Psalm 58
Psalm 58
Words to and Against the Wicked Judges
Psalm 58 is titled, “To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David.” The word “Altaschith” means “Destroy not.” It may refer to the tune, to David’s own determination not to destroy Saul, or to David’s plea that God would not allow him to be destroyed. Psalm 57, Psalm 58, Psalm 59, and Psalm 75 are all connected with this phrase. In these psalms, the righteous are preserved by God, and the wicked are brought under divine judgment.
This psalm is also called a “Michtam,” one of David’s golden psalms. Some understand “Michtam” as meaning golden, while others connect it with the idea of engraving. That has led some to picture David composing or even engraving these psalms while hiding in caves during Saul’s persecution. Whether or not that picture is literal, the meaning fits the weight of the psalm. Psalm 58 is not light poetry. It is a serious moral indictment against corrupt rulers and unjust judges.
Psalm 58 deals with wicked men who hold positions of judgment, influence, or rule. David challenges them because they should have spoken righteousness and judged uprightly, but instead they remained silent when truth needed defense, worked wickedness in their hearts, and weighed out violence with their hands. The psalm then turns to the root of their corruption, the poison of their speech, the severity of God’s judgment, and the final public vindication of divine justice.
Psalm 58:1 to 2, A Challenge to Wicked Judges
Psalm 58:1 to 2, “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.”
David begins by confronting those who were responsible to judge, rule, or speak on behalf of righteousness. “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” The question is sharp. These men had positions of influence, but David challenges whether their speech and judgments were actually righteous. They may have sat in council, spoken with official authority, and claimed to defend justice, but David sees corruption behind their decisions.
The word rendered “congregation” has been understood in different ways. Some take it as referring to rulers, judges, or a council of leaders. Others see the idea of “silent ones,” meaning those who should have spoken for righteousness but remained silent. Either meaning fits the moral thrust of the psalm. Wicked rulers are guilty when they speak corruptly, and they are also guilty when they remain silent while evil is planned.
If the setting belongs to David’s fugitive years, it is easy to picture Saul gathering men around him who were willing to condemn David unjustly. David had been faithful to Saul, had spared Saul’s life, had defended Israel, and had not seized the throne by rebellion. Yet corrupt men could label him a traitor to please Saul. This is the kind of legal and political wickedness Psalm 58 exposes. It is the evil of official injustice, the use of authority to condemn the innocent and protect the guilty.
David asks, “Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” Judgment is a sacred responsibility. Judges and rulers are not free to invent justice according to personal loyalty, political advantage, bribery, fear, hatred, or convenience. They are accountable to God. Civil authority is never morally autonomous. It is under divine authority.
Deuteronomy 16:18 to 20, “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, Throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; Thou shalt not respect persons, Neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, And pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, That thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
God required Israel’s judges to judge with just judgment. They were not to twist justice, show partiality, or take bribes. David’s question in Psalm 58 stands in that same moral stream. When rulers and judges abandon righteousness, they are not merely failing society, they are sinning against God.
David answers his own question in verse 2, “Yea, in heart ye work wickedness.” Their problem is not accidental ignorance. It is inward corruption. They work wickedness in the heart before it appears in public decisions. The heart is the workshop where evil plans are formed, shaped, and prepared for action. Wicked judgment begins before the verdict is announced. It begins in motives, loyalties, ambitions, hatred, pride, and fear.
“Ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.” This is a striking phrase. Judges are supposed to weigh evidence, law, testimony, and justice. These wicked men instead weigh violence. They measure it out deliberately. Their injustice is not merely impulsive. It is calculated. They distribute harm with thought and intention.
This is one of the most dangerous forms of wickedness, evil with legal clothing. When a violent man acts openly, everyone can see the danger. But when violence is weighed out through courts, councils, bureaucracies, institutions, or rulers, it gains the appearance of legitimacy. David sees through it. He names it wickedness.
Psalm 58:3 to 5, A Description of the Wicked Rulers
Psalm 58:3 to 5, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, Charming never so wisely.”
David now traces the corruption of these wicked rulers to its root. “The wicked are estranged from the womb.” This is a strong statement about human depravity. David is not saying that only these judges have a sin nature while others do not. Scripture teaches that all mankind is fallen in Adam. David already confessed in Psalm 51 that he was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin.
Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Psalm 58 applies that doctrine to the wicked rulers in a particular way. Their public corruption flows from a deeper moral condition. They are estranged from God by nature, and that estrangement becomes visible in their speech, judgment, and violence. The problem with unjust rulers is not merely bad policy or poor training. The deeper problem is sin.
