Psalm 58:4-5

Psalm 58:4-5

All about snakes!

If you do not like snakes, you may want to skip over this reading! To be fair, most people do not like them, for good reasons. They are secretive, ugly, venomous and highly dangerous. They can move like lightening and the larger ones wrap themselves around their prey and crush them to death. But there is also a primeval fear and loathing too in man that I suspect connects us back to our roots, the Garden of Eden and the serpent who beguiled the woman. The Scriptures do not encourage us to love snakes! The only occasion when a snake did good was when Moses hung one on a pole and all who looked to it were healed of a plague. 

In the light of the above, we can conclude that any human being who is likened to a snake is bad news. The Apostle James writes that we all have a snake instinct within us, he says that our tongues are like venomous snakes, (James 3:8) and I have to agree that it is very easy to secretly hiss and strike a victim and within seconds their reputation is ruined. David sees all of these traits in his enemies and in the activity and language of wicked rulers. They are so venomous. He makes comparisons with snake-charmers who play their mysterious tunes and claim to hypnotise the creatures – usually cobras. David says that no evil, snaky ruler listens to the enchantments, the ears of the wicked are blocked, nothing can charm them or hinder them from their wicked ways. Appeasement, concession and peace do not exist in the vocabularies of those who are driven by their evil desires. It is best not to try to do deals with those who are inherently immoral and depraved.