Psalm 52: The Madness of Atheism
The main difference between this psalm and psalm 13 is that the name of God here is not Jehovah, but Elohim. In Psalm 13, the madman denies the existence of a covenant God (Jehovah, the Lord) who is very interested and concerned about the welfare of His people. Here, the madman denies the existence of a powerful Lord God (Elohim), who keeps the universe and controls it.
(Introduction to Psalm 52) Psalm 13 uses the name Jehovah four times and Elohim three times. Here the name Elohim occurs seven times.
God can be denied in different senses: some deny that the Creator is interested in any human race or a group of people; others deny any possibility of God's existence ( Scripture Union Daily Notes).
52:2 A madman is not necessarily a narrow-minded or stupid person. He can be a brilliant intellectual in terms of modern education, but at the same time do not pay attention to the evidence of the personality, power and providence of God. He lives in conscious ignorance. "The corresponding Hebrew word conveys the idea of \u200b\u200ba conscious unwillingness to acknowledge the truth."
Atheism is associated with degradation and vice, sometimes it is their cause, sometimes it is a consequence. Therefore, it is not surprising that those who say: "There is no Elohim" are corrupted and commit heinous crimes. There is no one who does good among them.
52:3 From atheists in particular, we are moving on to humanity in general. Paul quotes passages from this verse in Romans 3, pointing out the complete sinfulness of all mankind. This accusation is, of course, true. Looking from heaven at the sons of men, God sees no one who by himself would have the wisdom to fear God. If it were not for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, no one would seek God.
52:4 All have turned away from the living God. They have all become obscene. No one does good in the sense that no one by his actions can earn the mercy and favor of the Lord. 52:5, 6 We come to a specific type of sinner, namely, those apostates who persecute God's people. How can they be so short-sighted? They show cruelty and do not pray. They destroy the faithful just as easily, without thinking, as they eat bread. They do not feel the need to turn to God in prayer. Apparently, they do not think about the fact that one day they will be gripped by an incomparable fear. God will scatter the bones of those who fight against His faithful followers.
52:7 In the last verse, David prays for the coming of the Messiah. This is the Deliverer who will come from Zion (Rom. 11:26) and will save the believers in Israel. On this day Israel will be restored, then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice.
IN TRANSFER 52 PSALM.
PSALM 52
The madman in his heart said: "There is no God."
There is no truth on earth. Debauchery is all around.
There is no good among the people. Forgotten Testament!
And people commit crimes.
The Lord looked at the earth from heaven.
There is no truth on earth among sons.
All have dodged ... The devil rules the world!
There is no one who understands God's words.
Is it really, God, a lawless race,
Whoever eats your people is like bread,
Will not understand with fear, will not understand
That he will die from the coming troubles.
And fear will seem to the sinner,
Where there is no fear, where there is only emptiness.
The Lord will scatter the bones of sinners to dust
And he will put them to shame with the glory of Christ.
Who will save Zion from captivity?
Lord, when the last day comes!
Then with delight among the tribes
Israel and Jacob will sing.
The genre of poetic arrangement of psalms was widespread in Russian poetry.
Why rewrite the Bible psalms? Wouldn't it be better to read the original?
Here you need to understand that poetic arrangements do not compete with the original and do not pretend to be read instead. Obviously, verses cannot replace the psalms of David, but they can help to experience and understand them.
The Psalms of David have the deepest power of divine inspiration and themselves inspire many spiritual thoughts and feelings. Poetic transcriptions are an experience of spiritual experience of sacred psalms. In addition, the transcriptions remind of the poetic fundamental principle of the Psalter, because in the original of King David this is precisely poetry, rhythmized verse lines (by the way, the word "poetry" is of biblical origin). In this sense, they have every right to exist within the framework of literature.
The Church has never opposed such poetic transcriptions of the Psalter.
