Big Idea: Those who live by wealth and power sometimes employ the power of speech as their weapon, but God’s unfailing love is more powerful.

Understanding the Text

Psalms 52–55 are each classified as a maskil. Psalm 32 is the first of thirteen psalms that have this term (see the comments on the title for Ps. 32). While its meaning is not known for certain, the basic meaning of the term, “to be skilled” / “to teach,” makes a lot of sense here, since Psalm 52 seeks to teach the lesson that wealth, and the arrogant abuse that often goes along with it, will meet with God’s judgment and be known by the epitaph of 52:7.

The type of Psalm 52 is elusive. Goldingay suggests that it is a “variant on a psalm of trust.”1The verb “trust” describes the hero’s reliance on his abundant wealth (52:7)…