Sunday Sermonette: Right to life?

The RSV labels Psalm 58 "A prayer for vengeance." Since that is an addition by modern translators, I don't include it here, but at least they're frank about it. There's no indication of what, specifically, has provoked this fantasy of gory torture and murder, but the writer (not actually David) was really pissed about something. 

Note that according to the Bible, the literal, inerrant word of God, God wants the unborn babies of the unrighteous to be aborted (verse 8). I'm not sure what the "pots" are in verse 9, and I can't find an explanation. Note in verse 1 that there are multiple Gods. Evidently the ones who are not Yahweh are responsible for evil and violence, although as we have seen Yahweh is actually responsible for more than his share. An irony is the name of the tune to which this is set, Do Not Destroy, since obviously it calls for destruction.

Psalm 59 is yet another which is attributed to the civil war between Saul and David -- here an incident in 1 Samuel 19 -- although it has no specific relevant content other than the idea that men are stalking the singer. The actual incident is as follows:

⁹ Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing the lyre. ¹⁰ And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled, and escaped. ¹¹ That night Saul^[a] sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal let David down through the window; and he fled away and escaped.

He ran off and joined up with Samuel. So the text in verses 6 et seq makes no sense:

⁶ Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
⁷ There they are, bellowing with their mouths,
    and snarling with^[a] their lips—
    for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

David was only there for one night.

 

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.

58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?^[a]
    Do you judge the sons of men uprightly?
² Nay, 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 and wither.^[b]
8 Let them be like the snail which 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 he sees the vengeance;
    he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Footnotes

1. Psalm 58:1 Or mighty lords
2. Psalm 58:7 Cn: Heb uncertain

o the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God,
    protect me from those who rise up against me,
² deliver me from those who work evil,
    and save me from bloodthirsty men.

³ For lo, they lie in wait for my life;
    fierce men band themselves against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
⁴     for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

Rouse thyself, come to my help, and see!
⁵     Thou, Lord God of hosts, art God of Israel.
Awake to punish all the nations;
    spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.Selah

⁶ Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
⁷ There they are, bellowing with their mouths,
    and snarling with^[a] their lips—
    for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

⁸ But thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them;
    thou dost hold all the nations in derision.
⁹ O my Strength, I will sing praises to thee;^[b]
    for thou, O God, art my fortress.
¹⁰ My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
    my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

¹¹ Slay them not, lest my people forget;
    make them totter by thy power, and bring them down,
    O Lord, our shield!
¹² For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
    let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies which they utter,
¹³     consume them in wrath,
    consume them till they are no more,
that men may know that God rules over Jacob
    to the ends of the earth.Selah

¹⁴ Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
¹⁵ They roam about for food,
    and growl if they do not get their fill.

¹⁶ But I will sing of thy might;
    I will sing aloud of thy steadfast love in the morning.
For thou hast been to me a fortress
    and a refuge in the day of my distress.
¹⁷ O my Strength, I will sing praises to thee,
    for thou, O God, art my fortress,
    the God who shows me steadfast love.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 59:7 Cn: Heb swords in
2. Psalm 59:9 Syr: Heb I will watch for thee