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Discover the Arts! Each day a different image from the Literary, Performing, or Visual Arts representing a portion of Scripture
plus an explanation with links

2015 March 31



The Troll Who Can Smell Christian Blood (1895-1896)
Niels Hansen Jacobsen (1861-1941)
Proto-Expressionism Style
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark
Image Source: Web Gallery of Art


     Explanation: In Psalm 58 David describes the wickedness of the wicked and foretells their pending judgment and the deliverance of the righteous. The occasion for the Psalm is unknown; but the two most troublesome times in David's life came at the hands of Saul and of Absalom. The wicked in this Psalm, like the troll in the sculpture above, are fully intent on doing evil.

          [ THEMATICALLY AND CHRONOLOGICALLY RELATED SCRIPTURES: 1 Samuel 19-31. 2 Samuel 15-18. IMPRECATORY PSALMS: Psalm 5. Psalm 10. Psalm 17. Psalm 35. Psalm 58. Psalm 59. Psalm 69. Psalm 70. Psalm 79. Psalm 83. Psalm 109. Psalm 129. Psalm 137. Psalm 140. ]

          [ CHRONOLOGY: GENERAL. Patriarchs (Traditional). Judges # 1. Judges # 2. Kings # 1. Kings # 2. Prophets # 1. Prophets # 2. NT # 1. NT # 2. NT # 3. ]

          [ MAPS: Maps # 1. Maps # 2. Maps # 3. Maps # 4. Maps # 5. ]

          [ COMMENTARIES, ETC: GENERAL: Bible Study Tools; Bible Hub: Study Light; Blue Letter Bible // PSALMS: Monergism: Precept Austin: The Treasury of David; John Gill; John Calvin - Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

          [ MUSIC: GENERAL: The Cyber Hymnal // PSALMS: Genevan Psalter (Instrumental). VARIOUS ARTISTS: Psalm 58 - #1. Psalm 58 - #2. Psalm 58 - #3. Psalm 58 - #4. Psalm 58 - #5. ]

     David accuses his persecutors of pretending to be righteous and pretending to judge uprightly; but wickedness is in their heart; and violence is in their hands (1-2). The wicked go astray from the womb, speaking lies. Their lips are full of poison; they are deaf to wholesome persuasions (3-5). So David asks God to break their teeth, to make them flow away like water, to cut them in pieces with his arrows, to let them melt like a snail, and to let them be stillborn in their evil (6-8). Then, addressing the wicked, David tells them that they will be taken away as with a whirlwind "before their pots can feel the thorns" -- i.e., before a thorn-fed fire can be lit under their pots to prepare a meal. And the righteous will rejoice when they see God's vengeance upon them. The righteous will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will acknowledge that there is a reward for the righteous and that there is a God who judges in the earth (9-11).


THE PSALTER:

BOOK TWO OF FIVE:

Psalms 42-72.


Psalm 58

1 To the chief Musician, [Transposed To Psalm 57 ]*


Altaschith, Michtam of David.


Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?
do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness;
ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb:
they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:
they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charming never so wisely.

6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth:
break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually:
when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away:
like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the thorns,
he shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
both living, and in his wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:
he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous:
verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.


1 To the chief Musician, [Transposed From Psalm 59:1] *


* NOTE: On Opening and Closing Comments in the Psalms.
[Some commentators take the Psalm in Habakkuk 3 to be a standard model for the Psalms.
Habakkuk's Psalm begins with the name of the composer (Habakkuk) and a musical notation ("upon Shigionoth").
It closes with a dedication or a "send to" notice ("To the chief singer on my stringed instruments").
I have arranged similar material, where it is found in the Psalter, in accord with the model in Habakkuk.]




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