LHC Midday Word: PSALM Fifty Three

Sunday, 12 December 2021

PSALM Fifty Three

For the director of music.

According to mahalath.

A maskil of David.

The fool says in his heart,

‘There is no God.’

They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;

there is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven

on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.

Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;

they never call on God.

But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,

where there was nothing to dread.

God scattered the bones of those who attacked you;

you put them to shame, for God despised them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 53 : “vile” (v.1)

Although “the fool says …” (v.1) is obviously Singular, the latter half of the verse is Plural: “they are corrupt, and their ways are vile.” What is implied is that “the fool” is not an isolated example; it’s a generalisation, and there are many such individuals. Note how it spirals downhill :

[A] where it starts : “in his heart”;

[B] “says” silently in thought, not out loud;

[C] “there is no God” which means we’re not accountable;

[D] “they are corrupt” like fruit ‘rotten to the core’ (see in Matthew 15 vv.18-19);

[E] “their ways are vile” as the moral brake on behaviour is released, people slide lower and lower.

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READING

Psalm Fifty Three

Read by David Suchet