The Terrible Swift Sword Text: Psalm 58:6-9
Introduction: Cursings That Are Blessings
We live in a sentimental age, an age that has mistaken niceness for virtue and has consequently rendered itself incapable of understanding righteousness. To the modern evangelical mind, which has been catechized more by the spirit of the age than by the Spirit of God, the imprecatory psalms are a profound embarrassment. They are the crazy aunt in the biblical attic. We know they are there, but we speak of them in hushed tones and hope no one asks about them.
But the Word of God is not something to be embarrassed about. It is inspired, all of it, and it is profitable, all of it. And these prayers for judgment, these holy curses, are not only profitable; they are essential. They are essential for understanding the holiness of God, the gravity of sin, the nature of justice, and the glorious triumph of the gospel. To refuse to pray these psalms is to refuse a weapon that God has placed in our hands. It is to declare that we are more merciful than God, more loving than the Holy Spirit who inspired these words.
Psalm 58 is a Miktam of David, a golden psalm. And it confronts us with the raw reality of entrenched, high-handed evil. The first part of the psalm describes wicked rulers who are constitutionally bent toward injustice. They are estranged from the womb, they speak lies, their venom is like a serpent's, and they are deaf to all correction. What do you do with men like that? What do you do when evil digs in, fortifies its position, and refuses to listen to reason, law, or grace? Our generation's answer is to form a committee, to start a dialogue, to seek a compromise. David's answer, inspired by the Spirit, is to ask God to shatter their teeth.
We must understand that these are not prayers of personal vindictiveness. This is not road rage in iambic pentameter. David is not praying this way because someone cut him off in traffic. He is praying as the Lord's anointed, as the representative of God's covenant people, against those who have set themselves against God and His kingdom. These are covenantal lawsuits. They are prayers for the public vindication of God's righteousness. And if we are in Christ, we are part of that same covenant, and we have a stake in that same vindication. To shy away from these prayers is to be neutral in a war where God has commanded us to fight.
The Text
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.
Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,
Like the miscarriages of a woman which never behold the sun.
Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the living and the burning alike.
(Psalm 58:6-9 LSB)
Disarmed and Defanged (v. 6)
The prayer begins with a startlingly graphic request.
"O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh." (Psalm 58:6)
This is not polite. It is not tame. But the evil it confronts is not polite or tame either. The wicked have been described as serpents, and here they are pictured as young, strong lions, full of predatory power. Their mouths are full of teeth and fangs, the instruments of their violence. Their words are weapons, their decrees are devourings. David's prayer is a plea for God to disarm them. To shatter their teeth is to render them powerless to tear and destroy.
This is a prayer for God to neutralize His enemies. It is a prayer that their ability to do harm would be utterly broken. When a politician uses his smooth tongue to legislate theft and murder, we should pray that God would shatter his teeth. When a false teacher uses his persuasive speech to devour the flock, we should pray that God would break out his fangs. This is not about wishing them ill for our own sake; it is about desiring the protection of God's people and the advancement of His righteousness. A lion with no teeth is still a lion, but it is no longer a threat. This prayer asks God to make the wicked harmless.
Notice the names for God used here. He begins with Elohim, the mighty Creator God, the God of sovereign power. Then he appeals to Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, the one who has promised to be with and for His people. This is a covenantal appeal. "You are the sovereign God with all power, and You are the covenant God who has promised to protect us. Therefore, act on our behalf against these covenant-breakers."
A Prayer for Dissolution (v. 7-8)
The psalmist continues with a series of vivid similes, praying for the complete and utter disappearance of the wicked.
"Let them flow away like water that runs off; When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts. Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along, Like the miscarriages of a woman which never behold the sun." (Psalm 58:7-8 LSB)
First, he prays that they would "flow away like water." This is an image of complete dissolution. Like a flash flood in the desert that comes with great fury and then vanishes into the sand, leaving no trace, so David prays for the wicked. He wants their power, their influence, their very presence to be gone. They seem so permanent, so powerful, but he asks God to make them utterly transient.
Second, he prays for their efforts to be futile. "When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts." An arrow without a head cannot pierce. It is useless. This is a prayer that all the plans, all the schemes, all the malicious attacks of the wicked would come to nothing. Let them spend their energy, draw their bow, and release the string, only to have their efforts be completely ineffectual. This is what Paul promises in a different context: God is able to make all grace abound to you. But He is also able to make all malice misfire.
