Psalm 58:3

Psalm 58:3

Wicked from birth

It’s an observation that I have made so many times and yet it still grieves me. You don’t have to teach children to sin! My own children, my grandchildren, everyone else’s children all tell lies, disobey and take what is not theirs and yet none of us ever taught them how to do this. If ever we wanted evidence that what the Bible says about the inbuilt tendency of the human race to sin, all we have to do is watch our children. None of them are perfect, none of them are tuned to always do good and none of them can go through childhood without punishment either! 

However, there are some children who learn respect, who recognise the wisdom of obeying their elders, who pursue honesty and truth and who allow their characters to be moulded. They usually do well at school, do well in the workplace and become good parents and grandparents. This verse is not talking about them. There are certain individuals who were born, not just sinful, but evil. Most children do wrong sporadically and grow up doing wrong sporadically. We are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. But I think David is talking here about people whose nature is wholly wicked; the Devil has them from Day 1 and their whole lives are dedicated to fighting against good, in serving themselves, in abusing others and in using any means for their own advancement. Because they are so “hell-bent” on their task, and because they will use any means to get their way, such individuals do make it to the top. The pages of our history books are full of them. Whole nations fall under their spell and suffer for doing so. Watch and pray for our nation and our world that we do not fall into the clutches of such evil men – and women.