Psalm 58 Ding-dong! The Witch is Dead!

Psalm 58 is a type of lament referred to as an imprecatory psalm. What is that? It is a psalm that calls for the just wrath of God upon the wicked. It captures the raw cry of the poor and powerless against unjust oppression.

The iconic image of the witch's feet
protruding from under the house.

Admittedly, there is something joyous about breaking the oppression of the wicked (v.10-11). One example is in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy’s house falls on and kills the wicked witch, the Munchkins sing, “Ding, dong, the Witch is dead…” since their fearful tormenter has been killed. A death that was very imprecatory-esque (to coin a phrase). Here are the lyrics they sang (in case you were wondering).

Ding-dong! The Witch is dead
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding-dong! The Wicked Witch is dead
Wake up, you sleepy head
Rub your eyes, get out of bed
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead
She's gone where the goblins go
Below, below, below
Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out
Ding-dong, the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low
Let them know the Wicked Witch is dead!

While this type of psalm (imprecatory lament) is often quite graphic in its creatively worded and often hyperbolic poetic descriptions, the focus is not so much a longing for bloodthirsty revenge as it is for removing the oppressor and their opportunity to continue hurting others.

Now, let’s look at the biblical text of this reflection from Psalm 58.

"Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?

 Do you             judge the children of man uprightly?

No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

          your hands deal out violence on earth." (v.1-2)

While the author used a Hebrew term translated here as “gods” or “Mighty Ones” it is clear that he was making a sarcastic statement. Those who should have been responsible for weighing out justice to all had not done so. There may also be a bit of a peek behind the curtain to the spiritual “powers and principalities” that pull the strings of such unjust leaders. Of course, the false gods of the world never judge rightly...they are merely tools of selfishness (as are their followers). So much violence in the world comes from those ultimately seeking their own self-interests. Jesus made it clear that Christians are to be different. We are called to follow our Savior’s example by denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily, laying down our lives, our rights, and our successes. He did not come to be served but to serve. Elsewhere he said that it was the meek who shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). When we come to Christ with empty hands and an open heart He will bring his people peace, a peace that cannot be taken away by the world.

Photo by fikry anshor on Unsplash

Meanwhile, the wicked shuffle their cards, dealing out wickedness, and planting lies and injustice everywhere they go. Why do they do this? Why do their hearts devise wrongs? Because they have made an idol out of themselves. The Apostle Paul laid this out in his letter to Timothy in describing the coming days of difficulty, days that sound very much like our own.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

When you are a lover of self and not a lover of the good, how can you live peacefully in a relationship with other people, much less God? You can’t. Thus,

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies. (v.3)

The irony of this imprecatory psalm is that it is set to a tune titled, "Do not Destroy"! The psalmist and the lamenting community do not take it upon themselves to destroy their oppressors. Rather, such a psalm is used to process the frustration of the author/reader with wicked rulers and faux judges who are like deadly snakes that will not be charmed (v.4-5) and it asks God to deal with them as only He can. In the end, the justice of God is revealed! Everything is not as it seems!

He began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:1-3)

It is hard for many Americans to relate to such brutal leaders and persecution as the psalmist describes...but Christians from other places know exactly what the psalmist is talking about. However, even in the USA, we are coming to see hypocrisy on a massive level unveiled.

The imprecatory request of Psalm 58 begins to make more sense when we, or those we love, have been the recipients and victims of deadly lies and unprovoked attacks.

"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;

when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted." (v.6-7)

If I were to paraphrase these verses, I might say, “Let the source of their deadly venom be broken and torn out. Let their efforts melt away to nothing, let their assassination attempts be ineffective.”

