Psalms 58–59

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam¹ of David.

58:1   Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?²
    Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2   No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands deal out violence on earth.
3   The wicked are estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4   They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
    like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5   so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
    or of the cunning enchanter.
6   O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
    tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7   Let them vanish like water that runs away;
    when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8   Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
    like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9   Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
    whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!³
10   The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
    he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11   Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam⁴ of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

59:1   Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
    protect me from those who rise up against me;
2   deliver me from those who work evil,
    and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3   For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
    fierce men stir up strife against me.
  For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
4     for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
  Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5     You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
  Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
    spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
6   Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
7   There they are, bellowing with their mouths
    with swords in their lips—
    for “Who,” they think,⁵ “will hear us?”
8   But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
    you hold all the nations in derision.
9   O my Strength, I will watch for you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress.
10   My God in his steadfast love⁶ will meet me;
    God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11   Kill them not, lest my people forget;
    make them totter⁷ by your power and bring them down,
    O Lord, our shield!
12   For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
    let them be trapped in their pride.
  For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13     consume them in wrath;
    consume them till they are no more,
  that they may know that God rules over Jacob
    to the ends of the earth. Selah
14   Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
15   They wander about for food
    and growl if they do not get their fill.
16   But I will sing of your strength;
    I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
  For you have been to me a fortress
    and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17   O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress,
    the God who shows me steadfast love.

Footnotes

[1] 58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[2] 58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)
[3] 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
[4] 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[5] 59:7 Hebrew lacks they think
[6] 59:10 Or The God who shows me steadfast love
[7] 59:11 Or wander

(ESV)