Psalm 58:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.

NIV: No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

NASB: No, in heart you practice injustice; On earth you clear a way for the violence of your hands.

CSB: No, you practice injustice in your hearts; with your hands you weigh out violence in the land.

NLT: No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land.

KJV: Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

NKJV: No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

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).

Psalm 58:1–5 contains David's accusation of Israel's rulers and judges for their injustice. This was probably written during the rule of King Saul when David was still a fugitive. David indicates that these officials are guilty of injustice and violence. He says that evil originates in their hearts from birth and compares them to poisonous snakes. Further, their sin is deliberate as they purposefully ignore God's will and His goodness.

David begins this psalm with an indictment aimed at Israel's corrupt leaders, likely Israel's rulers and judges. He asks them whether they decree what is right and judge uprightly. He answers his own questions with a resounding "no." He blames them for plotting evil, committing violence, and lying. He portrays them as poisonous snakes. David asks God to destroy them to the point that they quickly vanish from the earth. When God punishes the wicked rulers and judges, the righteous will rejoice and declare that there is a God who rewards the righteous and does what is just.

David decries the injustice of wicked rulers and judges, likely during the later years of Saul's reign. David would have been in exile when he wrote this psalm. He prayed for deliverance from wicked leaders and for God's vengeance to be done. This is one of several "imprecatory" psalms which ask God to bring harsh punishment on His enemies.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.