PSALM 58 - GOD WHO JUDGES JUSTLY

PSALM 58

This Psalm is David’s complaint to God about unjust rulers and judges. He compared the unjust rulers of Israel to God who is just.

Rhetorical Question
58:1-2

David began this Psalm with a rhetorical question which he then answered. A rhetorical question is a question asked with no expectation of an answer, because the answer is obvious.

The question is addressed to Israel’s rulers. The text refers to “gods” (ESV) or “rulers” (NIV) or “mighty ones” (CSB). The word that appears in the Masoretic Hebrew text means “silence”, which makes no sense in context.

The Masoretic Text (MT) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Old Testament. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D.

Scholars believe that a vowel was changed inadvertently to show the word as “elem” instead of “elim”. The use of “gods” makes sense as the passage contrasts these little “gods” with God. But, “rulers”, used by the NIV, seems to fit the context well and is easily understood.

The question is: do you (the rulers) decree, or speak, what is right and do you judge uprightly? David questioned whether the rulers made just laws and whether they judged people according to the laws (justly).

In Israel, in David’s time, a ruler was supposed to rule by the law of God as found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. The priests and judges made some judgments.

The king also made judgments. The law required the king to make his own copy of the law as approved by the priests. He was to keep it with him and read it every day. (Deuteronomy 17:18) He was also bound to keep the law himself.

To judge rightly, or justly, the rulers had to rule according to the law. Anything else would be wrong, or unjust.

David answered his rhetorical question with a strong “no”. He said the rulers devised wrongs against people and dealt out violence. Saul certainly did this toward David and anyone else he deemed to be a rival or enemy.

The Wicked
58:3-5

David moved from calling them rulers\mighty ones, to calling them “the wicked”. He had already said they did not judge by the law or live by the law. This means they did not honor or obey God and were, therefore, wicked.

They were estranged from the womb, going astray from birth. This might refer to the doctrine of “original sin”, that every person is born with a fallen nature because of Adam’s sin. At a minimum, it means their very nature was evil and unjust. They were lawbreakers.

They did not keep God’s covenant. They were, for example, liars. (3) One of the commandments is “you shall not bear false witness”. (Exodus 20:16) Leviticus 19:11 says “you shall not lie to one another”.

Their lies were harmful like a snakes venom. It destroyed people and it destroyed the nation. They could not be reasoned with, either, they stopped their ears like a snake that ignored the snake charmer. They did not listen to God or to the needs of the people.




Prayer for Justice
58:6-9

David pulled no punches when he asked God to act. He asked God to break out their teeth. Since the rulers used their mouths to cause harm, he asked God to stop their mouths.

David asked God to make them vanish. He wanted them to disappear like a snail that dissolves into slime. He wanted God to blunt their arrows, or render them powerless. David wanted them swept away. He wanted them to perish.

David not only wanted them to perish, but to do so quickly. He wanted it before the pots felt the heat of thorns. This seems to refer to the use of thorns to start a fire. They would catch fire and burn quickly.

Rejoicing in Future Vindication
58:10-11

When God acts to avenge him, David and those who are righteous will rejoice. He graphically says they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. This is a similar image to Isaiah 63:1-6, when the Lord comes in vengeance upon Edom. His garments are crimson because the lifeblood of the people of Edom spattered his garment. He had trod the winepress of God’s wrath.

It is also similar to Revelation 14:19-20, where an angel harvests the earth and throws them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horses bridle.

Revelation 19:13-14 uses the same image. The rider on the white horse wears a robe dipped in blood and he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God. It is a graphic picture of God taking vengeance on his enemies and the enemies of his people.  

David also wanted the effect that God’s actions would have on other people. They will see there is a reward for the righteous. And they would know there is a God who judges on earth. The triumph of God is the vindication of the righteous, of believers. Justice is imposed and his kingdom is established. There God will rule with righteousness and justice.

Like David, that is what we have to look forward to. David looked for it in his lifetime. We look for it at the end of time.