Psalm 58
The Character of the Wicked, and Their Judgment
The Character of the Wicked, and Their Judgment
Psalm 58. This is a Psalm of David, and like the previous Psalm is titled “Destroy Not”, which indicates that the Psalm has the character of a prayer for preservation. Psalm 58 is also a Michtam Psalm, ‘michtam’ meaning “golden jewel”, which illustrates the preciousness of the Lord’s people to His heart who trust Him through trial. Psalm 58 gives us the character of the wicked, and their judgment. Particularly, this describes the awful condition of Israel before the Lord’s appearing.
PSALM 58
To the chief Musician. ‘Destroy not.’ Of David. Michtam.
1 Is righteousness indeed silent? Do ye speak it? Do ye judge with equity, ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder which stoppeth her ear;
5 Which doth not hearken to the voice of enchanters, of one charming ever so wisely.
vv.1-5 The Character of the Wicked. To the remnant, it seems as if righteousness has nearly vanished from the earth, or at least from Israel. The expression “sons of men” refers to the races of men. Mankind is corrupt right down to the motives (“in heart ye work wickedness”) and the moral values (“ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth”). The condition of man is proved in that they “go astray from the womb; they err as soon as they are born, speaking lies”. The effect of the wicked on others is like snakes’ poison. They are deaf to correction like a snake that cannot be enchanted (Acts 7:57).
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth; break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.
7 Let them melt away as waters that flow off; when he aimeth his arrows, let them be as blunted:
8 Let them be as a snail that melteth as it passeth away; like the untimely birth of a woman, let them not see the sun.
9 Before your pots feel the thorns, green or burning, — they shall be whirled away.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the wicked:
11 And men shall say, Verily there is fruit for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
vv.6-11 The Judgment of the Wicked. The remnant pray for the judgment of the wicked under numerous figures: broken teeth in the mouth of a lion, melting like ice, melting like a snail in the sun, like a miscarried fetus. The expression in v.9 is interesting, “Before your pots feel the thorns, green or burning”. This refers to the brevity of their existence under the judgment of God. Often people would use thorns to light a hot fire for cooking, but it would last only for a short time. In other words, the wicked will be destroyed quickly, in a shorter time than the pot would feel the heat of the thorns that were burning in the fire. The wicked will be picked up and cast away like a whirlwind. The righteous are said to rejoice in the vengeance of God on their enemies. Surely, many of these expressions are not Christian in character. However, the result of God’s judgments in the earth is that men will learn righteousness; “men shall say, Verily there is fruit for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.” See Isaiah 26:9 for the principle of this.