. 5, 6, there, and v. 5 here; some expressions there used are here left out, concerning the shame which the wicked put upon God's people, and instead of that, is here foretold the shame which God would put upon the wicked, which alteration, with some others, he made by divine direction when he delivered it the second time to the chief musician. In singing it we ought to lament the corruption of the human nature, and the wretched degeneracy of the world we live in, yet rejoicing in hope of the great salvation.

To the chief musician upon Mahalath, Maschil. A psalm of David.

Psa 53:1-6

This psalm was opened before, and therefore we shall here only observe, in short, some things concerning sin, in order to the increasing of our sorrow for it and hatred of it.

  • 1. The fact of sin. Is that proved? Can the charge be made out? Yes, God is a witness to it, an unexceptionable witness: from the place of his holiness he looks on the children of men, and sees how little good there is among them, v. 2. All the sinfulness of their hearts and lives in naked and open before him.
  • 2. The fault of sin. Is there any harm in it? Yes, it is iniquity (v. 1, 4); it is an unrighteous thing; it is that which there is no good in (v. 1, 3); it is an evil thing; it is the worst of evils; it is that which makes this world such an evil world as it is; it is going back from God, v. 3.
  • 3. The fountain of sin. How comes it that men are so bad? Surely it is because there is no fear of God before their eyes: they say in their hearts, "There is no God at all to call us to an account, none that we need to stand in awe of.' Men's bad practices flow from their bad principles; if they profess to know God, yet in works, because in thoughts, they deny him.
  • 4. The folly of sin. He is a fool (in the account of God, whose judgment we are sure is right) that harbours such corrupt thoughts. Atheists, whether in opinion or practice, are the greatest fools in the world. Those that do not seek God do not understand; they are like brute-beasts that have no understanding; for man is distinguished from the brutes, not so much by the powers of reason as by a capacity for religion. The workers of iniquity, whatever they pretend to, have no knowledge; those may truly be said to know nothing that do not know God, v. 4.
  • 5. The filthiness of sin. Sinners are corrupt (v. 1); their nature is vitiated and spoiled, and the more noble the nature is the more vile it is when it is depraved, as that of the angels. Corruptio optimi est pessima-The best things, when corrupted, become the worst. Their iniquity is abominable; it is odious to the holy God, and it renders them so; whereas otherwise he hates nothing that he has made. It makes men filthy, altogether filthy. Wilful sinners are offensive in the nostrils of the God of heaven and of the holy angels. What decency soever proud sinners pretend to, it is certain that wickedness is the greatest defilement in the world.
  • 6. The fruit of sin. See to what a degree of barbarity it brings men at last; when men's hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin see their cruelty to their brethren, that are bone of their bone-because they will not run with them to the same excess of riot, they eat them up as they eat bread; as if they had not only become beasts, but beasts of prey. And see their contempt of God at the same time. They have not called upon him, but scorn to be beholden to him.
  • 7. The fear and shame that attend sin (v. 5): There were those in great fear who had made God their enemy; their own guilty consciences frightened them, and filled them with horror, though otherwise there was no apparent cause of fear. The wicked flees when none pursues. See the ground of this fear; it is because God has formerly scattered the bones of those that encamped against his people, not only broken their power and dispersed their forces, but slain them, and reduced their bodies to dry bones, like those scattered at the grave's mouth, Ps. 141:7. Such will be the fate of those that lay siege to the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Rev. 20:9. The apprehensions of this cannot but put those into frights that eat up God's people. This enables the virgin, the daughter of Zion, to put them to shame, and expose them, because God has despised them, to laugh at them, because he that sits in heaven laughs at them. We need not look upon those enemies with fear whom God looks upon with contempt. If he despises them, we may.
  • 8. The faith of the saints, and their hope and power touching the cure of this great evil, v. 6. There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. Oh that it might be hastened! for it will bring in glorious and joyful times. There were those in the Old-Testament times that looked and hoped, that prayed and waited, for this redemption.
    • (1.) God will, in due time, save his church from the sinful malice of its enemies, which will bring joy to Jacob and Israel, that have long been in a mournful melancholy state. Such salvations were often wrought, and all typical of the everlasting triumphs of the glorious church.
    • (2.) He will save all believers from their own iniquities, that they may not be led captive by them, which will be everlasting matter of joy to them. From this work the Redeemer had his name-Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins, Mt. 1:21.