Psalm 58

Psalm 58 To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David. 1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? 2 No, in heart you work wickedness; you weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, 5 which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully. Do not destroy! “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says Yahweh.” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:17-19) Why God must judge— "‘Do ye of a truth in silence speak righteousness?’… Righteousness is not heard on earth. Wickedness and violence are on the earth, therefore God must arise and deal with these conditions in judgment.” (Arno Gaebelein) David goes on to explain that men ‘‘are estranged’ to wit, from God, Ephesians 4:18, and from all goodness; 'from the womb;'... And this hereditary and native corruption, though too common to all men, he particularly ascribes to these men; either because their immediate parents were such as did not only convey a corrupt nature to them, but greatly improved it by wicked counsel and example; or because they themselves had improved that stock of original corruption, and instead of mortifying it, had made it their great design and constant business to gratify and obey it.— ‘they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies... as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason, and the practice of sinning.” (Matthew Poole) “‘Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully.’ They pass in malice and subtilty the crafty serpent who could preserve himself by stopping his ears from the enchanter.” (Geneva Study Bible) 6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! 7 Let them flow away as waters which run continually; when he bends his bow, let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. 8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, as in His living and burning wrath. 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, 11 so that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely He is God who judges in the earth.” God will judge and destroy the wicked, rendering a just recompense for their works. “Psalm 58 Imprecatory psalms have long disturbed Christian readers. How can the godly man call for vengeance on his enemies? Should he not, rather, ask God to forgive them? It is important for us to understand that David’s enemies are also God’s enemies (that finally is why they are David’s) and that David is turning all vengeance over to God. In this context we observe what David expected to happen when God took vengeance. We must not read back into the Old Testament what is not there. Rather, we must listen to each passage for its own message, however shadowy or vague that message might be. Here is what David regards as God’s just punishment in this psalm: • their teeth will be broken in their mouths (v. 6); • they will vanish like water that flows away (v. 7); • they will melt like a slug as it moves along (v. 8); • they will not see the sun, like a stillborn child (v. 8).” (“The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition” by William Edward Fudge) “‘Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.’ (v. 9) He closes his list of illustrations by referring to habit of the traveller to gather desert scrub in order to light his fire by which to heat his cooking pot. Having made a fire with some of it, and having piled up beside the fire a heap from which he can feed the flames, he sits there contentedly anticipating the heating up of his prey. But suddenly a desert storm arises, and a whirlwind sweeps away both the burning scrub beneath his pot, and the green scrub which is his reserve. To his chagrin he no longer has any means of heating his pot and burning his victim.” (Peter Pett) They are themselves destroyed! “They [the destroying angels] were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God [doctrine of God] on their foreheads [minds].”(Revelation 9:4) “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” (v. 10) “The ultimate result will be God’s honor. People will then exclaim: ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth’ (v. 11).” (Fudge)