Catholic Commentary on Psalm 58

"Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth." (Psalm 58:11)

The Injustice of the Rulers

Psalm 58 is one of the most confrontational psalms in the entire Psalter, an imprecatory psalm addressed to corrupt rulers. Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. The indictment is direct: those entrusted with justice are themselves the agents of injustice. The rulers who should protect the people are the ones harming them. The legal system that should vindicate the innocent is being used to oppress them.

The images of the wicked in this psalm are intense: they are like a cobra that stops its ears to avoid the charmer's music. The wicked person who has made up their mind will not be persuaded by argument, will not be moved by reason, will not be touched by appeal. They have stopped their ears. Against this obstinate wickedness, the psalmist prays for divine intervention in vivid, almost violent imagery. The Church Fathers read such imprecatory passages as prayers against the powers of evil, not instructions for human behaviour.

A God Who Judges

The psalm ends with a conclusion that vindicates the whole cry: Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth. This is the foundational conviction that makes the prayer possible. If there is no God who judges, the prayer is futile. The tyrant will win, the wicked will prosper, the righteous will suffer without redress. But there is a God who judges the earth. History is not morally random. The final court is not human. This conviction does not remove the present injustice, but it frames it within a larger story in which it will not prevail.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, when you see structural injustice that seems impervious to change, when the rulers who should protect are the ones oppressing, Psalm 58 gives you permission to bring it before God with full emotion. And then to end with the conviction that makes the prayer worthwhile: surely there is a God who judges the earth. The last word is not with the cobra. It is with the Judge.

Prayer

Lord God, you judge the earth in righteousness. Where rulers devise injustice and the innocent are oppressed, arise. Act. Let the righteous be rewarded and the wicked see that there is a God who sees. Sustain us in the long wait for your justice. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

58
God Judges the Earth
For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam * 58:0 Miktam is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 16 and 56–60. of David.
 
1 Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers?
Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in your hearts you devise injustice;
with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
 
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
the liars go astray from birth.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like a cobra that shuts its ears,
5 refusing to hear the tune of the charmer
who skillfully weaves his spell.
 
6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths;
O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
7 May they vanish
like water that runs off;
when they draw the bow,
may their arrows be blunted.† 58:7 Or when they are trodden down, may they wither like grass
8 Like a slug that dissolves in its slime,
like a woman’s stillborn child,
may they never see the sun.
 
9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—
whether green or dry—
He will sweep them away.
10 The righteous will rejoice
when they see they are avenged;
they will wash their feet
in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then men will say,
“There is surely a reward for the righteous!
There is surely a God who judges the earth!”

*^ 58:0 Miktam is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 16 and 56–60.

†58:7 58:7 Or when they are trodden down, may they wither like grass

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