Why read Psalm 52?
Psalm 52 calls for repentance and a return to God. Its account of wrongdoing ends with hope that the people will be restored.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
The full text of Psalm 52 (8 verses), from the 7th Kathisma of the Psalter. The opening words — «The fool said in his heart:...» — are also the psalm’s traditional “name”: our grandmothers did not say “psalm 52”, but called it by its first words.
The text of Psalm 52
1. The fool said in his heart: “There is no God!”
2. They became corrupt and abhorrent in their lawlessness. There is no one who does good.
3. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see whether there is anyone who understands or seeks God.
4. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not a single one.
5. Will all those who practise lawlessness not understand? Those who eat My people as they eat bread,
6. Did not call upon the Lord. There they feared with fear where there was no fear,
7. For God scattered the bones of those who please people; they were ashamed, for God rejected them.
8. Who will give Israel salvation from Zion? When the Lord brings back the captives of His people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad.
When Psalm 52 is read
- It belongs to the 7th Kathisma and is read in the sequence of the Psalter at services; the faithful read it during fasts and in times of need.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
