1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men? 2 No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake; like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, 5 which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be. 6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh. 7 Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt. 8 Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike. 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 11 so that men shall say, "Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth." For the Chief Musician. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." A poem by David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.
This psalm is also inscribed as a psalm of David. Both the title and the contents agree in fixing the time of its composition, and the occasion, as being the same as in the two previous psalms. Knapp indeed refers it to the time of Absalom, and DeWette supposes that it was composed in the time of the Babylonian captivity. But there is no reason for departing from the supposition that the title is correct. There is nothing in the psalm inconsistent with the supposition that it was composed by David, and in the time of the persecutions under Saul. On the meaning of the expression in the title, "To the chief Musician," see the notes at the Introduction to Psalm 4:1-8. On the phrase "Al-taschith," see Introduction to Psalm 57:1-11. On the word "Michtam," see Introduction to Psalm 16:1-11.
The psalm consists of three parts:
I. A description of the enemies of the psalmist, suggesting a "general" description of the character of the wicked, Psalm 58:1-5. The psalmist, by an emphatic "question" impliedly affirms that those whom he referred to were wicked and false Psalm 58:1-2; and this leads him to a general reflection on the character of wicked people;
(a) as estranged from the womb;
(b) as going astray as soon as they are born;
(c) as resembling the serpent injecting deadly poison; and
(d) as deaf to all appeals of conscience, virtue, and religion - like an adder that will not listen to the voice of the charmer, Psalm 58:3-5.
II. A prayer that God would interpose and deal with them as they deserved, Psalm 58:6-9. This prayer is expressed in different illustrations: -
(a) by comparing them with lions, and praying that their teeth might be broken out, Psalm 58:6;
(b) by comparing them with water, and praying that they might disappear as waters flow off, Psalm 58:7;
(c) by comparing them with a snail, and praying that they might be dissolved, and pass away as a snail appears to do, Psalm 58:8;
(d) by comparing them with the untimely birth of a woman, that is cast away, Psalm 58:8;
(e) by comparing them with a pot which is made to feel the heat of thorns on fire, and made to boil quickly - praying that God would take them away before even that could be done, Psalm 58:9.
III. The exultation of the righteous at such a result, Psalm 58:10-11.
(a) They would rejoice at the deliverance, Psalm 58:10;
(b) they would see that God is a righteous God; that he is not a friend of wickedness, but that he regards the cause of truth; that there is in fact a just moral government in the world; that there is a God who is a judge in the earth, Psalm 58:11.
David reproves wicked counsellors and judges, who pervert justice, and stir up the strong against the weak and innocent, Psalm 58:1-5. He foretells their destruction, and describes the nature of it, Psalm 58:6-9. The righteous, seeing this, will magnify God's justice and providence, Psalm 58:10, Psalm 58:11.
The title seems to have no reference to the subject of the Psalm. See the introduction to Psalm 57:1-11 (note). Saul having attempted the life of David, the latter was obliged to flee from the court, and take refuge in the deserts of Judea. Saul, missing him, is supposed by Bishop Patrick to have called a council, when they, to ingratiate themselves with the monarch, adjudged David to be guilty of treason in aspiring to the throne of Israel. This being made known to David was the cause of this Psalm. It is a good lesson to all kings, judges, and civil magistrates; and from it they obtain maxims to regulate their conduct and influence their decisions; and at the same time they may discern the awful account they must give to God, and the dreadful punishment they shall incur who prostitute justice to serve sinister ends.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 58
To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. According to the Syriac version, this psalm was written when Saul threatened the priests, because they did not show him where David was, when they knew it. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the title "Altaschith" refers to David's not destroying Nabal, as he threatened; and that the venom of Nabal's tongue in reviling him, and the deafness of his ears in not attending to the messengers that told their errand wisely, are designed in this psalm; and in which the psalmist prophesies of his sudden death, before the pots for his feast could be warmed by the thorns under them, and while he was lively and jovial. Jarchi is of opinion that it was composed after David had been in the trench where Saul lay, and took away the spear and cruse, and went his way, and called to Abner, saying, "answerest thou not?" which is as if he should say, hast thou it not in thy power now to convince Saul, and show him that he pursues me without cause, since, if I would, I could have slain him? Kimchi says it was written on account of Abner, and the rest of Saul's princes, who judged David as a rebel against the government, and said it was for Saul to pursue after him to slay him; for if they had restrained him, Saul would not have pursued after him; and indeed they seem to be wicked judges who are addressed in this psalm; "do not destroy". Arama says, it declares the wickedness of Saul's judges.
(Psalm 58:1-5) Wicked judges described and reproved.
(Psalm 58:6-11) A prayer that they may be disabled, and their ruin predicted.
Cry for Vengeance upon Those Who Pervert Justice
Their teeth, said Psalm 57:1-11, are spear and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword; Psalm 58:1-11 prays: crush their teeth in their mouth. This prominent common thought has induced the collector to append the one Michtam of David, to be sung altashcheth, to the other. Psalm 58:1-11, however, belongs to another period, viz., to the time of Absalom. The incomparable boldness of the language does not warrant us in denying it to David. In no one Psalm do we meet with so many high-flown figures coming together within the same narrow compass. But that it is David who speaks in this Psalm is to a certain extent guaranteed by Psalm 64:1-10 and Psalm 140:1-13. These three Psalm, of which the closing verses so closely resemble one another that they at once invite comparison, show that the same David who writes elsewhere so beautifully, tenderly, and clearly, is able among his manifold transitions to rise to an elevation at which his words as it were roll along like rumbling thunder through the gloomy darkness of the clouds, and more especially where they supplicate (Psalm 58:7) or predict (Psalm 140:10) the judgment of God.
The cumulative use of כּמו in different applications is peculiar to this Psalm. Its Michtam character becomes clearly defined in the closing verse.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.