Commentary - Psalm 53:6

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 53 is a bleak and unflinching diagnosis of the human condition apart from God. It describes a world populated by fools who say in their heart "there is no God," a world universally corrupt where no one does good. After this grim assessment, the psalm pivots in its final verse to the only possible solution. Verse 6 is a great cry of longing, a gasp of faithful hope from the midst of the ruins. It is a prayer that looks away from the horizontal corruption of man and looks up to the vertical intervention of God. The psalmist knows that the answer to the world's foolishness will not come from the world; it must come "out of Zion." This verse is the hinge of the psalm, where the problem of man's total depravity is met with the prayer for God's sovereign salvation, a salvation that results in the restoration of His people and the eruption of unrestrained joy.

This is not a wishful thought but a prayer grounded in covenant promise. It is a plea for God to act as He has sworn He would, to bring deliverance from His chosen dwelling place. This verse is therefore profoundly Christological. It is the Old Testament church praying for the coming of the Messiah, for the great Yeshua, the salvation of Israel. The restoration from captivity is ultimately the release from bondage to sin and death, and the joy of Jacob is the gladness of the redeemed who have seen their Savior come forth from the heavenly Zion.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 53 is nearly identical to Psalm 14, with the most significant difference being the substitution of "Elohim" for "Yahweh" in most instances. It sits within the second book of the Psalter, a collection that often reflects on Israel's alienation from God and the need for divine deliverance. The psalm's stark portrayal of universal sinfulness serves as the dark backdrop against which the diamond of God's grace will shine. After painting a picture of total corruption where men are estranged from God, devouring His people like bread, the psalmist concludes not in despair, but in prayer. This final verse functions as the answer to the entire problem laid out in verses 1-5. Man is corrupt, so God must save. Man is in bondage, so God must restore. Man is in misery, so God must be the source of his joy. It is a fitting conclusion, turning the believer's eyes from the mess on earth to the hope that comes from heaven.

Key Issues

The Only Answer to the Fool

The entire psalm up to this point has been a detailed description of the fool and his works. The fool is not a mentally deficient man, but a morally defiant one. His atheism is not intellectual, but ethical, rooted in a desire to live without accountability. This foolishness leads to universal corruption; they are all alike, they have all turned aside. After such a comprehensive indictment, what is the righteous man to do? He cannot fix the world. He cannot reason the fool out of his folly. He cannot muster enough goodness to counteract the pervasive evil. The only sane and faithful response is to cry out to the only one who can fix it. This final verse is that cry. It is the prayer of a man who has taken God's diagnosis of the world seriously and who therefore takes God's promises of salvation just as seriously. The answer to the fool who says "no God" is the prayer that begs God to show Himself strong from Zion.

Verse by Verse Commentary

6a Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

This is a cry of intense longing. The psalmist is looking for salvation, or in Hebrew, Yeshua. This is not just a generic deliverance; it is the great, definitive salvation that God has promised His people. And he knows exactly where to look for it. It comes "out of Zion." Zion, Mount Zion, was the location of the temple and the throne of David in Jerusalem. It was, symbolically and covenantally, the place where God dwelt with His people on earth. It was the capital city of the kingdom, the seat of divine authority and power. So, to pray for salvation to come from Zion is to pray for God to act from His throne room, to intervene in history as the covenant King. It is a prayer that acknowledges that help does not come from human schemes or political alliances, but from God's holy mountain. For the Christian, this prayer is answered definitively. Jesus Christ is the Yeshua who came out of the heavenly Zion, sent from the Father's right hand to save His people.

6b When God restores His captive people,

Here the nature of this salvation is defined further. It is a restoration of God's people from captivity. The Hebrew phrase can also be translated as "when God turns the fortunes of His people." In the immediate historical context, this would have brought to mind the various exiles and oppressions Israel suffered. But the captivity described in this psalm is deeper than any political bondage. It is the captivity of the fool, the bondage to sin and corruption that has affected all mankind. The psalmist is praying for the great Jubilee, the year of release for all who are held captive by sin, death, and the devil. This is precisely what the gospel proclaims. Christ comes as the great Restorer, the one who leads a host of captives free (Eph 4:8). When God in Christ acts, He does not just improve our circumstances; He fundamentally reverses our condition from slavery to freedom.

6c May Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.

This is the necessary and glorious result of God's saving work. Where there is true deliverance, there will be true joy. The psalmist uses two parallel names for God's people, Jacob and Israel, to emphasize the totality of this gladness. It is a corporate joy that should fill the whole house of God. Jacob, the supplanter, the schemer, the one who wrestled, will rejoice. Israel, the one who prevailed with God, the prince with God, will be glad. The names themselves tell the story of grace. The joy is not the result of our own efforts or our inherent goodness. It is the joy of the undeserving who have been graciously rescued. It is the laughter of Sarah, the song of Miriam, the gladness of the prodigal's father. God's salvation is not a grim, dutiful affair. It is a festival. When God restores His people, the only appropriate response is for Jacob to throw his hat in the air and for Israel to dance.

Application

This verse teaches us how to pray in a world gone mad. Like the psalmist, we are surrounded by the folly of those who live as though there is no God. We see the corruption and the decay. The temptation is to despair, or to become cynical, or to place our hope in the next election or some human-engineered solution. This psalm calls us to a different response. It calls us to look away from the problem and to look to the source of the solution.

Our prayer must be, "Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!" We must pray for God to act from His throne. We pray for the salvation that is in Jesus Christ to break into our families, our communities, and our nations. We are praying for revival. We are praying for the advancement of the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation. We must remember that Zion is no longer a hill in the Middle East; it is the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church of the firstborn (Heb 12:22-23). Salvation now comes "out of Zion" in the sense that it comes to the world through the proclamation of the gospel by the Church.

And we must pray with the expectation of joy. We should not be a dour, grim people. We are the restored captives. We are Jacob and Israel. Our defining characteristic should be a deep, unshakable gladness rooted in the finished work of Christ and the ongoing work of His kingdom. When we see God save a marriage, when we see a sinner repent, when we see justice advance, we should rejoice. For every time God restores a captive, He gives us another reason to be glad.