58 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam1 of David.
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?2
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!3
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Section Overview
Psalm 58 provides a community lament for God’s people to sing when they are confronted with injustice among their own rulers. The psalm is especially geared to a current situation that is bleak indeed, as those ruling in the civil sphere are “wicked” and violent. But the psalm works not only via its honest portrayal of the present bleakness but also by its confident hope for God’s future vindication of his righteous purposes—and in so doing it strengthens the faithful against despair.
The psalm moves from addressing a group of people who “decree” and “judge” (vv. 1–2) to describing them (vv. 3–5). It then prays for their defeat (vv. 6–9) and anticipates the happy consequences when God finally answers that prayer (vv. 10–11). The first and last verse form a chiastic envelope: “judge the children of man” (v. 1); “mankind . . . judges” (v. 11). The repetition highlights the reversal: in verse 1 it is wicked rulers who “judge” and “children of man” who suffer for it; in verse 11 “mankind” now rejoices because God is he who “judges.”
Section Outline
I. The Challenge to the Tyrants (58:1–2)
II. The Charge against the Tyrants (58:3–5)
III. The Curse upon the Tyrants (58:6–9)
IV. The Celebration When God Judges the Tyrants (58:10–11)
Response
This psalm provided a way for ancient Israel to pray for God’s help when they were dominated by injustice among their own rulers. In the time of David, of course, the focus was on those who ruled Israel, a theocracy (which therefore ought to have been governed by the principles of the Pentateuch, though it frequently was not). Later in Israel’s history the people were subjected to Gentile rulers, some of whom sought to suppress the true faith. In addition to its straightforward application as an actual prayer, the psalm helps the faithful to pray more earnestly for godly leadership and forms in the leaders of the community a true moral compass for their own leadership. It also allows believers to celebrate the prospect that—one day, sooner or later—God will vindicate his justice in the world and that those who trust him will rejoice exceedingly. Indeed, the depiction of the ultimate consequences for the wicked rulers can serve as a stern warning for them and an invitation to change course.
Christians will also find opportunity to pray this way, since the rulers of God’s people—indeed, of all people, everywhere and at all times—ought to embody the highest human ideals of justice (cf. Prov. 31:1–9, instructions for a Gentile king). Some may seek, by way of their service in government, to offer a clear picture of just rule.Psalm 58
Psalm 59