The foolish murmur
Psalm 53

Psalm 53 seems in some way a special reminder, since it is very similar to Psalm 14 earlier in the Psalter. I find both of these most arresting and challenging, owing to the universal condemnation they contain, and yet most merciful because they speak of God’s way to freedom and joy in his kingdom. This text was originally a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 14, but in "Praise!" it was selected as the hymn for Psalm 53, with very slight changes required to bring it in line with the Hebrew source. By that time I was using gender-neutral language for my lyrics, as the traditional ‘man’ ‘mankind’ etc less frequently include all people today. Yet I fell into the trap of giving the fool male pronouns in the first lines of both verses 1 and 2. Was I subconsciously assuming that none of these people could possibly be women? - I don't think I ever made the same mistake when people (‘men’ in the source-text) were described as wise!

Another tendency of mine in recent years has been to offer an alternative for the name Zion while (I hope) still keeping the Biblical sense of Mount of holiness / peace / refuge, dwelling of God. This is because in certain contexts today (and in many people’s minds) that name may carry political and nationalistic implications, causing unintended misunderstanding unless its Hebrew origin is explained. For out of every nation and tribe god makes us welcome in the kingdom of Heaven when we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Therefore I think that 'Heaven's King' would be an acceptable replacement for 'Zion's King' in verse 5 line 2, if preferred. The revision displayed here (which differs only in the two lines indicated above and in ‘him’ instead of ‘God’ in line 4 of verse 2) dates from 2010. Although it does not appear on the Praise! Website, it has been authorised by Praise Trust which administers the copyright.

The tune, EBENEZER (ST PAUL'S), is named after Ebenezer Evangelical Church which Gill Berry attended for over a decade starting with her time as a student in Bangor, Wales. In 1985, while she was there, the church had moved to another venue in St Paul's Terrace. Resources for the unrevised version of this lyric, 'The fool has said within his heart', together with the sheet music, are at "Praise!" no. 53: The fool has said within his heart.