Episode Transcript
Psalm 58 (NIV)
1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge people with equity?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
however skillful the enchanter may be.
6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.
10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
CONSIDER
Today’s post is from A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms by Timothy and Julie Tennent. He holds the Methodist Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School and served as president of Asbury Theological Seminary for fifteen years. She is a gifted musician and was one of the driving forces that helped bring to fruition the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. We will share some of their writing on the Psalms on Sundays.
This psalm, like Psalm 82, demonstrates the connection between God as Judge of the world and those who administer justice in our world. When we render false judgments, betray those who count on us, or turn our back on God’s Word, then we are misrepresenting God in the world. Rulers and judges are especially commissioned to act as representatives of justice, and God’s very character is maligned when they act falsely. As the final Judge, God will reward the righteous, but sweep away into judgment all those who did not act with integrity and justice. The images that this psalm uses are graphic and purposely devised to shock us. The wicked will be like a lion with his fangs torn out, or like water that evaporates, or like a slug that melts away, or even like a stillborn child.
These images are all meant to communicate the final end of wickedness and the futility of resisting God’s righteous purposes. Sometimes the coming of final judgment seems so far removed and distant from our experience that it can fade into the vague, gray mists of some future time disconnected from us. The vivid images of this psalm are meant to awaken to us the reality of God’s judgment and the present urgency to turn and live righteously before the living God. Indeed, in the Bible in general, and the Psalms in particular, the calling for judgment on the wicked is actually a means of grace for the unbeliever. Today’s warning may spur on repentance and thereby serve to forestall the terrible certainty of God’s final verdict of judgment. For despite a thousand headlines in newspapers across the world, with hundreds of conflicting messages, the last, final, and definitive headline for the entire world might actually be the last line of this psalm: “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth” (v. 11).
For the Awakening,
Timothy and Julie Tennent
HYMN
Sing Psalm 58 with the Seedbed Psalter today. We suggest the tune KINGSFOLD ("O Sing a Song of Bethlehem"). If you listen to the podcast audio version, we will sing the psalm using this tune. For your convenience, the words from the Psalter are printed below.
1 You rulers, do you speak what’s just? Judge rightly among men?
2 No, in your heart’s unrighteousness, violence is in your hand.
3 The wicked go astray from birth; speak lies right from the womb;
4 Their words like venom of a snake that send you to the tomb.
Their venom’s like a cobra who does stop its ear so well,
5 That it can’t hear the charmer’s voice, or caster of a spell.
6 O God, come shatter all their teeth, let their mouths speak no more;
Break out the fangs of lions, God, and shut their mouths, O Lord.
7 Let them be like the water that runs off and flows away;
When they shoot arrows, let them be made dull along the way.
8 Like slugs that melt, like stillborn birth that never sees the sun;
9 Before pots feel the heat of thorns, they’re swept away and gone.
10 The righteous will rejoice when they God’s vengeance do observe;
They’ll wash their feet in blood of wicked ones who did truth spurn.
11 Then men will say, “Now we can see the fruit of righteousness;
There surely is a God who’ll judge the earth in faithfulness.”
