Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 52-59.

First, I want to note that Psalm 53 repeats Psalm 14 almost verbatim.  This psalm uses “God” in a few places where Psalm 14 uses “The Lord” (I know that the translators chose those English words, but they represent different Hebrew words).  This psalm (Psalm 53) has a few lines which are not in Psalm 14, but they do not change the meaning of the psalm.  Perhaps Psalm 53 is included here just like some hymn books have two slightly different versions of the same hymn (growing up I remember the hymn book had two hymns with identical words, but set to different musical scores).  However, I wonder if perhaps the compiler included it as part of a theme related to the other psalms around it here.  Psalm 52 discusses someone who boasts of doing evil, someone who is deceitful.  Then in Psalm 54 the psalmist asks God to save him from arrogant foes who have no regard for God.  So, the lesson we learn is that the wicked are fools.  Further, if we wish to not be fools we will put our trust in God and follow His guidance.  As we succeed in doing so, fear will be ever further from us, because if God is on our side, what can any mortal do to us?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.