Overview:
(EBC) He charges the earthly system of justice with unfairness (vv. 1–5) and commits his case to the Lord’s justice (vv. 6–8). Confident of God’s vindication of the righteous, the psalmist’s prophetic understanding is a comfort to God’s people (“the righteous”) whenever they are harassed or maligned.
The structure of the psalm is as follows:
A. Concern for Justice (vv. 1–2)
B. The Lies of the Wicked (vv. 3–5)
C. Prayer for Justice (vv. 6–8)
C′. Expectation of Justice (v. 9)
B′. The Joy of the Righteous (v. 10)
A′. Affirmation of Justice (v. 11)
Observations:
(1) 5 groups of people
a. the rulers and judges supposed to judge with justice between the godly and the wicked, but they did not do their job v.1-2
Difficult passages:
v.2b you deal out violence in the earth.
(NET) Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).
The emotion of David here was upset and disappointed.
b. the wicked from birth lied and they were out of control from anyone, especially from the rulers/judges v.3-5. They were deadly as the serpent and lions v.4, 6.
When David describe how the wicked did not even respond to a skilled snake-charmer v.5b he described the desperate needs for divine intervention. Things were out of control.
c. The psalmist called out to God to break/smash the killing weapons of the wicked and make them disappeared.
Difficult passages:
v.8a Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along!
(NET) Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”
v.9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,
he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.
(NET) The image depicts swift and sudden judgment. Before the fire has been adequately kindled and all the meat cooked, the winds of judgment will sweep away everything in their path.
David prayed for a swift and complete disappearance of the wicked. In other words, the threat of the wicked to the godly and David was great. They were in great danger.
d. The godly were oppressed by the wicked and when they saw the wicked were punished they rejoiced. v.10. Note here, the passage only tells us that the psalmist called out to God. No result was told, but here we know that the godly will rejoice. That means, God did heard the prayer of the psalmist and he was among one of the godly people.
David's emotion changed from disappointment and upset in v.1-2 to joyous when he saw the vengeance carried out. Remember David was in a dangerous situation and he could have joy only because of his faith.
e. The audience of this psalm seems to be the observers. They learned something from what the rulers/wicked/God/godly relationship.
58:11 Then observers will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded!
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges in the earth!”
When the human rulers and judges fail to do their job and let the wicked go out of control God is the One who judges the earth. The godly will not be left being oppressed by the wicked. God rewards the godly and retributes the wicked. He was active in this world and the world will be under His control.
Reflections:
a. v.1-9 Are you disappointed or upset about the rulers and judges? Do they do their job? Or are they doing violence themselves? Do they keep the wicked people under control?
God has a standard for the rulers and judges. They are supposed to follow them. We are rightly to be upset when that did not happen.
On the other hands, as the rulers of our small circle (as the head of the family, parent/teacher/discipler of your children, boss of your coworkers), are we doing justice or judge fairly?
Do we keep the wicked under control? We do understand from this passage that they were wicked from birth and lies. It is just like we understand that all men sinned and are under the control of sin. If we left our children alone and do not teach them and lead them to God there is no cure for their sin.
b. v.10-11 Vengeance is important not only for the godly, but also for the observers. In faith David saw that would certainly take place. God would judge the earth. We dont need to be disappointed but we can rejoice. During the pandemic/racial injustice/wildfire in CA, we may lose our trust to our rulers. Or some people may have depression and down with no hope. For Christians we see things through the "glasses" of faith. We see things differently. We can have joy and hope.
Audrey
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