Psalm 58 – Vengeance is Mine, Says Me!

 February 5, 2019

You’ve heard the saying, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. If I had my way, it would be, says me, or at least I would like to dictate the shape this vengeance might take, like the writer of Psalm 58.

Psalm 58 – Images

The writer calls for vengeance. In his defense, he is not exacting this vengeance himself but is asking God for vengeance, but what he is asking for is more than revenge – it is a seven-fold curse. It would fit the most gruesome horror story:  break their teeth and pull them out, let these people be stamped on like grass, squashed like thorns under a pot, wither away like a vapor, dissolve into slime or be still-born or aborted from the womb (6-9). You need look no further for devices of torture.

The images in Psalm 58 are compelling. The Hebrews knew how to curse their enemies! “O God, break the teeth in their mouths, tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither. Let them be like the snail which dissolves into slime, like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.” (6-8)

Psalm 58 – Principalities and Powers

While a lament, Psalm 58 begins with a charge against the “gods” rather than an appeal to God. The writer is angry with some super beings, less than God but greater than man, perhaps pagan gods or our concept of angels. Whatever they are, they have acted in wicked ways. The Israelites, while monotheists, were aware of pagan gods around them. Perhaps these are what he is referring to. Other interpreters refer to the “gods” as judges or rulers, who act like mini-gods in pronouncing judgment on others. Certainly, there such “mini-gods” around us today.

Another way to look at these “superhumans” is to compare them to Paul’s principalities and powers. How would this be realized in our own times? Who are the principalities and powers wreaking havoc in our society? William Stringfellow, a lawyer and theologian, speaks of these principalities and powers as corporations, mammoth organizations that over time have taken on a life of their own. They may have started out as an endeavor of like-minded individuals seeking good, but their existence becomes more important than the people they were created to serve. They have become mini-gods with the rights of individuals and none of the responsibilities.

The writer asks these beings, who are you to judge?  “Do you judge the sons of men uprightly? No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.”(1b-2) They are evil from birth. “The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of the serpent.” (3-4a)

Confident Trust in God’s Justice

The psalm ends with confident trust that God is on the side of the writer. He speaks of a bloody victory. “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance, he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.” (10)

God alone judges, but the psalmist believes he is keeping God’s way so he will be vindicated – “Men will say, ‘surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’” (11).

Be Angry and Sin Not

For all of its humanness, the writer still leaves vengeance to God. If he had his choice, he would exact his own vengeance, but instead he leaves it to God, and thus doesn’t sin.

So often when betrayed or hurt by someone, we would like to exact vengeance ourselves, or at least determine the form of revenge. It is hard to trust that God will take care of this. Even harder when up against the “mini-gods” of our time, corporate giants.

God, who sees into the heart of people, knows the best form of revenge to enact. God is greater than any corporate entity. Just as the people of Israel may have felt powerless before corrupt rulers, we may feel powerless before these organizations or the excessive bureaucracy in our government. But God is greater than these and will exact vengeance in his own time and own way.

That doesn’t mean that we have to sit passively by as we wait for God. We can take action where and when we can and when we’ve done all within our power, we can express our anger, throw down curses, all the while leaving revenge in God’s hands.

What do you do when you are hurt or confronted with injustice? Are you able to be angry and sin not, leaving vengeance to God?

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This post is part of a series of blog posts on the Psalms. Sign up to follow this blog and and receive a free copy of  Still Dancing, the second book in my Dancing through Life Series.      click here to sign up

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