Psalm of David 52 in Russian and Church Slavonic languages

Text of prayer Psalm 52

Tradition prescribes that chants in church should be read exclusively in the Old Church Slavonic language. Thus, in the temple of God, the effect of presence is enhanced, and it is easier for parishioners to establish a connection with the Lord. But not everyone can fully understand the meaning of prayer. Then a version adapted to the Russian language comes to the rescue. With it, comprehension of the meaning becomes easier, and after it you can move on to reading the traditional version.

In Church Slavonic

In Russian

Interpretation of the text of Psalm 53

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The interpretation of the Orthodox Psalm 52 noticeably echoes the interpretation of Psalm 13. Both of them were written during the persecution of David by King Saul, who knew that the young psalmist was appointed by God Himself 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?

The text of Christian Psalm 52 reveals the main idea: the main cause of all lawlessness and sin is man’s denial of the existence of God. An unbeliever does not have a moral guideline; he does not have the feeling that the Lord sees all his deeds and thoughts, so he gradually goes over to the side of serving evil. The psalm also implies that a believer, on the contrary, feels the constant presence of God, and this keeps him within the framework of spiritual laws. It is recommended for fishermen to read and listen to Psalm 53 online to ensure good fishing.

Listen to the video of the Orthodox prayer Psalm 52 in Russian

Read the church text of Psalm 52 in Russian

To the head of the choir. On a wind weapon. David's teaching.

The madman said in his heart: “There is no God.” They became corrupt and committed heinous crimes; there is no one who does good. God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there was one who understood, seeking God. They all deviated and became equally obscene; there is no one who does good, not even one. Will not the workers of iniquity, who eat my people as they eat bread, and do not call on God, come to their senses? There they will fear fear, where there is no fear, for God will scatter the bones of those who fight against you. You will put them to shame because God has rejected them. 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.

Christian Psalter, text of Psalm 52 in Church Slavonic language

Reche is mad in his heart; there is God. Having become corrupted and disgusted by lawlessness, do not do good. God speaks from heaven to the sons of men, see if you understand or seek God. All evaded, together with indecency there was; do not do good, bring it to one. Will not all the workers of iniquity, who eat my bread for food, understand? I didn’t call on the Lord. There, fearful of fear, where there was no fear; like God scatters the bones of people-pleasers; I was ashamed, for God had humiliated them. Who will give salvation to Israel from Zion? God will always bring back the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice.

The Story of Psalm 52

The prayer was written during a difficult period for the future ruler, when King Saul was persecuting David. It was important for the Jewish ruler to destroy God's new anointed one. At this point, Saul abandoned God and became driven by the devil's will. Chanting makes us think about our path in life, see our sin, break out of the captivity of passions and repent before the Almighty.

The future king is in deep regret about the fate of the human race. People moved away from the Lord, closer to the earthly kingdom and the devil. The world is degenerating and there seems to be no chance of salvation. But David reverently believes that humanity can still be saved. And the life-giving power of the Almighty’s forgiveness will help in this.

Explanation of Psalm 52.

Ps.52:1. To the head of the choir. On a wind weapon. David's teaching.

“In the end, O Maeleth, give reason to David.” Theodotion translated the words: “about Maeleth”: “for rejoicing”, Symmachus: “with the help of the face”, Aquila: “with rejoicing”. This psalm contains the same idea with the previous psalm, as well as the thirteenth psalm. For the content of both psalms is the same. In both, the blasphemy of Sennacherib and Rapsakes is denounced, and the destruction of the wicked is also foreshadowed. This is why the inscription mentions rejoicing, to which, without a doubt, those who achieved salvation and sang songs to God indulged. It is added: “at the end,” because the prophecy came to fulfillment at the end of time.

Ps.52:2. The madman said in his heart: “There is no God.” They became corrupt and committed heinous crimes; there is no one who does good.

“The speech is foolish in his heart: there is no God.” For not only against the so-called gods, but also against the true God, he moved his tongue, saying: The gods of the tongues were not able to deliver their country from my hand. Will the Lord Deliver Jerusalem? Where is the God of Hamath? And where is God Arphad? And where is the God of the city of Sepharuim (2 Kings 18:33–35)?

“Corrupted and disgusted in lawlessness.” The cause of wickedness, says the Prophet, is lawless life; fearlessly doing whatever they please, they do not want to even think about God, overseeing everyone, but they assured themselves that no one controls the creation.

“Do not do good,” that is, everyone loved the wickedness of the Assyrians.

Ps.52:3. God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there was one who understood, seeking God.

“God came from heaven to the sons of men, see, if you understand or seek God.” However, God, in whom they do not believe, God who dwells on high and looks upon the humble, wanted to examine their deeds.

Ps.52:4. They all deviated and became equally obscene; there is no one who does good, not even one.

“Everyone has turned aside, together with the indecent things of the Bysh: do not do good, not to one,” that is, he found everyone deviating from the right path and loving all kinds of vice.

Ps.52:5. Will not the workers of iniquity, who eat my people as they eat bread, and do not call on God, come to their senses?

