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Illustration for Psalm 52: The Boastful Brought Low

Psalm 52

The Boastful Brought Low

Wisdom

This psalm warns against trusting in being mean or powerful to get what you want. God will deal with people who love evil. But the person who trusts in God is like a healthy olive tree — always growing and flourishing in God's house.

  1. 1Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
  2. 2Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharpened razor that works deceit.
  3. 3You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah
  4. 4You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
  5. 5But God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
  6. 6The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying,
  7. 7"Look at the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in his great wealth and made himself strong through destruction!"
  8. 8But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God's loving devotion forever and ever.
  9. 9I will praise You forever for what You have done; in Your name I will hope, for it is good in the presence of Your saints.

What it means

Some people get their way by being mean, and for a while it can look like it works. This psalm says that is a tree with no roots. The person who trusts God is like a healthy olive tree — quietly growing, staying green, still standing years later. Choose to be the tree with roots.

A little prayer

Lord, help me not to copy people who get their way by being unkind. I would rather trust You and grow strong and steady like a good tree. Thank You for Your love that never runs out. Amen.

Memory verse

“But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God's loving devotion forever and ever.”

Psalm 52:8 (BSB)

It sets a growing thing against a loud thing, and says which one lasts.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. The psalm talks about someone who boasts about being able to hurt people. Why would anyone boast about that?
  2. It compares the good person to an olive tree growing in God's house. What do trees need that a boast does not give?
  3. What is the difference between being strong and being frightening?
  4. Who do you know who is strong in a quiet way?

Try this

Grow something slow

Plant a seed in a pot. It will do nothing visible for days. Put it somewhere you will pass every morning, and read verse 8 the day the first green shows.

You will need: A pot, some soil, a seed.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)