Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and the blessing of reading his Word, and ask him to work belief in his people's hearts.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 58
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
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.
9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 58.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Psalm 58 confronts rulers who do not speak righteousness or judge uprightly. It describes the destructive speech and violence of the wicked, petitions God to break their power, and looks ahead to the day when his righteous judgment will make evil right and show the world that God truly judges the earth.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Psalm 58:11
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
surely there is a reward for the righteous. Surely he is God who judges the earth.
The transcript contains no Best Verse prompt or explicit selection. The psalm's final verse best summarizes the family's discussion: wickedness will not endure forever because the righteous God rules and will judge the earth.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Trust the just and righteous King even when evil surrounds you. Marvel at his grace and mercy toward sinners, rest in Jesus Christ, and look forward to the day when Jesus returns and God makes every wrong right.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
The camera's shaking, okay? We don't want people to get seasick, do we? Seasick? Seasick, like the camera's moving around. And we're gonna read Psalm 58 this morning, okay? What about seasick? What about someone's in the water and they're seasick? If somebody's watching while they're in the water, well then I guess maybe they won't get seasick, huh?
Yeah, they will. You think they still might? Oh, yeah, and that's how they'll get seasick. Yeah. Yeah. Are you excited to read the psalm today? Kind of. Yes. Yeah. Are you excited to drink your tea today? Yeah. Oh, good. I'm glad that you're excited to drink your tea. Why don't we go ahead and we'll grab it. Can you grab yours without spilling? Be very careful. All right. There you go. Okay. Well, good morning and welcome to coffee and devotions.
This is where every day we get together, we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord. Do you remember the last word? Together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. This morning, we're at Psalm 58. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee? We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. You're going to drink some tea? Yeah. No, it's too hot. Okay.
We'll put it there. Okay, oh Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing of being able to read your word. We pray now that as we read it, you would work in our hearts that we might believe it. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, you ready? All right, I'm gonna read it and I'm gonna ask you questions as we go, okay? Okay. To the Chief Musician set to Do Not Destroy, of McDom of David.
Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? No. In your heart you work wickedness. You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. 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 deaf cobra that stops its ears, which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully. Do you think he's talking about good people or bad people? Bad people. Bad people.
What does he talk about them? He talks about them like they're what type of animal? A snake. A snake. That's right. A garden snake. Oh, where's the garden snake? Like a poisonous snake. Their words are like venom. Right? Would that be good? No, that's what he's saying about them. And then here he's going to say something to God. You ready? Okay, sit up. Here we go. Break their teeth in their mouth. Oh, would that feel good? Break their teeth in their mouth. Oh God.
Break out their fangs of the young lions, O Lord. Let them flow away as water which runs 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 may not see the sun.
Oh, so he talks about breaking their teeth and breaking their fangs. And he talks about, can you show me what you would do if you had a bow? Well, like you would pull it back, right? Remember, you've seen daddy do that. Now imagine someone breaking the bow. That's right. That's what David's asking for them to happen to them. Before your pots can feel the burning thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, as in his loving or sorry, as in his living and burning wrath. Wow. Do you think that?
David is saying that God has wrath? But I thought God was loving? God is loving. He is loving to the good people, not the bad people. Oh. Are we by nature good people? Or bad people? Yeah, we're by nature bad people, right? But what does Jesus do? He makes us what? Clean. He makes us clean. He makes us good people. That's right.
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 a reward for the righteous. Surely he is God who judges the earth." Do you think God's going to do that someday? Do you think God's going to conquer all the bad people? Is he going to make everything right?
That's right. He's going to turn us into good people and then turn the bad guys dead. Yeah, is that hard for some people to hear? Yeah. But is it good news for us who love God? That's right, it is. It is. It's bad news for the bad guys. Yeah, it's bad news for the bad guys. But he's changed us from being bad guys to being good guys. That's right. That's right. As long as we believe in who? God. That's right. Okay. You ready to pray? Okay.
Lord, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you that you are a just and righteous God. And someday all the wickedness we see, all the evil that's around us, you will make right. You are the King of the universe, reigning now. We look forward to that great day when Jesus will return. We pray that you would work in our hearts, that we would trust in you and marvel at your grace and your mercy towards us. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May he fill your heart with joy and peace. May you rest in Jesus Christ, and we'll see you tomorrow. You wanna say bye? Bye! Bye, see you later. Oh, you're gonna take your tea?