Psalm 58:1

Psalm 58:1

Introduction

David echoes, in this Psalm, the heartfelt cry of all who have been abused, who have been victims or who have suffered injustice in some way by those who rule over them. This is a plea, to the heart of a righteous, holy God, to right wrongs, to judge those who are corrupt and to protect the innocent. In Old Testament times the struggle for justice was usually between the poor and the powerless, against the rich and the powerful. Power and riches are very dangerous possessions and yet so many seek to attain them, almost inevitably at the cost of others. Nothing has changed, this Psalm is written for today, it is another Psalm where God is showing us that He understands, He knows the ways of men and He will exercise true justice one day. 

As we study the Psalm we will see that verses 1-2 ask questions of the rulers of the day. Verses 3-5 set out the complaint against them. Verses 6-8 call upon the Lord to act in judgement against these wicked ones and verse 9-11 are written to reassure the righteous.

 

v1        The subjects of this verse are named, in the NIV, as rulers. A Hebrew Bible in my possession uses the word, “congregation.” In Psalm 82, which has a similar theme, these men are referred to as “elohim”. In other words, because they judge their fellow men they are like God or they are gods. What the verse is saying, in a remarkable and challenging way, is that if any man or woman set themselves up to rule over others of if they are appointed to such a task, they become God’s representatives on earth. It’s obvious is it not? He is God, His authority and power are to be obeyed on earth, He is the final arbiter, all the buck stops with Him. And God has chosen to rule with righteousness, justice and with equity for that is His character. All who reign and rule beneath Him are His representatives, even though most do not acknowledge Him. They will therefore be judged themselves in accordance with the way they carry out His will and His commands. Rulers, judges, kings and queens, presidents, ministers, bosses, councillors, bishops, elders; it doesn’t matter what they or we are called, all who are appointed to administrative positions are earthly representatives of God’s heavenly court and have a responsibility to act according to the will of Almighty God. 

The big questions that all will have to answer before the Lord are, “When you spoke to those beneath you, did you speak with justice? When you made your pronouncements and passed judgements were you always fair and righteous?” In other words, did you speak and act as the Lord God would speak and act? On this basis all rulers will themselves be judged! 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more