Text of prayer Psalm 53
In Russian
Finally, in the song of reason to David, always come with Zitheo and say to Saul: David was not hidden in us;
1 God, in Your name save me and in Your power judge me.
2 God, hear my prayer, inspire the words of my mouth.
3 As for the stranger, you took possession of me and the fortress, you sought my soul and did not set God before you.
4 Behold, God helps me, and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5 The wicked will turn away from my enemy; for your truth, destroy it.
6 I devour You at will; we confess Your name, O Lord,
7 forever, because you have delivered me from all pain, and my eyes look upon my enemies.
In Church Slavonic
Performed in the manner of hymns. Teaching of Asaph. When the Ziphitites came and said to Saul, “See, David is not hiding with us?”
1 God, save me by your name and judge me by your authority.
2 O God, hear my prayer, hear the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers rose up against me, and the mighty sought my soul, and did not set God before them.
4 But behold, God helps me, and the Lord is the advocate of my soul.
5 He will harm my enemies: by thy truth destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice to You, I will glorify Your name, O Lord,
7 For it is good, because You have delivered me from all sorrow, and my eyes have looked upon my enemies.
Interpretation of Psalm 53
1 To the director of the choir. On string instruments. David's teaching
2 When Ziph came and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”
3 God! Save me in Your name, and judge me in Your power.
4 God! hear my prayer, listen to the words of my mouth,
5 For strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty are seeking my life; they do not have God before them.
6 Behold, God is my helper; The Lord strengthens my soul.
7 He will repay the evil of my enemies; By Your truth I will destroy them.
8 I will earnestly sacrifice to You; I will glorify Your name, O Lord, for it is good,
9 For you have delivered me from all troubles, and my eye has looked upon my enemies.
- Verse 1 shows the hypocritical spirit of the Ziphites, they came to Saul and did not openly say that they had David, they were afraid of both kings, and wanted to serve both.
This verse teaches Christians to distinguish between evil and holy, the psalmist praises the Lord in songs. The end means the Kingdom of God, eternal life, the psalmist hoped in it when the Ziphites, filled with wickedness, reported it to Saul.
David's victory echoes the victory of the Orthodox Church over enemy attacks on it.
- Verse 3 shows the king's attitude towards the Creator as the Savior of men for eternal life. It is vanity of vanities if Christians care only about earthly salvation, getting out of existing problems, but at the same time they do not care about what awaits us in the future life. David declares that only in God's name is salvation and through His judgment will salvation come.
The king is not afraid of God’s judgment, he sincerely repented of what he had done, and boldly surrenders himself into the hands of the Creator.
- In verses 4-5, the psalmist cries out in desperation to the Creator, begging Him to hear.
Important!
People who do not follow God follow Satan, so the Creator does not hear their prayers. The sincere prayer of hope was instantly heard by the Almighty. There is no weapon in the world that is stronger than the sincere prayer of faith. The king knows that the Creator is in charge of everything that happens to him; David emphasizes his weakness, saying that strangers, strong in strength, attacked the small army of the righteous.
- The song of praise and confidence that salvation will surely come from God sounds in verses 6,7.
In Psalm 53, David prays to God not to leave him and deprive him of salvation.
Reading these words, we mentally become witnesses to the fact that help came on time. God is never late. Sometimes He hesitates for our good.
- In verses 8-9, David emphasizes that he of his own free will sacrifices his broken spirit, praise, and heart to God. There is no higher grace on earth than to glorify the Creator, and then sadness goes away, destruction awaits the enemies.
More psalms:
- Psalm 89
- Psalm 19
- Psalm 63
No matter how strong the enemy is, the victor under the Lord's protection will see victory with his own eyes.
Important! There are many enemies in the life of Christians, such as illness, financial crises, family troubles, but everything falls into place when sincere praise comes from a pure heart.
History of writing
In his youth, David was a simple shepherd, but the Lord crowned him king. King Saul, who ruled at that time, did not want to give up power, so he tried to kill the righteous man and sent robbers to find him. David never aspired to become king and remained loyal to Saul, but was forced to flee for fear of death.
The text of Psalm 53 is dedicated to the events that happened at that time. The Lord warned David of imminent danger, and he fled to the desert of Ziph to hide from the king. The Zitlians did not want to quarrel with Saul, who led an entire army. They wanted to betray the man who was hiding in the rocky mountains. When the end was near, a messenger mounted his horse and informed King Saul of the Philistine attack. The army quickly returned, and David was saved by the grace of the Lord.
In moments of despair and despair, when defeat seemed inevitable, David did not give up his faith and continued to pray to God. His sincere requests were heard by the Lord, who does not leave those in need in difficulties. Psalm 53 is one of the songs in the Psalter dedicated to those terrible moments when God remained the only hope and salvation.
Why do they read Psalm 53?
Some psalms of King David are united by a special prayer rule; they are read in days of pain. It is recommended to use these songs partially, select only those words that reflect the request of the believer, and read them sincerely and humbly. Psalm 53 is read to combat illness and discomfort, in despair and despair. Even in the most difficult moments, we must not forget about faith, we must continue to turn to the Lord and ask Him for help and mercy, as King David did. The Lord's judgment is fair, the innocent will never suffer, and the guilty will not go unpunished.
