The 58th Psalm deals with the problems posed by unjust rulers.
In the verses 1 and 2 David addresses these rulers but it becomes quickly apparent that they had failed in their duties and had not lived up to their profession:
Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?
Psalm 58:1-2
do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
Yea, in heart ye work wickedness;
While these rulers were ungodly it was the outcome, the fruit of their ungodliness which perturbed David greatly – they had failed to “judge uprightly”.
Was there ever a time when there was not a greater and a more singular lack of justice coupled by singular lack of a consciousness of righteousness among our lawmakers – than there is today?
It was not many years ago that even ungodly politicians were ingrained with an awareness of biblical righteousness. This framework of bible based justice laid down the foundations of our nation and has blessed us with a most remarkable heritage. In our Parliament building, the mother all Parliaments at Westminster, the King on his way to the State Opening must tread on the tiles containing the words “The Queen’s heart in in the hands of the Lord”. In Central Lobby the roof is engraved with the Psalm “Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it.” As MPs pass through the lobbies to vote if they looked they would see the words “God be merciful unto us and bless us”. In Westminster Hall there is an enormous painting of Moses receiving the law at Sinai. The fathers of our nation recognised that justice was a god-given virtue and those who govern must do justly.
Today, however, we live in days when there is a singular lack of justice and the nation suffers.
The crime of abortion, the murder of the innocent whose cries are not heard, is sanctioned by our lawmakers without conscience. There is a growing and concerted support for Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide in Westminster, Edinburgh and Belfast. It seems shocking that in a world where we demand that the disabled must have more rights, when buildings must be accessible, when public transport must be convenient – we contrive of ways of killing off the most vulnerable. Ramps have to installed of a certain gradient, colours must be distinguishable for the partially sighted, audio systems must be heard by the hard of hearing – yet society can willfully the murder the very old, the very sick and the very young – the most vulnerable with impunity.
At the same time there are efforts being made to outlaw describing homosexuality as a sin. In Scotland The Hate Crime and Public Order Act (2021) is an attempt to criminalise those who object to the transgender agenda; although that effort seems to be faltering within a few days of the legislation coming into force!
In Northern Ireland Sinn Fein, a party in Government which are also a rising force in the politics of the south defend the terrorist record of the IRA without shame.
It seems that wherever you cast your eye at home and abroad truth is fallen down on the streets.
Furthermore we live in times when there is a most abject lack of leadership across the western world especially. A lack of principle, conviction and morality pervades the corridors of power and eats like a cancer into the body politic.
Meanwhile the world suffers from war and famine and at home our nation is experiencing an incremental decline in wealth and influence. Where there is a forsaking of God there will be the reaping of that sad sowing and one feels that we are living in those times of harvest – the harvest of judgment.
This was precisely what David saw in his his generation. The 58th Psalm couldn’t be more relevant.
He considers the origin of the unjust ruler’s character:
The wicked are estranged from the womb:
Psalm 58:3-5
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.
There is an inner depravity at work in the world, a depravity that we all share by virtue of the original sin with which we were born. This depravity is poisonous, being compared to the snake bite. It also renders the person deaf to the truth of God; there is an allusion here to the snake not having hears, sensing vibrations but not hearing as we do.
Only grace can change the heart. Only grace can transform our government. Only grace can alter the course of our nation. Because only grace can stop sin.
He also prays for the unjust ruler’s destruction:
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth:
Psalm 58:6-9
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.
Before your pots can feel the thorns,
he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
This is an imprecatory Psalm; it is a prayer for judgement. He prays that the teeth of the unjust ruler might be broken, that they might melt away and that they might never see the sun again. The comparison between the wicked and the slimy snail is particularly striking.
If we believe in a God of justice then we also must pray that where grace doesn’t intervene His wrath will – and we ought to pray to that end.
Finally David anticipates God’s vindication of His own honour:
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:
Psalm 58:10-11
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.
The key words are “he is a God that judgeth in the earth”.
The earth belongs unto the the Lord. He is supreme arbiter among the nations. Every ruler whether King, Queen, President, Prime Minister or Parliamentarian has a power that has been given by God. Paul wrote that even ungodly rulers are ministers of God. The Lord has handed the sword to them but they are accountable to God as to how they make use of the divine instrument.
Ultimately God is the King over all the earth. Man acts as if He is in control, as if He can devise His own moral codes and ignore God without a thought. But God will never allow this world to continue without intervention. He will vindicate His own honour.
Judgment may consist of the removal of administrations, the discrediting of people in authority, the demise of nations and the overthrow of civilisations.
But through all of this upheaval the righteous will rejoice because the cause of truth, the Kingdom of God in earth will continue.
We are never to despair because God is on the throne and Christ is building His Church.
Clogher Valley Free Presbyterian Church 