Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
For the choir director; set to [a]Al-tashheth. A [b]Mikhtam of David.
58 Do you indeed [c]speak righteousness, O [d]gods?
Do you judge [e]uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work unrighteousness;
On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from [f]birth.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it does not hear the voice of [g]charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he [h]aims his arrows, let them be as [i]headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which [j]melts away as it goes along,
Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the [k]green and the burning alike.10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And men will say, “Surely there is a [l]reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges [m]on earth!”
David gets quite graphic about the fate of the wicked, of those who reject God and embrace their own evil desires. Yet, Paul reminds us “there is none righteous… not one.” And so, except for the grace of God, this would be the fate of all humanity. That’s a sobering thought, read vv. 6-9 again and tell me you’d wish that on anyone?
God himself doesn’t wish it on anyone, which is why he made a way of escape. He sent his own Son to rescue us from that doom, the consequences of choosing our way instead of his path. So what are you doing with it? What am I doing with his grace, with the incredible feat of his deliverance?
Am I embracing God’s plan for my life, or am I just sitting idly by, while sinners “flow away like water that runs off”? One might claim that God’s final judgment won’t be quite like this psalm, and you’d be right. It’ll be worse, because it is final and eternal.
Don’t take God’s gift for granted. His arms are outstretched to you every day, His mercies are new each morning, and His desire is that “none should perish”, but that all should have eternal life through repentance. That is, doing a 180 degree turn, forgetting what lays behind, leaving your own way and choosing life in Jesus. There’s no other way, and there’s no other destiny that God desires for you except the reward of life eternal.