Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 58: Surely, he is the Son of God

Psalm 58[1]

¹    Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?^[a] Do you judge people fairly?
²    No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;  your hands deal out violence on earth.
³    The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies.
⁴    They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
      like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
⁵     so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
⁶    O God, break the teeth in their mouths;       
      tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
⁷     Let them vanish like water that runs away;       
       like grass let them be trodden down^[b] and wither.
⁸     Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime;       
       like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
⁹    Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,      
      whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done;
      they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ People will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
      surely there is a God who judges on earth.’

Vengeful thoughts seethe through this psalm like the fumes of a forest fire reaching to the skies. This song’s writer has sought inspiration from nature and from the pangs of birth  -  timely and untimely -  to unfold feelings and passions which are fierce, if not downright violent. This is an uncomfortable psalm which may not normally find its place in communal worship (can you remember chanting this recently?). Yet it is truthful as a response to unjust dealings. And its underlying theology is straightforward – it is for the God of justice to take action against cruel, hateful and destructive people. But, this psalmist contends, it is also the right – even the reward – of the ‘righteous’ to witness the plummeting great fall of those termed 'wicked' when it happens. For such a fall, the psalmist suggests in verse11, will prompt people bear witness and say, ‘Surely it is God who judges the earth.’ 


This psalm’s use of the word ‘surely’ in verse 11 takes my thoughts to another powerful moment of testimony which uses that same word ‘surely’. It is when the centurion standing guard at the cross of Jesus says: ‘Surely, he was the Son of God’.[2] Bearing witness to an unjust death, the gospel writers leave these vital moments of truth-telling not to friends and followers of Jesus, or even his mother, but to a hardened meter-out of violence. It takes a man used to being an instrument of state vengeance(centurion), to see the true nature of Jesus, a man of non violence nor of vengeance for himself.



And, now another ‘surely’ verse from scripture comes to mind, that of the words of Isaiah the prophet:  ‘Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.’[3]

This psalm tells us that the poison of our experiences, the toxicity of the harm done to us by others who are like serpents, or with those whose words are as sharp as lion’s fangs – all this wrong and unjust suffering needs God’s action. For only in God’s righteous justice can the righteous ones, the victims of violence and oppression, then see their own reward and know that God is indeed sovereign.

Christianity holds that God chose to make this possible through the unjust suffering of Jesus on the cross – wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. Thus, our lust for vengeance needs to be measured against this most extraordinary sacrifice whose reward is offered freely to all ‘who sin and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3.23). The reward is a lifelong form of discipleship shaped by the Way of the Cross. And in following that path, we are invited to lose the desire to seek vengeance. Instead, part of the 'reward' would be to allow the broken body and blood of Jesus to continue its reconciling and wondrous work in us. 

There is a German word which has become common in usage in English:  Schadenfreude. The translation means something like ‘when another person's bad luck secretly makes you feel good’, that's Schadenfreude. This German word captures that satisfied feeling we might get when we witness (but don't instigate) someone else's justified misfortune. In German, Schadenfreude literally means "damage-joy," and it's always spelled with a capital S.  

Do you think this psalm promotes a ‘right’ or ‘reward’ for Schadenfreude? Or do you think that the Way of the Cross has no room for Schadenfreude?

Perhaps each one of us today needs something of that humble miracle of Jesus' sacrifice to jolt us out vengefulness (or a kind of enjoyment of Schadenfreude) and find ourselves transformed by Jesus - who calls us to pray for our enemies rather than find joy in their downfall. (There might be a warning here for all of us who are transfixed by the minor political intrigue of the fate of Dominic Cummins over his apparently errant trips to County Durham while suffering from Covid-19)

The death of Jesus is all the medicine we need to draw out our venom, heal our wounds and leads us into the way of peace. 

 

---

[1] New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Footnotes: Psalm 58:1 Or mighty lords; Psalm 58:7 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
[2] Matthew 27.54. Also Mark 15.39: ‘Surely, this man was the Son of God.’ Also Luke 23.47: ‘Surely, this was a righteous man.’ – all NIV New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

[3] Isaiah 53.4-6 New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.