Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men? Sermons
I. THEIR CHARACTER IS PORTRAYED. (Vers. 1-5.) Character is a growth. No man becomes of a sudden either very bad or very good. There is gradation - "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." We are shown wickedness in its germ. It has its source in a bad heart - a heart not right with God. From within it works toward without. Evil may for a time be concealed or held in check, but it is sure to show itself. People may be worse than they seem. God only knows the evil that lies hidden and rooted in the heart. Then we see wickedness in its development. It has been said that "tongue sins are our first transgressions." But how quickly do we proceed from "lies" to other and more flagrant forms of wickedness! The more the will of the flesh is indulged, the stronger it becomes. The poison spreads through all the veins. "The soul grows clothed by contagion, II. THEIR JUDGMENT IS PREDICTED. (Vers. 6-11.) God is long suffering and merciful. How excellent his counsels! how tender his rebukes I how gracious his calls to repentance! But when evil men knowingly and obstinately persist in their evil ways, judgment must be done. The psalmist adds image to image to strengthen the argument, and to set forth the more vividly the awful doom of the wicked. 1. Judgment, is required in the interests of humanity. In all good governments there are laws for the protection of society. If evil doers will not repent, they must be restrained. Their power to do injury must be stopped. 2. Besides, judgment is demanded in accordance with righteousness. There is nothing arbitrary in the procedure. Even evil must be dealt with fairly. 3. Judgment also is necessary for the vindication of Goers truth. There is a moral necessity why it should be "ill with the wicked." "God is not a man, that he should lie." But evil on itself shall back recoil, And mix no more with goodness, when at last. Gather'd like scum, and settled to itself, It shall be in eternal restless change, Self-fed and self-consumed; if this fail, The pillar'd firmament is rottenness, And earth's base built on stubble. (Milton.) W.F.
I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people. I. ITS THEME. Mercy and truth.1. The blessings which flow from them reach to all men. 2. They are worthy of the unreserved confidence of all men. II. THE SPIRIT OF ITS OFFERER. 1. Strong confidence in God. 2. Fervent gratitude and reverent admiration towards God. III. ITS ENTHUSIASM. Seen in his resolution to praise God — 1. With the noblest powers of his being. 2. With choice instrumental accompaniment. 3. With affectionate zeal. IV. ITS SPHERE. Universal. V. ITS IMPERFECTION (ver. 5). Our most reverent and most enthusiastic praise is inadequate to so sublime and glorious a theme. (Anon.). Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? Homilist. I. THE CHARACTER OF DEPRAVED MEN PORTRAYED.1. Unrighteous in judgment. 2. Wrong in heart. 3. Violent in the treatment of men. 4. Early in apostasy. 5. False in life. 6. Malignant in spirit. 7. Deceitful in heart. II. THE DESTRUCTION OF WICKED MEN INVOKED. 1. Their entire destruction. 2. Their quick destruction. III. THE SPIRIT OF RIGHTEOUS MEN MISREPRESENTED. The psalmist utters a calumny in representing them as delighting in blood. If righteous Noah had delighted in the sufferings of his enemies, would he have built an ark? No; righteous men are not men of vengeance, they are not men of blood. IV. THE VERDICT OF ALL MEN ANTICIPATED. "So that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous." 1. This is a testimony that often seems to be at variance with the providential government of the human race. 2. This is a testimony that every man sooner or later will be bound by his own conscience to render. Retribution is inevitable —(1) From the law of causation. We are to-day the result of our conduct yesterday, and the cause of our conduct to-morrow; and thus ever must we reap the works of our own hands.(2) From the law of conscience. The past works of our hands are not lost. Memory gathers up the fragments of our life; and conscience stings or smiles, according to their character.(3) From the law of righteousness. There is justice in the universe; and justice will ever punish the wicked and reward the good (Galatians 6:7). (Homilist.) I. THE THRONE OF INIQUITY (vers. 1-5). Perhaps the opening words ought to be as they are given in the margin of the Revised Version, "Is the righteousness ye should speak dumb?" The psalmist is accusing the administrators of justice of bribery. In the second verse, he describes them as weighing out violence in the scales in which justice ought to be weighed. That is, they observed all the solemn forms of justice, but had no regard for the interests of those who could not pay for their verdicts. In the East this has always been, and is at the present day, one of the leading features of an evil time. Justice cannot be procured; the well-doing man is harassed by his wicked neighbours, and has no redress. The effect of this condition of things on the general community is given in vers. 3-5. Society is poisoned in every department. Lying especially is everywhere rife, as it will always be where there is a corrupt