Showing posts with label Psalm 58. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 58. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2025
Psalm Meditation 1329
¶Second Sunday of Advent
¶December 7, 2025
¶Psalm 58
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2058&version=NRSVUE
¶We like to know that we are a lot like God. We like the same things, the same people, and the same behaviors from those around us. The difficulty is that it is so much easier for us if we see that God is more like us instead of us becoming more like God in our thoughts, words, and actions. If we want revenge, certainly God wants the same satisfaction from seeing us standing triumphantly over those who have done us wrong. And, of course, we always want God on our side rather than exacting some kind of revenge on us for the way we treat those around us.
¶So, we call on God to break the teeth of those who are mean to us, to tear out the fangs of those who have hurt us in any way. When a prophetic voice reminds us that the will of God is for us to love our enemies, we respond that we love it when our enemies suffer, and our constant prayer for them is to dissolve into nothingness and to die screaming in the fires God has prepared for them and their kind. Our love and compassion are reserved for the people of our own tribe, clan, group.
¶Revenge may be sweet in the short term, however it leaves a terrible aftertaste that we may or may not notice. While there is a certain amount of glee in watching the suffering of those who have hurt us in some way, it keeps us from moving in the direction God is leading and calling us. “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.” The reward is in moving toward God rather than in reveling in the suffering of others.
¶December 1, 2025
¶LCM
Monday, July 10, 2023
Psalm Meditation 1204
¶Proper 10
¶July 16, 2023
¶Psalm 58
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+58&version=NRSVUE
(NRSV)
¶There is something deeply satisfying about revenge fantasies. ‘If only I could watch as the teeth of my enemies are broken in their mouths, as their fangs are ripped out while they scream in pain. That would be so satisfying.’ Except that it isn’t. It may be fun or satisfying for a moment but it does not undo any damage they may have done to us and our loved ones. Revenge is like so many other responses to injuries, it is better to imagine it than to experience it. In our imagination we can leave out all the loud, stinking, sticky, gory parts and simply enjoy the suffering from a distance.
¶The psalmist longs for the day in which ‘the wicked’ get what’s coming to them. There will be dancing and shouting in celebration of the suffering of those who heaped suffering on us. The psalmist longs to join others in bathing their feet in the blood of the wicked. I don’t know if that kind of thing actually happened, however I can’t imagine wanting to dip a toe or finger into a pool of blood, let alone soak my feet in it.
¶I know there are those who relish the experience of revenge, and I wonder how long the good feeling lasts. In a tit for tat society, an act of revenge simply opens the door for a bigger, action on the part of the original perpetrator. And it becomes a spiral of action and reaction that digs an evil hole into which all parties can bury themselves. God calls us to loving action to break the cycle of evil that is so easy and tempting to fall into. The ’reward’ for the need for revenge is the downward spiral of acts of revenge. The reward for the righteous is living a life of love in the presence of God.
¶July 10, 2023
¶LCM
Monday, March 2, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1029
Second Sunday in Lent
March 8, 2020
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
(NRSV)
It is easy to treat adversaries badly if we can see them as ‘other.’ When they have been wicked from the beginning, when they spit venom, we can wish the worst on them because they deserve it. We can call on God, whose hallmark is mercy and justice, to destroy those people with a wave of a hand. And when that happens, we good people will rejoice and dance in the streets over the utter destruction of our adversaries.
While it is cathartic to call on God to destroy our adversaries, the bad people who keep hurting us, it doesn’t work that way very often. What usually happens is that we find a way to come to an agreement around the source of our conflict and we find ourselves working together for a common good. Some people on both sides will continue to harbor a grudge that feeds their negative thoughts. These folks will never see the end of conflict even as the rest of us build friendships with our former adversaries.
In March of 1863, following a resolution of the Senate, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for a day of fasting and repentance for our sins that had divided us as a nation. For the psalmist, as well as for many of us today, it would be unthinkable to consider repentance on a national scale. “We are on the side of God, how could we possibly have anything of which to repent?” And yet, we do have much for which we can repent as individuals and as nations. “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
March 2, 2020
LCM
Second Sunday in Lent
March 8, 2020
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
(NRSV)
It is easy to treat adversaries badly if we can see them as ‘other.’ When they have been wicked from the beginning, when they spit venom, we can wish the worst on them because they deserve it. We can call on God, whose hallmark is mercy and justice, to destroy those people with a wave of a hand. And when that happens, we good people will rejoice and dance in the streets over the utter destruction of our adversaries.