“They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” David uses poetic force to describe the early and natural expression of human depravity. No one has to teach a child to lie. Falsehood rises naturally from the fallen heart. This does not mean infants literally speak lies from the moment of birth. It means the tendency toward deceit is native to fallen man and appears early.
Lying is one of the clearest evidences of the fallen condition. Truth belongs to God. Lies belong to the devil.
John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, And the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, And abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, He speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
The wicked judges in Psalm 58 are aligned with falsehood. Their judgments are corrupt because their hearts are corrupt. Their words are poisonous because their nature is estranged from God.
“Their poison is like the poison of a serpent.” David now compares wicked speech and judgment to venom. Their words are not harmless. Their rulings, accusations, slanders, and legal decisions poison society. When ordinary men lie, damage follows. When judges and rulers lie, the damage multiplies because their words carry authority. A corrupt ruler’s mouth can ruin families, condemn the innocent, protect criminals, and normalize evil.
“They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, Charming never so wisely.” The image is of a serpent that refuses to be charmed. The wicked are not only poisonous, they are stubborn. They will not listen to correction, wisdom, warning, conscience, or truth. Even if the charmer is skillful, the deaf adder refuses to hear.
This is a powerful picture of hardened wickedness. Some men are not merely mistaken. They are deliberately resistant to truth. They shut their ears. They cannot be reasoned with because they do not want righteousness. They do not lack access to truth. They lack submission to it.
This is especially serious for judges and rulers. A ruler who cannot hear truth is a public danger. A judge who refuses righteousness becomes an instrument of oppression. A leader who stops his ears against correction is like a venomous serpent loose among the people.
Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, The people rejoice: But when the wicked beareth rule, The people mourn.”
Psalm 58 shows why the people mourn under wicked rule. The wicked ruler does not judge uprightly. He works wickedness in the heart. He weighs violence in the earth. His speech is poison. His ears are closed to wisdom.
Psalm 58:6 to 8, David Calls Upon God to Ruin the Wicked
Psalm 58:6 to 8, “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. Let them melt away as waters which run continually: When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, Let them be as cut in pieces. As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: Like the untimely birth of a woman, That they may not see the sun.”
David now turns from speaking to the wicked judges to speaking to God. His prayer is severe because the wickedness is severe. “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.” Earlier David compared them to serpents. Now he compares them to young lions. The power of serpents is in their fangs, and the power of lions is in their teeth. David asks God to remove their ability to devour.
The prayer is not merely, “Make them less offensive.” It is, “Take away their capacity to harm.” Wicked rulers with power are dangerous. If they will not repent, then the righteous may rightly ask God to restrain, break, and remove their ability to oppress.
This kind of prayer sounds harsh to modern ears, but Scripture is not sentimental about evil. When rulers poison judgment and devour the innocent, the faithful response is not weakness. It is appeal to the God of justice. David does not personally assassinate them. He does not take lawless vengeance. He calls upon God to act.
Psalm 94:20 to 23, “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, Which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defence; And my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, And shall cut them off in their own wickedness; Yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.”
Psalm 94 gives the same moral concern. Wicked rulers can frame mischief by law. They can use legal systems for evil. But God is the defense of the righteous and will cut off the wicked in their own wickedness.
David says, “Let them melt away as waters which run continually.” He asks that their power dissipate and vanish. The picture is of water running away, impossible to gather back. He wants their influence, strength, and ability to harm to drain away.
“When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, Let them be as cut in pieces.” The wicked are armed and ready to shoot. Their arrows represent their plans, accusations, judgments, and acts of violence. David asks God to cut the arrows apart before they strike. This is a prayer for God to make wicked weapons ineffective.
“As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away.” A snail or slug appears to melt as it leaves a trail behind it. David uses that image to ask that the wicked waste away and lose strength as they go. Their apparent movement forward becomes their diminishing.
“Like the untimely birth of a woman, That they may not see the sun.” This is a shocking image. David prays that the wicked would be like a stillborn child, never seeing the light of day. The severity reflects the seriousness of their evil. Men who use life to destroy others would have been better never to have lived in such wickedness.
This kind of language must be handled with biblical sobriety. David is not expressing petty irritation. He is praying against venomous, violent, corrupt rulers. The issue is not personal annoyance, but public wickedness, injustice, and harm done to the righteous and innocent.