“Will not all the workers of iniquity, who devour my people bread, understand? I didn’t call on the Lord.” But those who tried to devour My people like bread, and those who despised the Provider God, learn through experience the harm of unrighteousness.

Ps.52:6. There they will fear fear, where there is no fear, for God will scatter the bones of those who fight against you. You will put them to shame because God has rejected them.

“There they will be afraid of fear, where there is no fear.” I will cause them to be horrified and confused when nothing that causes fear is noticeable, but punishment will befall them invisibly. And through this means the defeat inflicted on them by the Angel.

“For God has scattered the bones of men-pleasers: you are ashamed, for God has humiliated them.” The words: “scattering the bones of people-pleasers” were translated by Aquila and Symmachus as follows: “God scattered the bones of those encamped around You.” Therefore, says the Prophet, “they will be afraid of fear, where there is no fear,” since God, Whom they blasphemed, seeing that they had unjustly besieged His city, gave them over to destruction, giving them to be eaten by birds and beasts, and scattered their bones. And it will not be a mistake to call Rapsacus a man-pleaser, who, having descended from the Jews, uttered blasphemous words against the God of all, thinking to please those Assyrians.

Ps.52:7. 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.

“Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel?” Whoever gave us this pleasure, says the Prophet, will give salvation to those who have become captives: because ten tribes have already been enslaved and resettled, and many cities of Judah have also been taken.

“When God brings back the captivity of His people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will rejoice,” that is, then we will have complete joy when we see that other captives have returned to their homeland. By this we also learn, according to the apostolic commandment, “to weep with those who weep, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and also to be wise to one another” (Rom. 12:15-16), and to consider the well-being of our neighbor as our own joy.

Interpretation

It consists of verses and each of them carries its own meaning. It is not difficult to interpret them, but you need to follow them strictly in order.

Introduction. The main person in the verses is David. Recommendations for playing a wind instrument are included below.

Verse 1-2. At the very beginning, David laments the fate of the human race. It seems that people who reject God are stupid, arrogant and immoral. They are devoid of reason and are characterized by the king as madmen, that is, without intelligence. Lacking intelligence, such people are like animals, but with two arms and legs. But they live only by instincts and are far from the kingdom of God.

Verse 3-4. Here the role of God is described in the search for such a person who would live according to His laws and sacredly believe in the common divine truths. This happens at certain moments in human history. But it’s one thing to know the laws of God, it’s a completely different thing to live by them and accept the divine plan into your soul. The Messiah has not yet come to the Jews because they are not ready for his coming.

Verse 5-6. Here, at the final stage, David, with prophetic words, denounces the situation in which his people found themselves. He says that those who acknowledge the Lord in their hearts will be saved, and those who reject God will be punished. One day, when He decides that the time has come, the Almighty will take His people back to His kingdom if they cope with the trials that befell Him.

David's prophetic teaching about everyone who does not believe in their hearts that God exists and interferes in the affairs of people, for their deeds are vile and vicious, but they remain safe and sound, how can one believe? Everyone who does not believe God is called crazy, crazy, which means people. And people without minds are essentially animals, only two-legged and two-armed. As for the rest, there are no differences; instincts are the engine of life for all animals.

52:3,4 God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there was one who understood, seeking God. 4 All have turned aside and become equally indecent; there is no one who does good, not even one.

At certain moments in human history, God peers into the inhabitants of the earth in the hope of finding at least one who believes in Him. This describes a moment when God surveyed the earth, but did not find a single person who would do good - would do the will of God and live according to His righteousness. This point was quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:11 as applied to the Gentiles as to the people of God. At the moment Paul wrote about, the main cause of unbelief among God's people was the rejection of Christ. It turns out that it is not enough to know the laws of God, live by them and belong to the people of God. It is also necessary to accept all His plans as coming from Him, including accepting Christ as the messiah from God. What the Jews still cannot do, continuing to wait for their Messiah.

52:5,6 Will not the workers of iniquity come to their senses, eating up my people as they eat bread, and not calling on God? 6 There they will fear fear, where there is no fear, for God will scatter the bones of those who fight against you. You will put them to shame because God has rejected them.

Here David speaks of those who “devour the people of God” and their enslavers, who do not call on God. And it doesn’t matter who is trying to enslave God’s servants - a pagan or their own, just as the Jews tried to enslave Christians. All enslavers of Jehovah's people will be punished, for God will reject them from His blessings.

52:7 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.

A prophetic indication that the captive people of God will one day be freed from captivity and return to their God, for God, who lives in Zion, is able to save both from literal captivity and from spiritual captivity in error - if He has someone to save at the moment of reviewing the Earth.

Why read Psalm 52?

1. For protection from obvious and imaginary enemies.
2. So that God will bless the house of the praying person with prosperity.

When reading, it is important to understand its meaning. Without this, the voice will not reach Him, and prayer will be an ordinary set of words. It is preferable to read the Church Slavonic version. However, many cannot understand this old traditional language.

In this case, they first read the Russian translated text and only then begin to read in the traditional language. During the process of prayer, it is important to open your heart to God and focus your attention on the face of the icon. Worldly concerns should not disturb you at this moment. Only in this case will a dialogue with the Almighty take place.