#738 Deaf Cobra

Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.


3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.


6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.


9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who judges in the earth.” Psalm 58 NKJV

Another psalm of David, a michtam, which is described as gold or in the Septuagint, an inscription. I am still not entirely certain of his use of the word in the title.

You silent ones - Some interpretations have this as judges, rulers or gods, those sons of men that are in positions of authority over others. There is also a sense of injustice often found in our silence, that we know a thing to be wrong, but it is "just business, politics." If you refuse to speak up, sit idly by, as others suffer and are mistreated, then you have not used your position justly. If I have the kings ear but am unwilling to say to him what is right, then I have not done my job well. The sad excuse for most of us, is that the king is not bothering me, it is not my problem, look what I stand to lose, besides, our integrity is already gone or redefined, only problem is God has not changed.

In your heart you work wickedness - Whatever God has said to Saul about losing his throne, that He has anointed David, Saul has made David out to be a traitor and these men go along. The thought does not have to originate with us, it may be someone else who plants the seed, "hath God said?" We take that thought and work it in our hearts, rather than repent or rebuke it, we try to make it fit. After all, we say, Saul is the king, the authority and so David is placed in our hearts in the wrong, as a usurper, yet Saul has tried to kill his servant, has chased him and David has chosen to do him no harm. 

David said they weigh out the violence against others; with careful thought and deliberation they gave it out. “As righteous judges ponder the law, balance the evidence, and weigh the case, so the malicious dispense injustice with malice aforethought in cold blood.” (Spurgeon)

Estranged from the womb - We are born strangers to God, to His holiness we are numb and unaware. This is the doctrine of original sin.

Speaking lies - No one need teach us this craft, it is deep within our nature, so much so that men walk around priding themselves on their honesty, yet this is the lie they have even told themselves.

“To be untruthful is one of the surest proofs of a fallen state, and since falsehood is universal, so also is human depravity.” (Spurgeon)

Like the deaf cobra - Though you play to me, talk to me, feed me, yet I bite your hand. All the reason and logic aimed towards my ears is unheard, I am deaf, and so my ears are not connected to my heart. Because of the position of these men, their titles, their words are like venom, causing much harm and convincing others to follow in this pursuit. 

Break their teeth - If they will not repent, use the mouth that You made to do good, righteousness and sound judgment, then take away from them what they use for evil. 

Like a still born child - It would have been better for them not to be born than to live out full lives in this age, ever in defiance of the right of God. Oh God, it is an overwhelming thought, a terrible horror, an empty book, with no words upon it's pages, to breach into eternity still waving my fist that it does not exist, that I may assume upon the lies I believed, that there will be no reckoning. Why can't it be the light thing I esteemed it to be? "You must be born again."

When he sees the vengeance - Men demand justice here, yet are unjust, when God warns man that He is justice, holiness and wrath, that He is, as in the flood of Noah's time, forever opposed to sin, they laugh and refuse to leave Sodom. They look upon God's willingness to provide a substitute for their sin, and they make it a light thing. He does not meet their high standard, too humble, too lowly, and look, "cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree."

“If it is right in God to destroy, it cannot be wrong in His servants to rejoice that He does. Only they have to take heed that their emotion is untarnished by selfish gratulation, and is not untinged with solemn pity for those who were indeed doers of evil, but were themselves the greatest sufferers from their evil.” (Maclaren)

13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God. 14The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses. 15And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty.…Revelation 19: 13-15