Jesus Himself warned that for some men, because of the depth of their betrayal and wickedness, it would have been better if they had not been born.
Matthew 26:24, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: But woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born.”
That verse helps the reader understand the moral seriousness of David’s imagery. There are forms of wickedness so severe that existence itself becomes a witness against the sinner.
Psalm 58:9 to 11, David’s Confidence in God’s Judgment
Psalm 58:9 to 11, “Before your pots can feel the thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, Both living, and in his wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.”
Verse 9 is difficult in Hebrew, but the general sense is clear. “Before your pots can feel the thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, Both living, and in his wrath.” Dry thorns burn quickly under a cooking pot. David pictures judgment coming swiftly, before the wicked can enjoy the warmth or benefit of their plans. Their schemes will not mature. Their power will not last. God can sweep them away suddenly, like a whirlwind, in living and burning wrath.
The image teaches that divine judgment can come faster than wicked men expect. Corrupt rulers often assume they have time. They build networks, pass judgments, silence opposition, and consolidate power. But God can remove them before the pot is heated. The Lord is not slow because He is weak. He delays according to wisdom, but when He acts, no wicked ruler can withstand Him.
“The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance.” This is not sinful cruelty. It is righteous joy in the vindication of God’s justice. The righteous do not rejoice because they enjoy suffering for its own sake. They rejoice because evil is stopped, justice is upheld, the innocent are defended, and God is shown to be Judge.
This must be distinguished from personal bitterness. David’s joy is not the pleasure of a small man getting even. It is the joy of seeing moral order restored under God. When tyrants fall, murderers are judged, corrupt courts are exposed, and violent men are stopped, the righteous may rightly rejoice that God has acted.
“He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” This is battlefield language. It pictures the righteous walking over the field after God’s victory. The wording is severe, but it communicates total defeat of the wicked. God’s judgment is not symbolic only. Evil will truly be overthrown.
The New Testament also speaks with severe language about the final judgment of the wicked. The Bible never teaches that God is indifferent toward evil.
Revelation 19:11 to 16, “And I saw heaven opened, And behold a white horse; And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, And on his head were many crowns; And he had a name written, That no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: And his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, Clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, That with it he should smite the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron: And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
The same Scripture that commands believers to love enemies also reveals Christ returning in righteous judgment. Christian faith does not erase justice. It places justice under the authority of God.
Psalm 58 ends with the public lesson of judgment, “So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.” This is David’s burden. He wants the world to see that moral order is real. Righteousness is not empty. Wickedness does not win forever. God does judge in the earth.
The corrupt judges denied justice, but God remains Judge. The wicked rulers weighed violence, but God weighs them. They used authority to harm, but God’s authority overrules theirs. The final result is public recognition that the righteous are not fools for obeying God. There is a reward for the righteous.
Galatians 6:7 to 9, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: For in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
David’s conclusion matches this principle. God is not mocked. The wicked will reap judgment. The righteous will receive reward. The timing belongs to God, but the moral order is certain.
The Doctrine of Corrupt Judgment in Psalm 58
Psalm 58 teaches that corrupt judgment is a serious offense before God. Judges and rulers are supposed to speak righteousness and judge uprightly. When they remain silent in the face of evil or use authority to promote violence, they become enemies of justice.
This is not a minor political issue. God cares about judgment because justice reflects His character. A corrupt court, corrupt council, corrupt ruler, corrupt institution, or corrupt legal process is an assault on righteousness. When those entrusted with authority use that authority to protect lies and punish truth, they invite divine judgment.
The psalm also shows that wicked judgment begins in the heart. David says, “in heart ye work wickedness.” Public injustice is usually formed in private corruption. Men first love power, fear man, hate truth, desire gain, or resent righteousness. Then their decisions reflect that inward condition.
The Doctrine of Original Sin and Human Depravity
Psalm 58 teaches that wickedness is rooted in man’s fallen nature. “The wicked are estranged from the womb.” David is not offering a shallow analysis that blames only circumstances, environment, education, or systems. Those things may shape the expression of sin, but the root is deeper. Man is fallen.
This aligns with the larger testimony of Scripture.
Romans 3:10 to 18, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, They are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3 echoes the themes of Psalm 58, deceitful tongues, poison under the lips, violence, destruction, and no fear of God. The problem is universal human depravity. Some men manifest it through open violence. Others manifest it through refined institutional injustice. But the root is the same fallen nature.
