Introduction

This is a particularly difficult Psalm because it seems to say things that are contrary to the things we have been taught over the years

When we look at verses 6-8, it seems too violent for our Christian morals

Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! {7} Let them flow away as waters which run continually; When he bends his bow, Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. {8} Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5:44

We examine the Psalm and can’t help but wonder if it really belongs in our Bible

The tenor of the passage seems foreign to us

It seems as though it is contrary to Christ’s teachings after all didn’t Jesus teach us a different way?

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

Or turning to Romans 12:20 - 21

Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." {21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

There are some who would say, well, Psalm 58 is Old Testament and doesn’t apply to us today; but, then how do we explain Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:16 - 17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, {17} that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So, either the Psalm is Scripture and is God inspired and given to instruct us or we cannot trust the book we call the Bible

We cannot have it both ways

So then what has Psalm 58 to teach us?

One pastor asked the question,

Could we pray like that?

I think, beloved, if we’re honest we’d say Yes, we could, we’d even like to pray like that about persons who have really hurt us.

But should we pray like that?

That’s a harder question.

If we look at the title of the Psalm, we find it says, "For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam."

David wrote Psalm 58.

It was to be sung to the tune of "Do Not Destroy."

We don't know the tune.

But we can say a thing or two about it.

Three other Psalms were also to be sung to this tune: Psalms 57, 59 and 75.

What these Psalms have in common is that they all speak about how evil men attack the children of God.

And the author of the Psalm pleads with God not to allow his children to be destroyed.

This Psalm is also called a "miktam."

The exact meaning of this word is lost to us. However, we have an idea of what it means. There are six Psalms called "miktams": Psalms 16 and then 56-60.

Each of these Psalms expresses confidence in God in the face of trouble.

Let’s look at the Psalm now and begin to discover what was going on Let’s look at verses 1 & 2

Body

Unjust judges

Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? {2} No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

The very first thing David charges these judges with is remaining silent in the face of wickedness

They do not defend righteousness

The perfect example of this is Pontius Pilate

As the governor of Judea he had the responsibility to judge according to the law

Now Roman law was harsh at times but there were provisions for trials and the innocent were supposed to be freed

In Luke 23:4 Jesus was brought before Pilate and Pilate found no fault in Jesus that he should die

So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man."

So, if the judge could find no fault in Jesus why was He crucified?

Look at Luke 23:20

Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.

So, why was He crucified?

In Matthew 27:24 we find the answer

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it."

In truth it was politically expedient for Pilate to appease the crowd and crucify the Lord Jesus

It is terrible to say, but we have judges like Pilate in our courts today

Rather than strive to right the wrong, our judges have capitulated to a vocal minority in issues such as

Christianity in the public forum

Abortion

And homosexuality

David is not only charging the judges with silence in the face of unrighteousness

He is accessing them of outright wickedness in the execution of their office

Once upon a time, in a far away country, there lived a little girl called Red Riding Hood. One day her mother asked her to take a basket of fruit to her grandmother, who had been ill and lived alone in a cottage in the forest.

It happened that a wolf was lurking in the bushes and overheard the conversation. He decided to take a short-cut to the grandmother's house and get the goodies for himself. The wolf killed the grandmother, then dressed in her nightgown and jumped into bed to await the little girl.

When she arrived, he made several nasty suggestions and then tried to grab her. But by this time, the child was very frightened and ran screaming from the cottage.

A woodcutter, working nearby, heard her cries and rushed to the rescue. He killed the wolf with his ax, thereby saving Red Riding Hood's life. All the townspeople hurried to the scene and proclaimed the woodcutter a hero.

But at the inquest, several facts emerged:

The wolf had never been advised of his rights.

The woodcutter had made no warning swings before striking the fatal blow.

The Civil Liberties Union stressed the point that, although the act of eating Grandma may have been in bad taste, the wolf was only "doing his thing" and thus didn't deserve the death penalty.

The SDS contended that the killing of the grandmother should be considered self-defense since she was over 30 and, therefore, couldn't be taken seriously because the wolf was trying to make love, not war.

On the basis of these considerations, it was decided there was no valid basis for charges against the wolf. Moreover, the woodcutter was indicted for unaggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Several nights later, the woodcutter's cottage was burned to the ground.

One year from the date of "The Incident at Grandma's," her cottage was made a shrine for the wolf who had bled and died there. All the village officials spoke at the dedication, but it was Red Riding Hood who gave the most touching tribute.

She said that, while she had been selfishly grateful for the woodcutter's intervention, she realized in retrospect that he had over-reacted. As she knelt and placed a wreath in honor of the brave wolf, there wasn't a dry eye in the whole forest.

Now, we recognize how ridiculous this might sound, but very dangerous criminals walk the streets of our cities because of these very issues

Now let’s look at verses 3 - 5 of our Psalm and see

The nature of these wicked judges

The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. {4} Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, {5} Which will not heed the voice of charmers, Charming ever so skillfully.

