Psalm 53
(NIV, except where indicated)

Psalm 53 expresses a complaint against fools. These are not simple-minded folks but are described as evildoers (v. 4) who deny God and act in corrupt and vile ways (v. 1). At the height of the complaint, the Psalmist exclaims twice, “there is no one who does good” (vv. 1, 3) and that “everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt” (v. 3).

In a compilation of Old Testament quotes, the apostle Paul includes these expressions from Ps. 53 to describe a nearly universal, sinful state of humanity (Rom. 3:10-18). However, in this Psalm, the fools/evildoers do not refer to the entire human race. They are contrasted with God’s people whom the evildoers “devour . . . as though eating bread” (v. 4) and from whom the Psalmist prays the Lord will deliver his people (v. 6).

The Psalm reflects the contrast between the righteous and the wicked (God’s people and fools who deny God) which is a common wisdom theme. The contrast is described in terms of Israel versus its enemies who seek to devour Israel. However, the contrast could just as easily also be applied to those within Israel who are faithful as opposed to those within Israel who have turned away from the Lord in apostasy. Alternatively, as Paul implies in Rom 7:8-20, the contrast may be depicted as a more abstract image of sin/evil in opposition to people struggling to please God in this broken world.

The complaint against evil in Ps 53 depicts an image of corruption which grows like an overwhelming wave, until it crashes against the wall of God’s judgment in verse 5:

“There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them” (NRSV).

In the end, the prayer of v. 6 expresses confidence and longing that God “will bring to an end the corrupt and godless domination of the world.”^[1] The Psalm serves to propel our Lenten

desire to rid ourselves of lingering sin and to enliven our anticipation of God’s great act in Christ to deliver the world from all sin.

Author: Dr. Thomas J. King

Other Lenten readings for today:

• 2 Kings 4:1-7
• Luke 9:10-17

[1] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51-100, WBC 20 (Dallas: Word Books, 1990), 43.