Lessons From the Psalms - Psalm 58

[00:00:07] Welcome to Lessons From The Psalms. This is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. On this podcast we will be going over the book of Psalms.

[00:00:18] That's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to the Psalm today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is Psalm 58, beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:41] Do you indeed speak righteousness? You silent once. Do you judge, up rightly, you sons of men? No. In heart, you work wickedness, you weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

[00:00:58] The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent. They are like the death cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully.

[00:01:20] Break their teeth in their mouth, O God. Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord. Let them flow away as waters which run continually when he bends his bow. Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. Let them be like a snail, which melts away as it goes. Like a stillborn child of a woman that they may not see.

[00:01:50] Because your pots can feel the burning thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind as in his living and burning wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked so that men will say surely there is every word for the righteous.

[00:02:17] Surely he is God who judges the earth. Friends, Psalm 58 was attributed to King David and it says that it was written to the chief musician, meaning that it was originally set to be a part of the worship service.

[00:02:40] Psalm 58 is one of four Psalms that is set to the tune, do not destroy. But before I break this song down for you, I'd like to go over the title of this song and it's that the just judgment of the wicked.

[00:03:01] So before I break this down, what I'd like to say is that if you live your entire life being wicked, that at the end there will be judgment. Let's go to verse 1. Do you indeed speak righteousness? You silent ones. Do you judge up rightly?

[00:03:28] You sons of men. Now friends, this verse is how we should live our lives. We should speak with righteousness. We should judge up rightly. The verse 2 tells us the reality, no, in heart you work wickedness. You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

[00:03:57] The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies. Now friends, these two verses basically could go back all the way to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they sin and is soon as they sin, they were immediately separated from the presence of God.

[00:04:25] And from that point on, we individuals who come into the earth are born with a sin nature.

[00:04:35] And that is what the Gospel of John tells us in chapter 3 is that we must be born again in spirit, because because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we are born out of the presence of God.

[00:04:54] We are born basically with in confrontation with him because of our sin nature. And so we need to change that. So now we have a spirit inside of that coincides with God and that happens by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Let's go to verse 4.

[00:05:18] Our poison is like the poison of a serpent. They are like the death cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed the voice of charmers charming ever so skillfully. Now friends, some people just have it in them to be wicked.

[00:05:38] I'm not saying that if you are not born again, if you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I don't believe every one of those people are wicked.

[00:05:50] I believe you choose to be wicked. I think it's much more likely that you will be wicked if you are not a Christian and haven't given your heart to Jesus yet, but there are many people who still have not received Jesus that live life intentionally to try to be righteous and to do good deeds.

[00:06:15] Let's go to verse 6. Break their teeth in their mouth, oh God. Break out the fangs of the young lions, oh Lord. So in this verse, David is actually comparing our enemies or people who come against us as though they are lions and have sharp teeth and they are coming against us with everything they have.

[00:06:43] Let's go to verse 7. Let them flow away as waters which run continually when he bends his bow, let his arrows be as if cut in pieces. What this verse is telling us is when our enemies come against us, David is praying that when they shoot swords or arrows in our directions that God will deflect them.

[00:07:13] Out of our path and so we will not be harmed by what they do to us. Let's go to verse 8. Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, like a stillborn child of a woman that they may not see the sun.

[00:07:33] And here, David is being very explicit. What he's saying here is let them be like a snail and if you ever watch a snail go along and glide along the ground, they don't have much power because they are so slow what they do doesn't have much effect.

[00:07:54] Or a stillborn child is a baby that is born from her mother's womb and they are dead when they are so they don't have any effect. Let's go to verse 9.

[00:08:08] Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, as in his living and burning wrath.

[00:08:20] Now friends, what this verse is telling us is when our enemies come against us sometimes there will be a present pain. Initially it looks like what they're trying to do to us takes effect.

[00:08:35] But eventually it will go away. Let's go to verse 10. The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

[00:08:48] And friends, what this verse is telling us that if we are adamant and if we stick with the word of God, if we live our lives with God in our lives everything that the enemy throws against us will eventually come to an end and we will wash his feet in their blood.

[00:09:10] That men will say surely there is a reward for the righteous. Surely he is God who judges in the earth and friends that is the key verse in this entire song we are to live our lives being righteous.

[00:09:29] Receiving Jesus as our Lord in the Savior living a righteous life trying to be patient, to be loving, to be kind, to be forgiving, because God eventually is going to be the judge. If you do not receive Jesus as your Lord.

[00:09:52] Friends, please join me again soon as we take a closer look at Solomon's 15th.