_wait on_ Thy name" is singular, since what is done "in the presence of Thy favoured ones" would naturally be something seen or heard by them. The reading "I will declare" has been suggested. But surely the attitude of patient, silent expectance implied in "wait" may very well be conceived as maintained in the presence of, and perceptible by, those who had like dispositions, and who would sympathise and be helped thereby. Individual blessings are rightly used when they lead to participation in common thankfulness and quiet trust. PSALM LIII.[1] 1 The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They corrupt _and_ make abominable their _iniquity_; There is no one doing good. 2 _God_ looketh down from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there is any having discernment seeking after God. 3 _Each of them_ is _turned aside_; together they are become putrid; There is no one doing good; There is not even one. 4 Do the workers of iniquity not know Who devour my people [as] they devour bread? On _God_ they do not call. 5 There they feared a [great] fear, _where no fear was_: For God _has scattered the bones of him that encamps against thee_; _Thou hast_ put _them_ to shame; for God _has rejected them_. 6 Oh that the salvations of Israel were come out of Zion! When _God_ brings back the captivity of His people, May Jacob exult, may Israel be glad! In this psalm we have an Elohistic recast of Psalm xiv., differing from its original in substituting Elohim for Jehovah (four times) and in the language of ver. 5. There are also other slight deviations not affecting the sense. For the exposition the reader is referred to that of Psalm xiv. It is only necessary here to take note of the divergences. The first of these occurs in ver. 1. The forcible rough construction "they corrupt, they make abominable," is smoothed down by the insertion of "and." The editor apparently thought that the loosely piled words needed a piece of mortar to hold them together, but his emendation weakens as well as smooths. On the other hand, he has aimed at increased energy of expression by substituting "iniquity" for "doings" in the same clause, which results in tautology and is no improvement. In ver. 3 the word for "turned aside" is varied, without substantial difference of meaning. The alteration is very slight, affecting only one letter, and may be due to error in transcription or to mere desire to emend. In ver. 4 "all," which in Psalm xiv. precedes "workers of iniquity," is omitted, probably as unnecessary.