Psalm Chapter 52 - To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech

Psalm 52: The Green Olive Tree and the Uprooted Man

David has a specific villain in mind here — Doeg the Edomite, a man who traded another man's life for the king's favor — and the portrait he paints is devastating. The tongue like a sharp razor, the love of evil over good, the boasting in mischief as though cruelty were an accomplishment. But the real force of the psalm is in the contrast that follows. God will uproot this man like a weed pulled from the garden, and the righteous will see it and, strangely, laugh — not out of cruelty but out of sheer astonishment at the absurdity of it all. "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches." And then David turns to himself: "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God." The olive tree does not boast or scheme. It simply grows where it is planted, slowly, stubbornly, putting down roots in the mercy of God forever and ever. That is the whole argument of the psalm — you can be the razor or the tree, and only one of them is still standing at the end.

00:00 Why Boastest Thou in Mischief
00:15 A Tongue Like a Sharp Razor
00:30 God Shall Destroy Thee Forever
00:45 The Righteous Shall See and Fear
01:00 A Green Olive Tree in God's House
01:15 I Will Wait on Thy Name