I'm looking at Psalm 58
today for our mid-week bible study group.
It's an aggressive psalm, an over the top, grotesque psalm. Not all of the bible is pretty and
pink-lollypop warm fuzzy. This psalm is
an imprecation - a curse. The psalmist
is calling down a horrific death on his enemies. There is no room in his hatred for a
different point of view. There is no
opportunity for a second chance. There is
no grace or mercy; the psalmist wants only vengeance. He wants to see them dead.
These wicked rulers and
officials are, the psalmist says, loathsome liars from birth. Since both this psalm and psalm 51 are
attributed to David – I wonder if David remembers that he said the same thing
about himself (“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother
conceived me…” – psalm 51:5). He could
ask for mercy for himself, but wants no mercy for these wicked judges.
He curses them in extravagantly violent language: May God knock the teeth out of their mouths, may they vanish like water that flows away, may they be like a slug melting in slime, may they be like bloody stillborns never seeing the sun, never taking a breath.
And then he says that he will rejoice in their death, though of course he wraps this in the language of justice. “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged.” This assumes that his cause is righteous. And it may have been. It may be true that this began as righteous indignation, a just and holy anger at oppressive and wicked rulers – but it has turned into a burning hatred. The psalmist looks forward to the time when he can bathe himself in the blood of his enemies.
He curses them in extravagantly violent language: May God knock the teeth out of their mouths, may they vanish like water that flows away, may they be like a slug melting in slime, may they be like bloody stillborns never seeing the sun, never taking a breath.
And then he says that he will rejoice in their death, though of course he wraps this in the language of justice. “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged.” This assumes that his cause is righteous. And it may have been. It may be true that this began as righteous indignation, a just and holy anger at oppressive and wicked rulers – but it has turned into a burning hatred. The psalmist looks forward to the time when he can bathe himself in the blood of his enemies.
This psalmist (whether
it is David or not…) is a bit like the prophet Nahum, with a long memory for
his suffering, but little memory of God’s grace.
But God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked:
“As I live, says the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked
turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for
why will you die…”
Ezekiel 33: 11 (NRSV)
Hi Jeff - consider the ancient voices and their interpretations of Ps 58 here.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bob. I always appreciate your comments.
DeleteI put a few more ad hoc thoughts here.
ReplyDelete