Embrace the Word for Monday, May 4, 2026
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Psalm 58 is a cry to see righteous judgment. The superscription shares many of the common elements of the Psalms found in the sub-collection of Psalms 56-60: “To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.” Each of the Psalms in this collection pertain to the difficulties and distresses that David experienced. Many of the superscriptions in this collection specifically provide a historical context linked with Saul’s threats against David. Psalm 58 shares a few links with Psalm 57, which most notably are the shared superscription terms but also the identification of the wicked as lions (57:4; 58:6). Psalm 58 opens and closes with statements about righteous judgment: why it isn’t happening (58:1-2), but how God will establish it (58:10-11). Psalm 58 begins with a word about the injustice of the wicked (58:1-5), then moves to a prayer for God to act justly (58:6-9), before concluding with a joyful response to God’s justice (58:10-11).
Psalm 58 starts with a question: “Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly?” (58:1). By calling them “gods,” it seems best to understand that David is addressing people in high places of influence who are neither coming to his aid nor seeking to curtail Saul in his reign of terror against David. Those who should stand for righteousness and justice, using their influence and authority for truth and goodness, instead passively allow Saul to continue in his murderous wicked insanity. David deems their silence as wicked, for they could have spoken up for David and/or spoken out against Saul. But they remained silent. Just as Saul fell short of the standards of justice, so did those in positions of power who remained silent: “No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth” (58:2). Those in authority who do not speak out against injustice, aid the cause of injustice and bring about the failure of justice. Power and authority is only to be used to actively promote justice and vigorously oppose injustice. Anything other than these uses of influence and position is an injustice.
As David continues, he characterizes the actions of the wicked: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies” (58:3). The wicked are so by virtue of birth. David acknowledged that he himself was a sinner from birth (See Psalm 51:5), and he knows that the wicked have been estranged from God, going astray morally, and speaking lies from birth. Wickedness is mankind’s default setting. Were it not for God restraining evil and stirring goodness throughout humanity, there would be nothing but moral chaos on the earth. The origin of man’s wicked state is traced back to Adam, who rebelled against the LORD in the garden. Such rebellion before God is now man’s natural condition. Apart from God’s gracious work of imparting new life to dead hearts and light to overcome spiritual blindness, our estrangement, sinfulness, and lies continue.
The wicked are further characterized as deadly and dangerous. David portrays the wicked as deadly snakes: “They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter” (58:4-5). David describes deadly snakes who refuse to be anything other than what they are. Snakes do what they know to do–they bite. Wicked people do what they know to do–they sin and do wrong. David also portrays the wicked as dangerous lions (58:6). And in both characterizations, the deadly and the dangerous cannot merely be reasoned with or appeased. There is only one way to ensure safety when dealing with venomous snakes and hungry lions: “O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!” (58:6). David prays that the LORD would do what is necessary to stop the deadly and dangerous predators who are purveyors of wickedness. The language is strong, but David appeals to the LORD to break teeth and tear out fangs. Such strong language underscores that severe judgment is necessary to defend helpless people from injustice. But note, David is not setting out to do these things; he is appealing to the LORD to do them.
David additionally asks the LORD to continue putting a stop to the wicked: “Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun. Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!” (58:7-9). David prays that the cause to which the wicked have devoted themselves would dissipate like water poured on the ground. David also prays that the aimed arrows of the wicked fail to accomplish their intent. As David continues to pray, he asks the LORD to cause the wicked to dissolve into slime, to perish as a stillborn baby, and to be quickly removed as a threat.
All in all, it can be a challenge to know what to do what these prayers of David. They can feel a bit too violent and seem to contain a bit too much vindictiveness. Perhaps we should keep a few things in mind as we try to make sense of these types of prayers found in the Psalms. First, it is important to keep in mind that David was not a bitter, hateful, violent hothead. David was not perfect, but he was a very self-controlled man under the extreme pressure of great threat to his life. He spared Saul’s life on a number of occasions. Perhaps strongly appealing to the LORD should take more precedence than taking matters into our own hands. Second, Saul was a murderous thug who slaughtered innocent men, women, and even children. Perhaps radical evil warrants radical praying. Third, we should be aware of how sin and wickedness can desensitize us. Perhaps if wickedness horrified us more, we would pray more strongly for it to cease. Fourth, David’s prayers are emotionally charged for not only is his very life on the line, but so is the plans, purposes, and promises of the LORD. David desperately feels that God must act. Perhaps David’s strong emotionally charged prayers for justice actually reflect God’s just fury toward injustice. While God is not controlled by His emotions, neither should we think He is dispassionate in the face of wickedness perpetrated upon His people. What should we do with these prayers of David? Treasure them as Spirit-guided prayers. See them as necessary instructions for dealing with the evils of wickedness. The LORD wants His people to honestly cry out to Him.
Psalm 58 concludes with an expression of joy over the defeat of the wicked: “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked” (58:10). The righteous rejoice over justice. This rejoicing is not the result of personal vengeance, but a reaction to the vengeance that God alone brought about: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (See Romans 12:19). The language of the righteous bathing “his feet in the blood of the wicked,” feels gruesome, but such imagery is suggested in the promise of Genesis 3:15, as well as the anticipation of justice by the prophet Isaiah: “I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel” (See Isaiah 63:3). These realities also point to God executing justice for the good of His people: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (See Romans 16:20a). The righteous can be confident in the LORD’s commitment to justice: “Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth” (58:11). And out of such confidence, the righteous can order their lives in such a fashion that they anticipate just reward for living righteously.
As we reflect on Psalm 58 we can consider Jesus’ assessment of the origins of the wicked, particularly of those who opposed Him: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (See John 8:44). Though He was speaking to highly religious people who claimed Abraham as their father, Jesus charged them with belonging to the devil. Just as David assessed the origins of the wicked as a condition from birth: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies” (58:3); so too did Jesus. All of humanity is born with a fatal condition of unbelief toward the One true God. It is a condition that we cannot remedy. But though we cannot manufacture a remedy, there is a remedy: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (See John 3:3,7). The Spirit of God can impart new life and such new life qualifies us to become children of God: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (See John 1:12-13). And when we are born again as true children of God, we demonstrate that through trusting in Jesus: “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word” (See John 8:42-43). Without this new birth we would die in our wickedness and unbelief.
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, May 4, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, May 6, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 59.