1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
2 No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Free Grace note
Sin that runs from the womb The wicked go astray from the womb: they are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. David is describing corrupt judges, but the line reaches wider than a few bad rulers. It names how deep the bent toward sin runs in every human heart, not only in the worst criminals but in all of us apart from grace. Paul gathers up verses like this to conclude that there is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). This is sobering, but it is also freeing. If sin is this deep, then no one climbs out by trying harder, and salvation must be a gift rather than a wage. That is exactly the good news: God credits righteousness to the one who simply believes him, as he did for Abram (Genesis 15:6), quite apart from our record.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake; like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be.
6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
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 shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
Free Grace note
Leaving vengeance to the only fair Judge So that men shall say, Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous: most certainly there is a God who judges the earth. These imprecatory prayers, asking God to break the teeth of the wicked, can jar a tender conscience. But notice what David is actually doing: he is handing the whole matter to God rather than taking revenge himself. That is the very posture the New Testament commends, leave room for God's wrath, for vengeance belongs to him (Romans 12:19). Longing for justice is not the same as bitterness. Bitterness grabs the sword; faith lays the case before the only Judge who sees every heart and never gets it wrong. The psalm ends not in cruelty but in confidence that God will set the whole world right.
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