To read the prayer, it is not necessary to visit the temple; you can read Psalm 53 in Russian at home. It is best to turn to God in front of the icon to focus on your request. You should observe the rite of communion and not be distracted by extraneous thoughts and worries.
How can reading Psalm 53 help?
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The interpretation of Psalm 53 tells us that it was written during the persecution of the prophet David by King Saul. This psalm is dedicated to the action of the Ziphites, a tribe living near Mount Ziph, where King David hid from the king who was looking for him. Having found out about the whereabouts of the psalmist, the Ziphites went and told Saul about him. What is especially striking about their action is the fact that it was dictated not even by selfish intentions, but by simple human hatred. After this, David had to leave his refuge and hide in the Maon desert, in close proximity to the troops of the king who was pursuing him. The Christian text of Psalm 53 gives us an idea of the mental state of the future king: he is confused and depressed, and relies only on the Lord.
In what cases does Orthodox Psalm 53 help?
In the Orthodox text of Psalm 53, a red thread runs through the idea of King David’s innocence before Saul. And indeed, being a contender for the throne, indicated through the prophet by the Lord, he did not make the slightest attempt to organize a coup d'etat in order to remove the current king, betraying his fate into the Hands of God. This humility was a characteristic feature of the prophet David from his youth until his very last breath, and it is felt in every psalm. Christian Psalm 53 in ancient times was customary to read about the liberation of slaves from the hands of wicked and rude slave owners.
Listen to the video of the Orthodox prayer Psalm 53 in Russian
Read the text of the prayer Psalm 53 in Russian
To the head of the choir. On string instruments. David's teaching
God! Save me in Your name, and judge me in Your power. God! Hear my prayer, listen to the words of my mouth, for strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty are seeking my soul; they do not have God before them. Behold, God is my helper; The Lord strengthens my soul. He will repay the evil of my enemies; By Your truth I will destroy them. I will diligently offer a sacrifice to You, I will glorify Your name, Lord, for it is good, for You delivered me from all troubles, and my eye looked on my enemies.
Orthodox Psalter, text of Psalm 53 in Church Slavonic language
God, in your name save me and in your power judge me. God, hear my prayer, inspire the words of my mouth; as strangers rose up against me, and sought my soul with strength, and did not offer God before them. Behold, God helps me, and the Lord is the intercessor of my soul; the evil one will turn away my enemy; consume them with your truth. I will devour you according to my will; let us confess to your name, O Lord, that it is good; for you have delivered me from all sorrow, and my eye has looked upon my enemies.
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song tell not only an old story, but also about eternal struggle and evil, about courage and fear. Psalm 53 is read in different situations, but to be heard, prayer must be sincere.
For an interpretation of Psalm 53, see selected verses:
- Verses 2-3 are a desperate plea to the Lord for salvation and protection from enemies. Here David says that his enemies turned away from God, they betrayed Him and His laws.
- Verses 6-7 are David's gratitude to the Lord for his miraculous salvation. The psalmist promises to continue to praise God and willingly do God's will.
- Verses 4-5. Hope returns to David; he did not abandon faith and sees that the Lord has not turned away from him. God is not late in providing help, He does not leave the righteous in need.
- The title of the song has a special meaning, these lines reflect the hypocrisy of the Zitlites and the betrayal they committed by giving David to King Saul.
- Verse 1: In moments of mortal danger, David saw in the Lord his only salvation and protection, he surrendered to God's judgment.
Again, David's teaching, not just a song. In this form, it is probably easier to perceive what is difficult to understand.
53:2 when Ziph came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding with us?”
David wants to teach how to behave in situations where life is in danger and practically no one can be trusted: even among those you know, everyone is just waiting for you to fall. David was hunted by Saul and well-wishers - king-pleasers were always with Saul to curry favor with the king. They were found this time too, and reported where David was hiding. And what was the first thing David did when he learned of the danger?
53:3,4 God! Save me in Your name, and judge me in Your power. 4 God! hear my prayer, listen to the words of my mouth,
First of all, he turned to God, because he understood that no one like God could protect from evil if He wanted to protect. David asks God not just to protect, but to JUDGE him: if he is guilty and wicked in the eyes of God, then David is ready for any outcome, because God is not obliged to protect the wicked. And if God finds favor in him, then it costs Him nothing to protect David.
53:5 for strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty seek my soul; they do not have God before them.
David still, in the depths of his soul, hoped that those who persecute him do not have God in them if they do this to him. David himself not only had God in his heart, but also loved Him. Therefore, he relied on help from God in all his difficulties.
53:6,7 Behold, God is my helper; The Lord strengthens my soul. 7 He will repay the evil of my enemies; By Your truth I will destroy them.
David does not ask God, his Helper, to destroy his enemies with sword or fire, but asks
truth
, that is, to repay them with justice.
And the confidence that God would certainly sort everything out and with everyone strengthened David and gave him strength to live on, if possible, resisting evil. 53:8,9 I will earnestly sacrifice to You, I will glorify Your name, O Lord, for it is good, 9 For You have delivered me from all troubles, and my eye has looked upon my enemies.
David is so confident of a successful outcome and that even the denunciation of these spiteful critics to Saul will not harm him that he spoke of his salvation as an accomplished fact: my eye looked on my enemies. David’s confidence that God would certainly protect him from mortal troubles (for it was not yet time for him to perish, there were many things to do for the good of the Lord and the people of God) can even be envied in a good way.
