Wicked Rulers
For the director of music: set to "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A golden psalm.
A charge against judges who deal out violence from the bench. They are called venomous, deaf as a cobra that refuses the charmer's tune. The prayer asks for their fangs to be broken, so people can say plainly that our Father judges the earth.
58 1Do you indeed decree what is right, you rulers? Do you judge the children of man with fairness? a a v1 "Do Not Destroy" is the name of the melody to which this psalm was sung. 2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence across the land. 3The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. 4Their venom is like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf cobra that plugs its ear, 5so that it will not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter. 6O our Father, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, our Father! 7Let them vanish like water that runs away; when our Father aims his arrows, let them be cut short. 8Like a snail that melts away as it moves, like a stillborn child who never sees the sun. 9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, whether green or ablaze, he will sweep them away. 10The righteous will rejoice when they see justice done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. 11And people will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely our Father judges the earth."
