PSALM 58
In words that may seem unchristian to us, David denounced the unjust rulers of his day, people who promoted evil by condemning the righteous and defending the wicked. In a prayer that would probably not be “Amened” in churches today, he asked God to judge sinners and establish righteousness on the earth.
David used many images as he prayed for their judgment: “Make them toothless lions! Let them disappear like water on the sand or like the slime of a snail! Make them broken arrows! Let them be like stillborn children! Let them burn up like fuel under a pot! Let them be taken away in a whirlwind!”
You will find similar passages in other Psalms, such as 35:1–8,
Because he was God’s chosen king, David’s enemies were God’s enemies (Ps. 139:21–22). No doubt his personal feelings were involved in these prayers, but his great concern was the righteousness of God and the good of God’s people. David had the authority to denounce national enemies; we have the privilege of forgiving personal enemies.
But you cannot forgive enemies until you realize how wicked their words and deeds are. A holy anger against sin, and a forgiving spirit toward sinners, is the mark of a true child of God. The person who has no concern to oppose wickedness in this world does not know the sinfulness of sin or the holiness of God. That believer needs some backbone!
One day, God will judge the wicked. When you pray the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, you are expressing briefly what David wrote in vivid detail. David left all judgment to the Lord but did his part to further God’s holy will on the earth. If more saints today felt a holy anger against sin (Ps. 4:4;
“If the Jews cursed more bitterly than the pagans this was, I think, at least in part because they took right and wrong more seriously. For if we look at their railings we find that they are usually angry not simply because these things have been done to them but because these things are manifestly wrong, are hateful to God as well as to the victim.”
C. S. Lewis