While it is cathartic to call on God to destroy our adversaries, the bad people who keep hurting us, it doesn’t work that way very often. What usually happens is that we find a way to come to an agreement around the source of our conflict and we find ourselves working together for a common good. Some people on both sides will continue to harbor a grudge that feeds their negative thoughts. These folks will never see the end of conflict even as the rest of us build friendships with our former adversaries.
In March of 1863, following a resolution of the Senate, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for a day of fasting and repentance for our sins that had divided us as a nation. For the psalmist, as well as for many of us today, it would be unthinkable to consider repentance on a national scale. “We are on the side of God, how could we possibly have anything of which to repent?” And yet, we do have much for which we can repent as individuals and as nations. “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
March 2, 2020
LCM
Monday, October 10, 2016
Psalm Meditation 852
Proper 24
October 16, 2016
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
(NRSV)
Anyone who has been bullied or shamed in defeat is aware of what the psalmist is going through here. We rail against the unfairness of it all and call down the same abuse and insults we have suffered on those who caused our suffering. And since they are partly responsible for the behavior we rail against the gods of our tormentors, especially if they are not our own. We know that if God were to heap these abuses on our enemies we would rejoice, sing, and dance in the face of their suffering.
The reality is that suffering is ugly even if it is one of our enemies who suffers. There is something cathartic about asking God to step in and exact our revenge on those who have proved themselves willing to make us suffer. If they can do that to us, wouldn’t it be grand if God would punish them in our name. While we may have violent fantasies of revenge and bathing in the blood of those who torment us, fantasy is not as gory and gruesome as the real thing. On top of that vengeance is not really as satisfying as we imagine.
Wanting to experience the suffering of others at the hands of God may give us a momentary rush of fiendish pleasure, however it is finally more fiendish than pleasurable. God is not one to seek revenge on those who do evil to others. Disappointing as that may be we can also be grateful that God has not given us what we deserve for each of our actions. Fantasizing revenge gives a great adrenaline rush, it does not, however, bring us closer to God. Getting closer to God involves us behaving more like God rather than asking God to live out our fantasies of vengeance.
October 10, 2016
LCM
Proper 24
October 16, 2016
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
(NRSV)
Anyone who has been bullied or shamed in defeat is aware of what the psalmist is going through here. We rail against the unfairness of it all and call down the same abuse and insults we have suffered on those who caused our suffering. And since they are partly responsible for the behavior we rail against the gods of our tormentors, especially if they are not our own. We know that if God were to heap these abuses on our enemies we would rejoice, sing, and dance in the face of their suffering.
The reality is that suffering is ugly even if it is one of our enemies who suffers. There is something cathartic about asking God to step in and exact our revenge on those who have proved themselves willing to make us suffer. If they can do that to us, wouldn’t it be grand if God would punish them in our name. While we may have violent fantasies of revenge and bathing in the blood of those who torment us, fantasy is not as gory and gruesome as the real thing. On top of that vengeance is not really as satisfying as we imagine.
Wanting to experience the suffering of others at the hands of God may give us a momentary rush of fiendish pleasure, however it is finally more fiendish than pleasurable. God is not one to seek revenge on those who do evil to others. Disappointing as that may be we can also be grateful that God has not given us what we deserve for each of our actions. Fantasizing revenge gives a great adrenaline rush, it does not, however, bring us closer to God. Getting closer to God involves us behaving more like God rather than asking God to live out our fantasies of vengeance.
October 10, 2016
LCM
Monday, May 26, 2014
Psalm Meditation 728
Seventh Sunday of Easter
June 1, 2014
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
(NRSV)
Many of us have rich fantasy lives that include imagining terrible things happening to people who have done bad things to us. As the psalmist imagines a variety of injuries to this particular group of wicked folks, we too imagine injuries and death being heaped on those who have injured us in some devastating way. We rehearse a variety of scenarios that would satisfy our desire for revenge against those who have hurt us. We draw God into the revenge fest to relieve us of the guilt of actually carrying out these plans as well as to give us the assurance that we are in the right because God is acting on our behalf.
And while God claims the right of revenge it rarely happens the way it does in the movies. In the movies, the downtrodden hero spends time learning the skills that will be used to overcome the injuries suffered at the beginning of the movie. We get to cheer the hero, imagine that we could do the same with our enemies and then go home to the reality that evil seems to go unchecked in a variety of forms, including physical, emotional and spiritual. God is not in the habit of rising up to do the things we imagine being done to those who perpetuate violence and evil in the world.