Ultimately, we are either children of the light, who want the truth to be revealed, the corruption exposed, and the unjust scales to be recalibrated. Yet, God’s people are not to take vengeance into their own hands… only God can make those judgments without error. And one day he will complete the work. On that day,

Mankind will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous;                                                       surely there is a God who judges on earth." (v.11)

As noted above, Psalm 58 is an imprecatory lament that expresses the psalmist's desire and request for justice to be done! He concludes with this verse that tells what the world's reaction will be after God’s delivering judgment of the wicked appears. His judgment does not tarry until that final day but is an ongoing work that occurs every day, in every season, and yet will suddenly come to an unmistakable and unchangeable conclusion. Even now, it is his kindness and mercy that allows us to confess and repent before we are caught and face the consequences of our sins (àRom. 2:4-5). We do well to heed the words of John to the dispersed church…

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But…

if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:6-9)

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

An imprecatory lament should serve to remind us of our own shortcomings and utter dependence upon the grace of God in Christ Jesus! We all have trash that needs to be removed.

When we know how much we have been forgiven we will not quickly enter into judgment on others, but will fervently pray even for our enemies, patiently correcting with gentleness, that they might be set free for they are unwitting slaves (à 2 Tim. 2:23-26).

My prayer for us in these days is that we might have the courage to witness to the truth, the faith to see God’s powerful work on behalf of his children, the love to serve alongside him in his mission, and the hope to remain steadfast to the end.

Psalm 14:4-6 "Wise Up!"

Psalm 14:4-6

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?

There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is his refuge.

Comments:

This psalm is part wisdom psalm and partly a lament. There is another almost identical psalm (53) that we will consider later (if I pick up the pace a little). I have always focused on the first two verses that set out the perspectives of the fool who, “says in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (v.1) and that of the Lord who, “looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” (v.2)

However, ...today I will ponder v.4-6. It is almost as if the psalmist is beside himself in consternation. I don’t mean the ironic “I could have had a V8!” head-slapping moment, but a deep cry of “Don’t-they-get-it” agony from the heart of his compassionate frustration. They not too metaphorically devour the psalmist’s/God’s people like bread instead of entering into a relationship with the Giver of the Bread from Heaven. They come together only in their corruption…a mocking of relational unity.

It should be noted that “the fool” is not unintelligent, but one who lives as though there was no God who has entered into a covenant relationship of love with the poor. In reading the late Peter Craigie’s rather technical commentary on Psalms I was surprised by this wonderfully affective insight,

“The fool is one whose life is lived without the direction or acknowledgment of God. Thus the precise opposite of fool and folly is not wise man and wisdom; the opposite of folly in the wisdom literature is lovingkindness [hesed]…That is to say, the fool is defined by the absence of lovingkindness…”[1]

There is an extended section that is present in some Greek manuscripts between v. 2 & 3 that is actually quoted in Romans 3:13-18

“Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
   “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
    in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Such verses only serve to emphasize the lack of hesed (lovingkindness) on the part of the fool. 

So often we tend to direct our thinking about wisdom along the "judging/discerning rightly" track. However, if Craigie is right, then perhaps wisdom is neither easily isolated from the heart’s response to the love of God, nor from the hand of mercy extended to one another!

In Psalm 14:5 we see that the fools’ plans fail to satisfy them, but instead, leave them in a state of terror even as they seek to terrorize others. Why is this? Because they don’t understand that though the righteous poor may be consumed, they are not cowed for the Lord is their refuge. The powerful fool cannot steal the hope of the Lord’s people…and it threatens the fool’s own corrupted worldview. It isn't wise to shame the poor…ever. Not just because God is their defender, but because wise people are full of lovingkindness!

One other comment about unity from this psalm…it makes it clear that we all have gone astray and become corrupt…which means we all need the same mercy of God.

We cannot say that such bad behavior and heart attitudes only apply to “those people” or the out-group de jour. I am reminded of that well-used parental proverb, “When you point the finger at someone else, you are pointing three back at yourself!” It is only because “salvation has come out of Zion” through the costly grace of Jesus Christ, that any of us stray dogs can claim to be the people of God. Paul makes no bones about this for after quoting from this psalm he stated,

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:22-25)

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[1] Peter C. Craigie, Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 1-50 (Waco, TX: Word, 1983) 147.