Psalms 125:4

"Do good, O Jehovah, unto those that are good,

And to them that are upright in their hearts.

But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,

Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Israel."

The implication here is that not all of Israel are "good." McCullough has this comment.

"In this psalm there are two groups of people. On the one hand, there are those who trust in the Lord, those who put their trust in the Lord, and who call themselves `the righteous,' `those who are good' and `those who are upright in their hearts.' On the other hand, there are those who are connoted by scepter of wickedness, and along with these, there are, `those who turn aside unto their crooked ways.' Apparently these latter are renegade Jews who have associated themselves with some kind of godlessness."[6]

This is by far the most helpful comment we have located on this psalm. By understanding `scepter of wickedness,' not as a reference to some king of Israel but as an idiomatic expression simply referring to renegade Jews, the whole psalm makes sense. Otherwise, there continues to remain some ambiguity regarding the meaning of Psalms 125:3.

The reason why this expression was used was also explained by McCullough. Those renegade Jews had joined themselves with some kind of foreign, or pagan, ruling class, suggesting the term "scepter of wickedness."

"Peace be upon Israel" (Psalms 125:5). "The psalm ends with this liturgical prayer for Israel's peace."[7]