Third, the imagery becomes even more graphic. "Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along." The ancient belief was that a snail left a trail of its own substance, dissolving as it moved. David prays that the very existence of the wicked would be self-consuming. Let their own wicked progress be the instrument of their undoing. Their path of slime is a path of self-destruction.
Finally, and most shockingly to our modern ears, "Like the miscarriages of a woman which never behold the sun." This is a prayer for their legacy to be completely erased. A stillborn child has no name, no memory, no future. It never sees the light of day. David is praying that the enterprises of the wicked would be stillborn. Let their plans come to nothing. Let their names be blotted out. Let their influence be as something that never was. This is the opposite of the blessed man in Psalm 1, whose leaf does not wither. Here, the prayer is that the entire tree of wickedness, root and branch, would be utterly and eternally forgotten.
Sudden, Swift Judgment (v. 9)
The final verse of our text describes the speed and totality of God's judgment.
"Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the living and the burning alike." (Psalm 58:9 LSB)
The imagery here is of a traveler in the desert stopping to make a quick meal. Thorns were used for fuel because they catch fire quickly and burn hot, but briefly. The picture is of a fire kindled that flashes up instantly. The point is the speed of it all. Before the pot on the fire can even get warm, before their plans can come to fruition, before they can even settle in to enjoy their ill-gotten gains, the whirlwind of God's judgment will come.
And what does the whirlwind do? It sweeps them away. This is not a gentle rain; it is a tornado of divine wrath. It is sudden, irresistible, and all-encompassing. And notice who it sweeps away: "the living and the burning alike." The "living" or "green" refers to the raw thorns, not yet caught fire. The "burning" refers to the thorns already aflame. The meaning is this: whether their wicked plans are just beginning (green) or are in full blaze (burning), God's judgment will sweep them all away in one sudden, catastrophic stroke. It doesn't matter what stage their rebellion is in. God's judgment is not a slow, deliberative process from our perspective. When He decides to act, it is sudden and final.
This is a terrifying prospect for the ungodly, but it is a profound comfort for the righteous. The people of God can feel besieged, watching the wicked kindle their fires and set their pots to boil, and it seems like their triumph is inevitable. This psalm reminds us that God holds the whirlwind in His hand. He can and will intervene, and when He does, it will be faster than a flash of thorns.
The Cross and the Curse
Now, the modern Christian squirms. How can we, who are told to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, pray such things? The answer is found at the cross. The cross is the ultimate imprecation. It is the place where all the curses of the law, all the divine wrath against sin, was gathered together and poured out on one head: the head of Jesus Christ.
On the cross, God shattered the teeth of the old serpent, Satan. He broke the fangs of that young lion who prowls around seeking whom he may devour. At the cross, the power of sin was made to flow away like water. The arrows of the evil one were made into headless shafts. The entire enterprise of rebellion against God was made a stillborn thing, never to see the light of ultimate victory.
When we pray these psalms, we are not praying outside of the work of Christ; we are praying in full accord with it. We are asking God to apply the victory of the cross to the enemies of the gospel in our own day. And how does God answer such a prayer? Sometimes, He answers by sweeping them away in judgment. But other times, gloriously, He answers by sweeping them into His kingdom. The greatest way for God to shatter an enemy's teeth is to give him a new heart that sings praises. The most profound way to break a lion's fangs is to turn him into a lamb.
Think of Saul of Tarsus. He was a young lion, breathing out threats and murder against the church. The early Christians were no doubt praying for God to deal with him. And how did God answer? With a whirlwind of light on the Damascus road. He swept Saul away, the living and the burning alike, and made him Paul the Apostle. The imprecation was answered with conversion.
Therefore, we can and should pray these psalms. We pray against the systems of wickedness, against the ideologies of rebellion, against all powers that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. We pray that God would disarm them, frustrate their plans, and bring their kingdoms to nothing. And we pray that God, in His mercy, would do this by conquering them with His grace. We pray, "O Lord, shatter their teeth, and if it be Your will, do it by giving them a new set of teeth that will chew on the bread of life." We pray for the whirlwind of judgment, knowing that for some, it will be the whirlwind of His Spirit, sweeping them out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His beloved Son.