Psalm 58
- Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
- Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
- The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
- Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
- Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
- Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
- Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
- As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
- Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
- The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
- So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Psalm 58 is a vivid depiction of the wickedness of mankind and a call for divine justice. The psalmist begins by questioning the righteousness and fairness of the congregation and the sons of men, accusing them of working wickedness in their hearts and practicing violence.
The psalmist describes the wicked as being corrupt from birth, comparing them to poisonous serpents that refuse to heed the warnings of charmers. They call upon God to break the power of the wicked, likening them to ferocious lions and snails that melt away.
The psalmist prays for the swift judgment and destruction of the wicked, envisioning their demise like the sudden disappearance of thorns in a whirlwind. They express the righteous rejoicing in the vengeance of God and affirming His role as a just judge in the earth.
In conclusion, the psalmist asserts the certainty of divine reward for the righteous and emphasizes God’s sovereignty as the ultimate judge. Psalm 58 serves as a reminder of the accountability of mankind before God and the assurance of His righteous judgment.