God is aware that we do not bring an end to violence and evil by acts of violence and evil. While there may well be some satisfaction in imagining violent things happening to those who have done us wrong, God offers a different set of rewards. The reward for the righteous is not in exacting revenge. The reward of the righteous is having an awareness of being in the presence of God. Righteousness becomes its own reward. There won’t be room for rejoicing over the injury or death of anyone, including those who have done us wrong.
May 26, 2014
Seventh Sunday of Easter
June 1, 2014
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
(NRSV)
Many of us have rich fantasy lives that include imagining terrible things happening to people who have done bad things to us. As the psalmist imagines a variety of injuries to this particular group of wicked folks, we too imagine injuries and death being heaped on those who have injured us in some devastating way. We rehearse a variety of scenarios that would satisfy our desire for revenge against those who have hurt us. We draw God into the revenge fest to relieve us of the guilt of actually carrying out these plans as well as to give us the assurance that we are in the right because God is acting on our behalf.
And while God claims the right of revenge it rarely happens the way it does in the movies. In the movies, the downtrodden hero spends time learning the skills that will be used to overcome the injuries suffered at the beginning of the movie. We get to cheer the hero, imagine that we could do the same with our enemies and then go home to the reality that evil seems to go unchecked in a variety of forms, including physical, emotional and spiritual. God is not in the habit of rising up to do the things we imagine being done to those who perpetuate violence and evil in the world.
God is aware that we do not bring an end to violence and evil by acts of violence and evil. While there may well be some satisfaction in imagining violent things happening to those who have done us wrong, God offers a different set of rewards. The reward for the righteous is not in exacting revenge. The reward of the righteous is having an awareness of being in the presence of God. Righteousness becomes its own reward. There won’t be room for rejoicing over the injury or death of anyone, including those who have done us wrong.
May 26, 2014
Monday, April 1, 2013
Psalm Meditation 668
Second Sunday of Easter
April 7, 2013
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth."
(NRSV)
Why is it that when others wait to see us suffer die they are wicked, and when we want to see our adversaries suffer and die it is righteous revenge? That is, how do we know that our enemies and the enemies of God are the same? It is certainly my hope that the people of whom I am a part are on the side of God. I am also very aware that any one of us has done at least one thing in the name of God that is troubling to God, at the very least. When we factor in the things we have done as a part of a larger group it is just as troubling.
While this psalm serves a purpose, it is not helpful to use it as a public statement against anyone. Psalms like this allow us to vent our frustration and fear to God without having to act on our inclinations toward revenge. Yes, our humanness waits to see those who have wronged us suffer for their deeds. Yes, we know that revenge will be give us a sweet sense of victory over those who stand against us in some way. Vengeance tends to ring hollow and carries a high personal cost that is not usually worth it. The psalm lets us rehearse our desire for revenge without having to go through with it.
Divine justice does finally work itself out. We may or may not be satisfied with the result. The psalmist allows us to offer God our idea of what would be a fulfilling revenge even as we turn the situation over to God. It keeps us from becoming the very people from whom we are calling God to defend us. To call on God continues to be an act of defiance against tyranny in a way that does not lead us to be tyrants ourselves.
April 1, 2013
Second Sunday of Easter
April 7, 2013
Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth."
(NRSV)
Why is it that when others wait to see us suffer die they are wicked, and when we want to see our adversaries suffer and die it is righteous revenge? That is, how do we know that our enemies and the enemies of God are the same? It is certainly my hope that the people of whom I am a part are on the side of God. I am also very aware that any one of us has done at least one thing in the name of God that is troubling to God, at the very least. When we factor in the things we have done as a part of a larger group it is just as troubling.
While this psalm serves a purpose, it is not helpful to use it as a public statement against anyone. Psalms like this allow us to vent our frustration and fear to God without having to act on our inclinations toward revenge. Yes, our humanness waits to see those who have wronged us suffer for their deeds. Yes, we know that revenge will be give us a sweet sense of victory over those who stand against us in some way. Vengeance tends to ring hollow and carries a high personal cost that is not usually worth it. The psalm lets us rehearse our desire for revenge without having to go through with it.
Divine justice does finally work itself out. We may or may not be satisfied with the result. The psalmist allows us to offer God our idea of what would be a fulfilling revenge even as we turn the situation over to God. It keeps us from becoming the very people from whom we are calling God to defend us. To call on God continues to be an act of defiance against tyranny in a way that does not lead us to be tyrants ourselves.
April 1, 2013
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