“Words To & Against the Wicked Judges”

This psalm is titled To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David. The phrase Do Not Destroy may refer to the tune, to David’s determination to not destroy Saul, or to David’s plea that God would not allow him to be destroyed. People are *cruel to David. They are also *cruel to other people in the land of Israel. This was probably when Saul was king of Israel. David asks God in this psalm to *punish these *wicked people. But he does not ask God to let him, David, *punish them. Let‘s look at Psalm 58 in four parts: · Verses 1 – 2 Human ~judges in Israel are bad. · Verses 3 – 5~ They have been bad from birth and will not listen to God. Verses 6 – 9 ~The Imprecation, or prayer that God will destroy the wicked judges. · Verses 10 – 11~ What everybody will say when this happens.

It reads in Psalm 58:1-11 NIV: Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies. Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions! Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short. May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun. Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, whether they be green or dry, the wicked will be swept away. The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked. Then people will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.”