administration of justice. Insensibility to the voices of reason and of the spirit is universal. Men are, he says, like the deaf adder, which stoppeth her ear and will not listen to the voice of the charmer, charm he ever so wisely. There have been epochs in history like this — when at the top of society there has been a corrupt court with a profligate aristocracy, and down through all ranks of the people the poison of falsehood and worldliness has been so diffused that there has been apparently no audience for any one speaking for God, and no career for any one wishing to be simple and true. On the small scale, such a situation often exists. The individual finds himself in a position where those above him are false, reckless and profligate; success seems to be obtainable only by lying and selfishness; and a tender conscience has no chance. II. THE THRONE OF GOD (vers. 6-9). What is to be done in such a situation? The natural thing is to conform, and this is what the majority in all ages do: being at Rome they act as Rome does. Indeed, without religious conviction it is difficult to see how any one can act otherwise, where sin is strong and tyrannical, occupying all the high places, speaking through the organs of public opinion, and exhibiting to the young hundreds of examples. But it is here the Bible helps us. The writer of this psalm, though surrounded by prosperous wickedness, saw, over against the throne of iniquity, another throne lofty and eternal. It was the throne of the living and righteous God. He fixed his eyes on it till his soul was filled with faith and strength; and then, when he turned his eyes to look again on the images of the evil world's power, their glory and stability had disappeared, and they looked fleeting and paltry. In a series of striking figures of speech he expresses his disdain of them. They are like toothless lions and fangless serpents (ver. 6); like a torrent which for a moment may seem to be a river, but immediately disappears in the sand (ver. 7); like an abortion; for their plans will come to nothing (ver. 8); they are cooking the flesh of their pleasure in a pot, but, before it is ready for eating, a whirlwind from the desert will carry the fire away (ver. 9). III. THE SPECTACLE OF JUSTICE (vers. 10, 11). Not only does the psalmist, inspired by the vision of the eternal throne, foresee that this must be the issue, but he earnestly pleads for it; and he does so on two grounds — that the righteous may obtain the reward of their righteousness, and that all men may see that there is a God that judgeth in the earth. The triumph of injustice can only be temporary. There is a day coming when all the unjust judgments both of corrupt tribunals and of unrighteous society will be reversed. Even now God asserts Himself and vindicates His own; and, when He does so, the instincts of every honest heart must rise up to welcome Him. (J. Stalker, D. D.) Agesilaus, indeed, in other respects was strictly and inflexibly just; but where a man's friends are concerned, he thought a rigid regard to justice a mere pretence. There is still extant a short letter of his to Hydreius the Carian, which is a proof of what we have said: "If Nicias is innocent, acquit him; if he is not innocent, acquit him on my account; however, be sure to acquit him."(Plutarch.) People David, Psalmist, SaulPlaces JerusalemTopics Al-taschith, Al-tashheth, Blamelessly, Chief, Choirmaster, Congregation, David, Decree, Destroy, Dumb, Equity, Gods, Gt, Indeed, Judge, Judges, Justly, Leader, Lt, Michtam, Miktam, Mouths, Music, Musician, Music-maker, O, Ones, Overseer, Poem, Psalm, Righteously, Righteousness, Rulers, Secret, Silence, Silent, Sons, Speak, Treasure, Tune, Upright, UprightlyOutline 1. David reproves wicked judges3. describes the nature of the wicked 6. devotes them to God's judgments 10. whereat the righteous shall rejoice Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 58:1 5346 injury Library Of Internal ActsOf Internal Acts Acts are distinguished into External and Internal. External acts are those which bear relation to some sensible object, and are either morally good or evil, merely according to the nature of the principle from which they proceed. I intend here to speak only of Internal acts, those energies of the soul, by which it turns internally to some objects, and averts from others. If during my application to God I should form a will to change the nature of my act, I thereby withdraw myself … Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Epistle vi. To Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari). Peaceable Principles and True: Or, a Brief Answer to Mr. D'Anver's and Mr. Paul's Books against My Confession of Faith, and Differences in Judgment About Baptism no Bar to Communion. Faith the Sole Saving Act. Augustin's Part in the Controversy. Moral Depravity. An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses. The Necessity of Actual Grace The Mystery The Justice of God The Wrath of God Psalms Links Psalm 58:1 NIVPsalm 58:1 NLT Psalm 58:1 ESV Psalm 58:1 NASB Psalm 58:1 KJV Psalm 58:1 Bible Apps Psalm 58:1 Parallel Psalm 58:1 Biblia Paralela Psalm 58:1 Chinese Bible Psalm 58:1 French Bible Psalm 58:1 German Bible Psalm 58:1 Commentaries Bible Hub |