The Book of Psalms
Psalm 58
Psalm LVIII · Vol. II, p. 1023
1 David reproving wicked judges, 3 describeth the nature of the wicked, 6 and devoteth them to God's judgments, 10 whereat the righteous shall rejoice.
To the chief musician, Al-Taschith, Michtam1 of David.
4 Their epoison is like4 the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder5 that stoppeth her ear;
6 Breakh their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
h Job 4.10; 29.17. Ps.3.7; 10.15. Eze.30.21-25.
7 Let them imelt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 Asj a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: klike the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
j Ps.37.35,36; 68.2.
9 Beforel your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.8
l Ps.73.18-20; 55.15,23; 11.6. Job 20.5-29; 18.5-14; 27.20,21. Pr.10.25; 14.32.
8 Heb. as living as wrath.
10 Then righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall owash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, pVerily there is a reward for9 the righteous; qverily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.1
p Ps.92.15. Is.3.10. Ro.2.6,7,10. 2 Th.1.6-9.
9 Heb. fruit of, &c.
q De.29.24-28. Ps.9.16-20; 64.9; 83.18; 59.13.
1 This verse affords a key to the whole psalm. In strong and indignant language the writer denounces the wicked and relentless persecutors of God's people; he shows that nothing short of the extermination of the godly will satisfy them. He therefore prays in earnestness for God to interfere in defence of his own. He prays for—he demands justice; and he shows that the exercise of that justice will re-establish the drooping faith of God's people, and prove to them that 'he is a God who judgeth in the earth.'—P.
Notes
Ver. 1. That Ps. xxxv. is a psalm of Christ, is obvious from comparing ver. 19 with Jn. 15. 25; and its parallelism with Ps. lviii, conducts to the conclusion that the congregation (ver. 1) is an appeal against the Sanhedrim who pronounced sentence against our Lord. C.
Ver. 4. Deaf adder. The deafness here attributed to the adder, is not deafness to sound, but to charming; so the ear of our Lord's judges was not deaf to evidence, but to just conclusions.—Note, The many statements made by travellers concerning serpent-charming in the East, seem to be nothing more than the evidences of inattention and credulity of false pretensions, and successful juggling: nor do they receive any countenance; but, on the contrary, a flat contradiction, from the statement of the psalmist. C.
Ver. 6. Break their teeth, O God. For explanation and vindication of this and similar prayers in relation to the enemies of our Lord, see note on Ps. 5. 10; 35. 8. C.
Ver. 9. Before your pots can feel the thorns. Before the blaze from the dried thorn can ascend to the pot placed over it, the wicked shall be swept away; an expression of suddenness expressively equivalent to that of the apostle, 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,' 1 Co. 15. 52. C.
Reflections.—What a plague to a church or nation are unjust rulers! Oppression by law is the most grievous tyranny; and good men often suffer by the partiality of unjust judges. Greatly humbling to such as see it is the wickedness of the human heart. And it makes those in whom it reigns earnest and obstinate in sinful courses. Neither the terrors of God's wrath nor the hopes of the gospel can effectually change it, only the Spirit of God can help to instruction. But it is a mercy for the saints that God cares for and protects them amidst such barbarous, brutish, and deceitful men, who have power on their sides; that he restrains these enemies by his power so that they waste themselves. In a sudden and tremendous manner they are sometimes destroyed. And however the godly now pity the folly and bewail the conduct of sinners, they will hereafter see God's justice in their punishment and bewail in their ruin. At last God will make the most haughty and brutish to know that he governs the world; and that it is only in the way of holiness and virtue that real happiness is to be found.