Psalm 58: Say “Uncle”

Read Psalm 58:1-11

Say “Uncle”

Then men will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
(Psalm 58:11)

Read this psalm and I think you’ll agree with me that for the most part, it’s not too cheery. I doubt that you will come away from it feeling uplifted and ready to take on the day. It’s just not that kind of psalm. But still, it’s God’s Word, and therefore must have something that the Holy Spirit wants to use to encourage and enlighten us.

When you think about it, we can identify with what David is feeling. He is pouring out his frustration before God with the wicked who are in positions of power. And much like today, the manipulation, lying, cheating, and downright wickedness of ungodly rulers who use their power to abuse the righteous and frustrate their righteous intentions has caused David to get good and angry. So in this prayer, righteous indignation flies off his lips in the most descriptive language as he calls on Almighty God to so crush the wicked that they become a very public cautionary lesson on what ultimately will happen to those who oppose God and abuse his people.

The psalm ends with David not only praying for an abrupt and horrible end to the wicked, but prophetically declaring that those who witness that end will literally be compelled to acknowledge that God is indeed the righteous judge of the earth who avenges his people.

That isn’t just a pipe dream, by the way. It will happen some day. The world will one day have to acknowledge, albeit reluctantly, that God is the righteous judge and that he has vindicated his people. Fast-forward to the end of God’s book, the Bible, to Revelation 3:9, and to the end of the present age, where the Apostle John records these words from the exalted Christ’s very own lips:

“I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.”

Sometimes it looks as if evil has gotten away with it—but there is a day coming when God will be vindicated, and Jesus will be acknowledged as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and you will be recognized by this evil world and the one God has loved. One day, perhaps soon, maybe later, finally the wicked will be forced to say “uncle!”

So hang in there—that day is going to be spectacularly great!

“When the author walks on the stage the play is over. God is going to
invade, all right…something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible
to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it
will be God without disguise…it will be too late then to choose
your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down
when it has become impossible to stand up.”
—C.S. Lewis