Psalm 58:1-11 NKJV
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”
It can be quite frustrating when you have a clear teaching of Holy Scripture but those of a differing confession just dig their heels in and stick with their false teaching of God’s Word. For example, those who believe in a universal objective justification (i.e. that the entire human race was forgiven and justified apart from faith), when Holy Scripture makes it very clear that justification is only through faith. Or, when all of the other protestant denominations deny the real presence of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper, when Holy Scripture at numerous places reveals that the Lord’s Body and Blood are truly present in, with, and under the bread and the wine.
Luther points out how the 58th psalm brings comfort against these stiffed-necked teachers, who pridefully hold to their false teachings, resist being corrected, and attempt to threaten the godly. He writes:
“Using five comparisons, the psalmist comforts himself that they will not carry out their intentions—yes, they will not accomplish half of them: (1) There comes at times a great flood with a terrible roar, as if it would carry away everything, but it flows away and does nothing. (2) A crossbow may be a severe threat, but when arrow, string, and bow are broken, it does nothing. (3) A slug stretches out its antennae, but before it moves, it is dried up or melted away. (4) A stillborn child enlarges the mother’s womb, as if it will come as a baby, but dies before it sees the light. (5) A thorn bush may stick out with many spikes and threaten with pricks and scratches, but before it becomes fully developed and hard, a raging hatchet deepens on it and summons the thorns into the oven to become ashes. Though all of these intended to be great and proceed with success, nevertheless nothing shall come from them.” (Reading the Psalms with Luther, pg. 137, CPH)
Let us pray: O Lord, protect us from false teachings, that the gift of faith You created in us may be preserved by the truth of Your Word properly proclaimed. Amen.