What is the meaning of Psalm 58:4? Their venom is like the venom of a snake David is describing corrupt rulers whose words and actions drip with lethal danger. Venom in a literal serpent destroys tissue and blood; in the same way the schemes of the wicked ravage lives and societies. • Scripture often links wicked speech to poisonous fangs. Psalm 140:3 says, “They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips,” while James 3:8 warns that “the tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” • The picture is not poetic exaggeration but a direct comparison. Just as real venom can kill the body, false judgments, slander, and perverted justice kill reputations, hope, and sometimes even lives. • This serpent imagery also recalls Genesis 3:1–6, reminding us that the first lie ever told came from the serpent whose deceit brought death into the world (cf. John 8:44). • Romans 3:13–15 gathers these venom-verses to describe humanity apart from God—“Their throats are open graves… the poison of vipers is on their lips… their feet are swift to shed blood.” The Holy Spirit, inspiring Paul, confirms that Psalm 58 is literally accurate in its diagnosis of sin. • For God’s people, the verse becomes a sober call to guard our own speech (Ephesians 4:29) and expose destructive words with the light of truth (Proverbs 12:18). like a cobra that shuts its ears Ancient charmers could coax certain snakes with music, but a cobra with “shut ears” is uncontrollable. The wicked are pictured as deliberately refusing every reasonable appeal, every divine warning. • Zechariah 7:11 captures the same attitude: “They refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears so they could not hear.” • Acts 7:57 shows the Sanhedrin behaving exactly this way toward Stephen: “They covered their ears and yelled at the top of their voices.” The cobra image is painfully literal—ears closed, hearts hardened. • Proverbs 29:1 cautions, “A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be broken—without remedy.” The cobra that will not hear ends in sudden judgment, precisely the outcome David calls for later in Psalm 58:10–11. • By contrast, true servants of God keep their ears open to His Word (Isaiah 50:5, Psalm 40:6). Listening hearts are a mark of righteousness, while deafness to God is a hallmark of rebellion. • The verse underscores personal responsibility. No one forces the cobra to shut its ears; it is a chosen defiance. Likewise, hard-hearted leaders choose to reject God’s voice, and the consequences are just. summary Psalm 58:4 layers two vivid, literal pictures: deadly venom and willful deafness. Together they expose the wicked as both destructive and unteachable. Their tongues kill like poison; their hearts resist every corrective note from God. The verse urges us to recognize such danger, to keep our own speech pure, and to stay tender-eared toward the Lord who “desires truth in the inmost being” (Psalm 51:6). |
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