Psalms · psalm 58 of 150
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Psalm 58 is a psalm of David, a Miktam, that denounces the rulers or judges who hand down injustice and deal out violence. David asks God to break their power and expects the righteous to rejoice when God does justice. It ends by saying that people will acknowledge that there is a reward for the righteous and that there is a God who judges on earth.
The title says according to Do Not Destroy and calls it a Miktam of David. It is one of the harshest psalms of the Psalter and is studied among the so-called imprecatory psalms. Interpreters debate whether verse 1 speaks to false gods, human judges or silent powerful ones, because the Hebrew word is difficult. What matters is the denunciation of injustice and the appeal to God as judge.
David begins with a direct question: do you indeed decree what is right, you mighty ones? Do you judge the children of man uprightly? No: in your hearts you devise wrongs, and your hands deal out violence on earth. It is an accusation against those who hold authority and use it for evil.
Then he describes wickedness from its origin: the wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, so as not to hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter. The picture shows that there is no one who can bring them to reason.
Then David prays with force: O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! Let them vanish like water that runs away, let their arrows be blunted, let them be like a snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun. The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance and will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Then mankind will say: surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David asks the powerful whether they truly judge justly and answers that in their hearts they devise wickedness and deal out violence. Authority exists to protect the weak, not to oppress them.
David asks God to break the teeth of the violent, compared to young lions. It is poetic language that cries to God to stop the oppressor's power.
The righteous rejoices when he sees God do justice, not out of delight in misfortune but because evil no longer rules. The image of washing the feet in blood is a poetic expression of total victory.
The conclusion is that there is a reward for the righteous and a God who judges on earth. It is the central affirmation of the psalm and its comfort.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Whether they truly decree what is right and judge the children of man uprightly. — Psalm 58:1
Answer: Devise wrongs and deal out violence on earth. — Psalm 58:2
Answer: The venom of a serpent and a deaf adder that stops its ear. — Psalm 58:4-5
Answer: Break them in their mouths and tear out the fangs of the young lions. — Psalm 58:6
Answer: He rejoices when he sees God's justice. — Psalm 58:10
Answer: That there is a reward for the righteous and a God who judges on earth. — Psalm 58:11
Psalm 58 is uncomfortable, and that is exactly why it is useful. It puts into words the anger at injustice that many feel when they see corruption, abuse or violence protected by authority. In a small group you can pray with the psalm for judges, rulers and authorities, asking that they act justly and that God correct those who abuse their power.
At the same time, Christians read this psalm in the light of Jesus, who taught us to pray for those who persecute us. Entrusting the cause to God, without personal revenge, is the way to apply it, and to wait for God to do what we cannot, as Romans 12:19 teaches.
Psalm 58 ends by affirming that God judges on earth. Psalm 59 returns to a scene of David harassed by Saul's men and asks for God's defense in the night.
The Hebrew word is difficult. Some translations read gods, understood as spiritual beings or powerful ones, and others read judges, rulers or the mighty. In both cases the psalm addresses those who hold authority and misuse it. That is why it applies well to human judges and rulers.
It is an image from the war poetry of the ancient Near East that expresses total victory and justice done. It is not a wish for personal cruelty but a poetic expression that evil will be defeated. Christians read it with the certainty that judgment belongs to God.
It teaches that it is legitimate to cry to God in the face of injustice and that God is the final judge. Romans 12:19 says not to avenge ourselves but to leave room for God's wrath. The psalm encourages trusting that God will do justice and not taking revenge ourselves.