Psalm 52 – A Psalm of David
(Written by Robert Quay)
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
This Psalm speaks of the treachery of Doeg, under the payroll of Saul. Doeg was an Edomite, a black mark on any man’s name in Israel in later years. Herod the Great was an Edomite, who massacred the babies of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18).
The story of Doeg’s perverted temperament is told in 1 Samuel 21-22. David sought help from Ahimelech the priest, however, Doeg who was chief of Saul’s herdsmen saw David with the priest. David was escaping from Saul who had made sixteen attempts to kill him. Wanting to be a man after Saul’s heart, Doeg took the opportunity to report to Saul. Infuriated, Saul ordered the killing of the priests, but the guards refused. Doeg under Saul’s orders killed 85 priests, except one, who escaped reporting to David. This grieved David very much.
In verses 1-3, David spoke of the wickedness of Doeg whose tongue like a razor-sharp blade caused the death of so many lives. In verses 4-5, David says God will break, tear and uproot such people. In verses 6-9, David impressed his men in his camp when he turned away and prayed with absolute confidence in God who will bring justice, leaving vengeance in God’s hands.
The lesson we learn is the restless evil of the tongue and is full of deadly poison described in James chapter 3. Believers must have self-control, particularly with their tongues.
Let’s Read Psalm 52
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,
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!
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!”
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.
Let’s Pray,
Heavenly Father, we realize the danger of our tongues and how it can destroy relationships and cause pain. We seek your forgiveness for often failing to control our speech and words. Let our speech be always gracious and seasoned with salt. Guard our mouths that we may speak good rather than gossip. In Jesus Name. Amen!
This devotional was kindly contributed by Dr. Chow Li Sze and her channel Heavenly Devotion. You may find the channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/HeavenlyDevotion/videos
About the Heavenly Devotion channel
The Heavenly Devotion channel is dedicated to encouraging you to listen to Bible Scriptures and pray with the Scriptures. They are inspired by the call of service as expressed and exemplified by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:12-15.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrew 4:12 NKJV)
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