He became a pioneer back in the 17th century. hieromonk Simeon of Polotsk, who transcribed all 150 psalms in syllabic verse, compiling the collection "Rhyming Psalter".
The psalms were transcribed in the 18th century by V. Trediakovsky, M. Lomonosov, G. Derzhavin.
Following them, many poets of the 19th century wrote poetic transcriptions of psalms, in particular V. Zhukovsky, F. Glinka, N. Yazykov, V. Küchelbecker. It is interesting that the famous fabulist I. Krylov wrote many odes and imitations of the psalms.
In the twentieth century, for obvious reasons, this tradition was interrupted. But in recent decades, it has reawakened. Transcriptions by N. Grebnev, S. Averintsev, hieromonk Roman Matyushin are known.
1. In the end, about Maeleth, mind to David, 52
2. The speech is foolish in its heart: there is no God.
Having corrupted and disgusted in lawlessness, do no good.
3. God from heaven prince on the sons of man,
see if you have understanding or seek God.
4. All evasive, together with obscenities were:
do not do good, do not be one.
5. Do not all who practice lawlessness understand,
devoured my people into the food of bread? I have not called upon the Lord.
6. There is a fear of fear, where there is no fear:
like the God of scattering the bones of man-pleasers:
being ashamed, as God despise them.
7. Who will give the salvation of Israel out of Zion?
God will always return the captivity of his people,
jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice.
Psalm 52
(in Russian)
1: 2. The madman said in his heart: "There is no God."
They have become corrupted and committed heinous crimes;
there is no doer of good.
1: 3. God from heaven looked upon the sons of men,
to see if there is an understanding seeking God.
1: 4. All have deviated, become equally obscene;
there is no doer of good, there is not one.
1: 5. Will not those who practice iniquity be wise,
who eat my people as they eat bread,
and not calling on God?
1: 6. There they fear fear, where there is no fear,
for God will scatter the bones of those who take up arms against you.
You will put them to shame because God rejected them.
1: 7. Who will give salvation to Israel from Zion!
When God brings back the captivity of His people,
then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice
The interpretation of Orthodox Psalm 52 noticeably echoes the interpretation of Psalm 13. Both of them were written during the time of David's persecution by King Saul, who knew that the young psalmist had been appointed as his successor, but could not come to terms with this thought, and wanted to destroy a potential rival.
The Christian text of Psalm 52 contains the contrition of the future great king of Israel not so much about his own misfortunes, but about the lack of faith and piety among the entire human race.
When is it customary to read the prayer Psalm 52?
In the text of Christian Psalm 52, the main idea is traced: the main reason for all lawlessness and sin is the denial of the existence of God by man. An unbeliever does not have a moral and ethical guideline, he does not have the feeling that the Lord sees all his deeds and thoughts, therefore he gradually goes over to the side of evil. The psalm also implies that the believer, on the contrary, feels the constant presence of God, and this keeps him within the framework of spiritual laws. Reading and listening to Psalm 52 online is recommended for fishermen to have a good fishing.
Listen to video Orthodox prayer Psalm 52 in Russian
Read the church text of Psalm 52 in Russian
To the head of the choir. On a wind instrument. David's teachings.
The madman said in his heart: "There is no God." They have become corrupted and committed heinous crimes; there is no doer of good. God looked down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there is an understanding, seeking God. All have deviated, become equally obscene; there is no doer of good, there is not one. Will not those who practice iniquity, who eat my people, as they eat bread, and do not call upon God, be wise? There they will fear fear, where there is no fear, the bones of those who are fighting against you. You will put them to shame because God rejected them. Who will give salvation to Israel from Zion! When God returns the captivity of His people, then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice.
