Psalms 58:1

PSALM 58

PRAYER FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED

SUPERSCRIPTION: FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN; SET TO ALTASHETH.

A PSALM OF DAVID. MICHTAM.

The title selected here is that which appears in the American Standard Version. Again we find no convincing evidence capable of denying that the psalm is truly one of those written by David.

This is another of the so-called imprecatory psalms. It expresses a seven-fold curse upon evil men and mentions the rejoicing of the righteous that such a judgment will actually fall upon the wicked. It is only a very foolish, naive, and immature type of `righteous person' who is unable to find in his soul an element of rejoicing and thanksgiving at the Biblical prospect of the final utter overthrow of wickedness.

What that overthrow means, of course, is the punishment and destruction of Satan himself, who fully deserves his appointment in the lake of fire (which we consider metaphorical). Should God allow Satan to continue his career of deception, murder, rape, arson, cruelty, hatred, oppression, etc. in a degree that runs beyond all vocabularies to describe it, and in an intensity that spares no one whomsoever, young, old, innocent, or helpless? Repeat, should God allow that Evil Being unlimited freedom to continue his evil assault upon mankind indefinitely; or should God put the hook in his nose and drag him to the death and destruction that he deserves? This is the great question. God has already told us how it will be answered.

The punishment of the wicked is an incidental thing altogether to the overthrow of Satan. Hell, with all of its implications of terror, described in the Bible under many metaphors, was never designed for evil men, but only for Satan and the fallen angels who supported him. Christ died on Calvary to prevent any man from ever suffering the fate of Satan.

However, until that time when Satan is destroyed, the horrible wretchedness of humanity shall continue to be achieved by Satan's depredations against men. It is the rejoicing in that final victory over Satan that is always meant when the Bible speaks of the righteous rejoicing over the judgment against evil.

Pitiful indeed as the fate of wicked men will be, it must ever be remembered that such was `their choice'; and that no one compelled them to become servants of Satan. Of course, Our Lord taught us to pray for wicked men; and that is fulfilled in every prayer for their conversion.

As for the authorship of this psalm and the occasion when it was written, it appears to us that Delitzsch has a correct understanding of it.

"This Psalm belongs to the times of Absalom; and the language here does not warrant our denying it to David. That it is indeed David who speaks here is to a certain extent guaranteed by Psalms 64 and Psalms 111. The same David who wrote one of them wrote all three."[1]

The paragraphing suggested by Kidner is adequate.

I. Tyrants Addressed (Psalms 58:1-2).

II. Tyrants Described (Psalms 58:3-5).

III. Tyrants Prayed Against (Psalms 58:6-9).

IV. Tyrants Rejoiced Over (Psalms 58:10-11).

TYRANTS ADDRESSED

Psalms 58:1-2

"Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness?

Do ye indeed judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

Nay, in heart ye work wickedness;

Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth."

The first thing the serious Bible student will be concerned about here is the false translation of this place in the RSV, which gives us this for Psalms 58:1, "Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the sons of men uprightly?" The RSV translators did indeed give us an alternative reading which is a thousand times better than their translation, `mighty lords,' instead of `gods' in the first clause.

The error in this translation is seen in the postulations of many commentators who accept `gods' here as a council of pagan deities whom God allowed to rule the nations. The persons addressed in these first two verses are not divine persons at all, despite the assertions of some writers.

The error of this translation is not that the Hebrew word of two consonants (L-M) cannot be so translated; but that such a translation is ridiculous on the face of it. The word can also mean, "rams," "leaders," "mighty lords," "judges," etc. Why should the translators have chosen a word capable of such perverted implications?

The Biblical word "gods" is frequently applied to human authorities, leaders or judges, as in Exodus 21:6; 22:8; Deuteronomy 19:17; and Psalms 82:1,6. to name only a few. The words of Christ have a special application here. When the Pharisees threatened to stone him for saying that he was the Son of God, Jesus replied to them by quoting Psalms 82:6, of which he said, "If he called them gods unto whom the Word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be broken), how can you say of Him whom the Father sent into the world, `Thou blasphemest,' because I said I am the Son of God?" (John 10:34,35).

We are indeed thankful for those writers who discern what is truly meant here.

These verses are addressed to those who discharge the god-like offices of judges and rulers.[2] "O ye gods," means `mighty ones' in the sense of judges.[3]

The title `gods' is given in flattery and irony.[4]

Despite the various translations which the Hebrew here allows, these persons addressed here are human rulers.[5]

"O ye gods," is an expression of sarcasm directed against unjust judges.[6]

That the unjust persons addressed here are indeed human beings and not "gods" is proved by the parallelism which is such a distinctive feature of Hebrew poetry.

"Do ye judge rightly, O ye sons of men" (Psalms 58:1). This is the second clause of verse one; and the parallelism inherent in the poetry here shows that whoever is addressed in the first clause, it must be someone who is also identified by the phrase "ye sons of men." The RSV translators, of course, changed this also in order to support their error in the first clause. As someone has said, "One poor translation always leads to another."

Now, just "Who were these `mighty lords,' anyway? They were, in all probability the authorities, deputy rulers, and judges of the court of Israel's King David during the days leading up to the rebellion of his son Absalom. However, there are overtones here of the judgment of God against all wicked men.

"Yea, in heart ye work wickedness" (Psalms 58:2). The reign of crooked judges and other evil authorities in high office was confined to no particular period of Israel's history. We might almost say that it was the accepted "modus operandi" of the vast majority of Israel's rulers that reached some kind of a wicked climax during the personal ministry of Christ. Jeremiah designated the whole nation as "a corrupt vine"; Isaiah announced their judicial hardening; and Ezekiel solemnly declared that Israel became worse than Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezekiel 16).