This is one of the harshest psalms in the entire book, aimed squarely at corrupt judges — men whose job was justice and who sold it instead. David does not ask God to reform them. He asks for their power to be broken entirely.
A study in Psalm 58 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 9 min read
Do Ye Indeed Speak Righteousness, O Congregation?
“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.”
Psalm 58:1-2
The psalm opens with a question aimed at people whose actual job was righteous judgment — magistrates or rulers who had turned their office into a weapon, weighing out violence the way an honest scale would weigh out goods.
“The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
Psalm 58:3
This is not an excuse but an indictment — David traces the corruption in these particular judges back to a settled, lifelong pattern rather than a single lapse, a character that was never actually straight to begin with.
They Are Like The Deaf Adder
“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.”
Psalm 58:4-5
The image is specifically about being unreachable — not merely dangerous but deliberately deaf to every appeal, no matter how skillfully made. David is not describing men who might yet be persuaded. He has already concluded that persuasion is no longer an option.
Break Their Teeth, O God
“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.”
Psalm 58:6-7
Every request in this section targets capacity, not merely outcome — broken teeth, melted strength, a bow rendered useless before it can even fire. David is not asking God to stop this particular attack; he is asking for the ability to attack at all to be taken away.
“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.”
Psalm 58:8
Psalms like this one belong to a distinct category Scripture calls imprecatory — prayers that hand a specific injustice over to God for judgment rather than taking revenge personally. The severity of the language is itself part of the point: this is what it costs to actually refuse to act on this kind of rage yourself.
Verily He Is A God That Judgeth In The Earth
“Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.”
Psalm 58:9
A cookfire heated by thorns burns up fast — before the pot set over it even has time to feel the heat, the psalm pictures God’s judgment arriving. Whatever comfort these corrupt judges expect to enjoy at the wicked’s expense, David expects it interrupted before it is even tasted.
“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.”
Psalm 58:10-11
The entire psalm has been building toward this last line, and it is worth noticing what it is actually about: not the satisfaction of watching enemies punished, but the conclusion that satisfaction is meant to produce — that justice is real, that it is not merely hoped for but administered by a God who actually rules the earth He judges.