Christian Psalter, text of Psalm 52 in Church Slavonic
The speech is insane in its hearts; there is God. Having corrupted and disgusted in lawlessness, do not do good. God from heaven prince on the sons of man, you see, if there is to understand or seek God. All you evaded, together you were filthy; do not do good, do not be one. Do not all those who practice iniquity, which my people eat for bread, understand? I did not call the Lord. There is a fear of fear, where there is no fear; as God is spreading the bones of man-pleasers; being ashamed, as God despise them. Who will give the salvation of Israel from Zion? God will always return the captivity of his people, and Israel will rejoice and Israel will rejoice
In the end, about Maelef
(about jubilation), reason to David.
This psalm is similar to the 13th psalm, two verses only more than it. Therefore, only we will explain them here, since the explanation of other verses is made in the 13th psalm. Two verses have been added here to avoid the impression that this psalm is mistakenly counted twice; but to make it clear that although both of these psalms are one in pronunciation of words, they differ in thought, because the former condemns the anger and malice of Sennacherib and Rapsac, which they showed against Ezekiah, and the last psalm accuses the rage of the Jews against Christ.
If this psalm did not differ in thought from the 13th, then it would not have been counted twice and would not have been repeated, and neither the 70 interpreters who translated it, nor the fathers explaining it, would not have made such a mistake. Moreover, this psalm also has an inscription different from the inscription of the 13th psalm, indicating the end to the reader because of the prophecies contained in it about the Jews, which were fulfilled at the end. The inscription about "Maeleth" means the same as about the face, where the preposition οπερ is used instead of περι by transference. As Christians read this psalm, we rejoice because of the fulfillment of what is foretold in it (1).
(1) A beautiful explanation of this was done by St. Grigory of Nyssa: When you hear that in the inscription after the word: "towards the end," follows "about Maelef", then you should know that this is mysteriously giving you advice - not to weaken in the fight against temptations, but to look at the end of victory, which consists in the fact that your soul will be numbered to the angelic face, after its purification through the attack of temptations, as we hear about their attack on Lazarus. Perhaps someone asks here why this psalm was written twice? To this we answer that atheism, according to which another says that there is no God, is a great and terrible sin, that the Holy Spirit was not content with a one-time exposure of this sin, but considered it necessary twice, by means of augmented denunciations and accusations, to disgrace and smite him, to show how he is God-loathing and God-hating before all other sins. And Lytin in his psalter adds a second reason, that is, that the 13th psalm was written prophetically about Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, and this may be written about Antiochus Epiphanes; also appends and the third, which is the 13th psalm. contains a prophecy about the corrupted world and the contemporaries of David, and this one about the contemporaries of Christ. And I will add the fourth reason why that psalm was written twice, because it mentions the corrupted morals of people who lived before Christ, in what sense does the ap. Pavel. So, in order to show how necessary the coming of Christ was, he described the corrupted state of people, which required a Savior and Redeemer.
For Jacob will rejoice, says, and Israel will rejoice; and this is we - the new Israel, as we have explained this in the 13th psalm. The expression: reason, means that those who read this psalm need understanding so that they know that although it has a similarity to the 13th psalm in words, it has a mysterious difference in its thoughts. So, we will begin to explain only these two different verses, since this psalm exceeds the 13th psalm by them, as we said.
. The speech is foolish in its heart: there is no God; corrupted and disgusted in lawlessness, do not do good(1).
Look for the explanations of these words in the 13th psalm; and the expression "in lawlessness", which is here, there is replaced by the word: "in their undertakings" (in their aspirations), - "Do not do good", in the 13th psalm stands: "Do not do benevolence".
