What does Psalm 58:2 mean?

This psalm began with a pointed, possibly sarcastic question. David asked if certain judges were truly applying justice (Psalm 58:1). Here, he gives his own answer. The men sin in both secret and overt ways, harming the people they are supposed to protect. In their hearts and minds, they think of evil and make plans to do what is wrong. The results of their judgments are violence.

David's criticism parallels that of Micah, a later prophet who used graphic imagery to describe the injustice of Israel's rulers (Micah 3:1–3). David's critique is not specific, but Micah accused leaders of his day of hating justice, perverting right and wrong, and filling Jerusalem with blood as they took bribes (Micah 3:9–11).

David correctly identified the ultimate source of the rulers' and judges' wrongdoing: their hearts. Jeremiah writes: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Zechariah, another prophet, called upon the people of Judah to stop creating evil schemes in their hearts: "Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart" (Zechariah 7:9–10).