From the very moment of conception these people are estranged from the righteousness of God

Estranged means to be separated, cut off from the righteousness of God

And from the very moment of birth they wander away

David says, telling lies

Poisoning justice

They seem to be unredeemable because they are deaf to those who would bring them under control

But, now we get to the hard part verse 6

The hard part

Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!

Break their teeth

Destroy the fangs of these serpents mentioned in the previous verses

Destroy the fangs in which their poison is contained.

Save me from the snakes, the sly and poisonous slanderers

Then save me also from the lions, that is the tyrannical, bloodthirsty men

This is not to difficult

David is asking that the means of poisoning be broken

And that the means of ripping and tearing be taken away from those unrighteous judges

Charles Spurgeon points out that David is asking that they might be disabled from doing mischief

Now, looking at verse 7

Let them flow away as waters which run continually; When he bends his bow, Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.

Concerning the part of the Psalm that says, Let them flow away as waters which run continually

Even Spurgeon dismisses this part due to the difficulty of interpreting it in light of Christian truth

One preacher suggests that David is saying that the Lord should allow this people to flow on, like a stream, and so move away from those that are being treated wickedly by these unjust judges and eventually disappear from the scene

This is the only help I could get concerning this phrase

Concerning the part about the bow

David is asking the Lord, again, to cause these people to be denied the instruments of death and destruction

Reveal the injustice

Stop the lies

Call attention to their wickedness

Now in verse 8 we have

A real sticky problem

Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

If you have ever seen a snail moving along, it leaves a trail of slime where it has been.

It was believed that the snail was leaving part of himself and so would grow smaller and smaller until the only thing left was the shell

How does this help explain David’s meaning?

Perhaps it is asking God to allow these people to be like the snail in their belief

Let them continue to go on destroying themselves as they go

We know that unrighteousness and lying is destructive

It is self destructive

Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Now the last part of this verse is very difficult to explain, I have found two attempts to explain it

The first is by Prescott Hiller, "The wicked are all, so speak, human abortions; they are and for ever remain defective beings, who have not accomplished the great purpose of their existence. Heaven is the one end for which man is created, and he who falls short of it does not attain the purpose of his being; he is an eternal abortion."

The second is by Joseph Caryl, "David when he curseth the plots of wicked men, that though they have conceived mischief, and though they have gone with it a long time, and are ready to bring it forth, yet saith he, Let them be (that is, let their counsels and designs be) like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun: that is, let them be dashed and blasted, let them never bring forth their poisonous brood to the hurt and trouble of the world."

If we consider both explanations then both the wicked person and his plans and intentions are like the still born

The individual never realizing God’s purpose in his life

And his plans ought to be DOA

Looking at verse 9 then we continue

Further frustration of the wicked

Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, As in His living and burning wrath.

William Walford explains this verse this way

It refers to the usage of travelers in the East, who when journeying through the deserts, make a hasty blaze with the thorns which they collect, some green and full of sap, others dry and withered, for the purpose of dressing their food; in which circumstances, violent storms of wind not infrequently arise, which sweep away their fuel and entire apparatus, before the vessels which they use become warm by the heat. An expressive and graphical image of the overwhelming ruin of wicked men.

Now, turning to Psalm 58:10 - 11

The reward of the righteous

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, {11} So that men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth."

Spurgeon has this to say about the first part of our passage,

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.

He will have no hand in meting out

Neither will he rejoice in the spirit of revenge

But his righteous soul shall acquiesce in the judgments of God

And he shall rejoice to see justice triumphant

The second part of verse 9 He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked

As the victorious survivor of a conflict, walking over the battle field, might be said to do.

It is no joy at the death of another; but as God has His vengeance, the righteous shall walk in the valley of blood, victorious

Abraham knew the state of wickedness of Sodom and, but, still argued for the turning away of God’s wrath

Finally, after everything else, justice is declared for God’s righteous servants

Conclusion

The question was asked, can we pray as David did? Should we pray as David did

It is a very difficult Psalm because it seems to ask for violence

And yet, our Lord has commanded that we feed our enemy and give him drink

To love our enemy

But, we can see that David was not calling for the death or destruction of the enemy

He was calling upon God to destroy the means of their vicious attacks

To allow them to continue to destroy themselves

Not taking joy in their destruction

But yielding to God to do as He will with the wicked

Walking away from the battle victorious

Lastly we see the reward of the righteous

This is a very difficult Psalm

And yet, it has been given by God for our edification

But, great care must be taken in interpreting Scripture or passing it off as obsolete

Can we pray as David did?

I think of Pat Robertson’s prayer that certain individual members of the Supreme Court would chose to retire

Not die as some have accused him

Just to set themselves aside so that our President might have the opportunity to replace them with righteous Judges