(1) Basil the Great says: Disagreement of life with the commandments can be called a sign of renunciation of God, in accordance with the words: the madman said: there is no God, but as if for some indication of him, - discovering who he is, (David) adds: they are corrupted in lawlessness. For this Scripture signifies falling away from general concepts about God, and the ungodly and ungodly thought that prevailed in all mankind before the appearance of the Savior and shows that the most pernicious depravity is, as it were, a trait of such nesting ungodliness. And how they corrupted the healthy seeds about God sown in themselves and devoted themselves to the service of vile idols, dividing wickedness into perfect atheism and polytheism, and what happened, corresponding to their atheistic and vile deeds, fell into all kinds of evil; then these madmen, that is, the atheists, having banished piety from their souls, together with him, as with a king, cast out all virtue, assuring themselves that there is no pilot who would keep the rudders of all creation, without fear they make any inappropriateness. The words of his brother St. Gregory of Nyssa: As a madman speaks in his heart, that is, he thinks that there is no God above everything. Having become corrupted and disgusting in such actions of the mind: for falling away from existence is truly corruption and destruction in the very composition. For how can anyone be in his being without being in being? How can anyone be in existence without believing in the existence of existence? And the truly existing God must certainly exist, as the vision of God who appeared to him testified to the great Moses. So, whoever casts out the existence of God from his mind and says that He does not exist, he damages his own being and loses the essential. Therefore, the thought that there is no God and Provider is the reason for our corruption in iniquity; and a corrupted life makes us vile and God-hating, why is it necessary for a doctor to come and heal our corruption, to bring those who have become disgusting to himself. The words of Hesychus: Whose would it be, if not a madman, about whom Isaiah also said: a madman speaks mad and his heart thinks about vain (). What does it mean? the fact that acting badly and absurdly and seeing God's longsuffering towards us, instead of thanking and glorifying Him as good and non-malicious, they fall into madness, thinking that God does not observe human affairs, but that everything is done without reason and by accident ... Didim also speaks beautifully: He who thinks badly of God strives for another evil: having banished piety from his soul, he, together with it, expels every virtue that follows piety as his king.
. God from heaven prince on the sons of man, see, if there is, understand, or seek God
. All deviating, together with Bysh's lewdness: do not do good, carry to the same (not a single one - there is: do not do benevolence).
. Neither will all those who practice iniquity, my people who have eaten in the food of bread, understand the Lord without calling.
. There is a fear of fear, where there is no fear
The explanation of these words can be seen in the 13th psalm. But there it says "they were afraid", but here they say "they were afraid."
Like God scattering the bones of man-pleasers
Here David calls the Jews who are pleasing to people, which name and Christ repeatedly reproached them when he called them hypocrites and judges by their appearance. For, according to man's pleasing, the Jews spoke for the pleasure, or pleasing of the Caesars: everyone who makes himself king is an adversary to Caesar; also: we have no king except Caesar (); and they said to Pilate: if you let him go, you are not Caesar's friend (). So, these man-pleasing Jews are the bones, or the tribes of which the Jewish race is made, as the body consists of bones - these, I say, the tribes were scattered and scattered by God, so that they would be slaves and subject to all nations. Or so that when the Jews were destroyed by the weapons of the Romans, their dead bodies and their bones were torn apart by wild beasts, kites and other carnivorous birds (1).
(1) The words of Theodoret: He who would call Rapsak a man-pleaser, who, being from the clan of Jews, refined his tongue in blasphemy, should not sin, thinking to please the Assyrians. (And equally) some, under Julian, the apostate who reigned after this, forsaking God, were mutually abandoned from Him.
Ashamed, as God despise them
The Jews, he says, have turned to shame and disgrace among all nations, because they lead the most miserable and superstitious life, becoming miserable than all the people of this world. And this they were subjected to because Christ humiliated them, making them the object of reproach of the whole world (1).
(1) The words of St. Cyril: What bones is he talking about? about the powers of the teachings of the Greeks and the wicked, which they have concluded in their writings. For they found pleasure in the brilliance of expressions and in the composition of words, for which he calls them pleasing to people. But the power of their teaching, which is expressed in the name of the bones, was completely destroyed by Christ, who showed it to be inactive and humiliated them, that is, the writers of the Hellenic dogmas.
. Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel; always God will return the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice
For an explanation of these words, see the 13th psalm. And the words of this psalm: when "God" returns, it reads there: when "the Lord" returns.