Big Idea: As one thinks in one’s heart, so one does, and that explains many of the tragedies of history.

Understanding the Text

Psalm 58 is usually identified as a community lament, although Gerstenberger is probably more accurate when he says it is “neither complaint nor thanksgiving nor hymn” but closer to the prophetic invective against the ruling classes.1

Except for the historical note in the title of Psalm 57, the terms of the title of Psalm 58 are the same. Further, the two psalms share the metaphor of the “teeth” of lions to describe the wicked, warranting Wilcock’s comment that they are sung to the same tune,2both musically (title) and theologically (57:4; 58:6).

Psalms 58 and 82 share similar contents in that they both issue a moral and social challenge to those who judge o…