This doctrine matters because it prevents naivety. Man does not become righteous simply by gaining power, education, office, or legal authority. A wicked man with authority becomes more dangerous, not less. Authority does not cleanse the heart. Only God’s grace can do that.
The Doctrine of Wicked Speech
Psalm 58 repeatedly connects wickedness with speech. The wicked speak lies from early life. Their poison is like serpent venom. Their refusal to hear truth makes them like a deaf adder. Their words as judges and rulers have deadly effect.
Speech is moral. It is not neutral. Words can reveal truth, defend the innocent, confess sin, praise God, and build righteousness. Words can also lie, poison, accuse, deceive, corrupt judgment, and destroy lives.
For rulers and judges, speech has added weight. A private lie is sinful. A judicial lie is destructive on a public scale. A false accusation in ordinary conversation is wicked. A false accusation backed by authority can ruin a man. That is why Psalm 58 speaks so strongly against wicked judges.
The Doctrine of Imprecatory Prayer
Psalm 58 contains strong imprecatory prayer, asking God to break teeth, remove fangs, dissolve power, cut arrows, and bring the wicked to nothing. Such prayers must be interpreted according to the full counsel of Scripture.
First, these prayers are addressed to God, not carried out through private vengeance. David does not appoint himself executioner. He appeals to the righteous Judge.
Second, these prayers arise from public injustice and hardened evil, not petty personal offense. The wicked rulers are poisoning justice and weighing violence.
Third, these prayers desire the defeat of evil so that righteousness may be vindicated. The goal is not uncontrolled hatred, but moral order under God.
Fourth, believers today must hold together the call to love enemies with the certainty that God will judge wickedness. Jesus taught His people to pray for enemies, but Revelation shows that Christ will judge the nations in righteousness. Mercy and judgment are both biblical.
Matthew 5:44 to 45, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, Bless them that curse you, Do good to them that hate you, And pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, And sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
The believer must not be personally vengeful, but he must also not become morally soft toward evil. The proper posture is to pray, obey, love rightly, refuse revenge, and trust God to judge.
The Doctrine of God’s Earthly Judgment
Psalm 58 ends by declaring, “Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.” This is important. God’s judgment is not only future, though final judgment is certainly coming. God also judges in history. He raises up, brings down, exposes, restrains, and overthrows. Wicked rulers may appear untouchable, but God judges in the earth.
This does not mean every injustice is corrected immediately. Many righteous people suffer long. Many wicked people appear to prosper. But Psalm 58 declares that God’s moral government is real. The earth is not abandoned to corrupt rulers. God sees and judges.
Psalm 75:6 to 7, “For promotion cometh neither from the east, Nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: He putteth down one, And setteth up another.”
God remains Judge over rulers, courts, nations, and men. No human office removes accountability to Him.
The Reward of the Righteous
The final public confession is, “Verily there is a reward for the righteous.” David wants righteousness vindicated. The righteous may suffer under corrupt judgment for a season, but their obedience is not wasted. God sees. God remembers. God rewards.
This reward may include earthly vindication, peace of conscience, divine sustaining grace, and eventual deliverance. Ultimately, the reward is secure in the coming kingdom and final judgment of God. The righteous do not obey God in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
Psalm 58 calls believers to endure injustice without losing faith in God’s justice. Corrupt judges may speak lies. Wicked rulers may weigh violence. The innocent may be condemned by men. But God judges in the earth, and there is a reward for the righteous.
Practical Lessons from Psalm 58
Psalm 58 teaches that silence in the face of evil can be guilt. Those who should speak righteousness but remain silent are accountable before God. Authority carries responsibility.
Psalm 58 teaches that corrupt judgment begins in the heart. Public injustice is usually the fruit of private wickedness. A ruler’s decisions reveal his moral center.
Psalm 58 teaches that wicked speech is poisonous. Lies from people in power spread death through families, churches, courts, institutions, and nations.
Psalm 58 teaches that man is fallen from birth. The doctrine of original sin is not theoretical. It is visible in human history, personal conduct, and corrupt power.
Psalm 58 teaches that some wicked men will not listen. Like a deaf adder, they stop their ears against truth. Wisdom must know the difference between the ignorant who need instruction and the hardened who refuse correction.
Psalm 58 teaches that it is right to ask God to restrain and break the power of wicked rulers. This must be done without personal vengeance, but with confidence in divine justice.
Psalm 58 teaches that God’s judgment will vindicate righteousness. The righteous will one day see that obedience was not vain.
Psalm 58 teaches that God judges in the earth. Human courts may fail, but heaven’s court does not.
