Psalm 58 is another of David's Michtam Psalms, one
written to be engraved upon the mind and conscience. It was a Psalm to be
remembered with an important lesson. This psalm carries a footnote addressing
it to the chief Musician which indicated it is to be incorporated into the
repertoire of the temple choir. The songs we sing on Sunday or in times of
worship become a constant reminder throughout the rest of the week of the
subject and theme of the song.

Also, as in the previous two Psalms, it carries the
words, "Destroy not!" This could mean several things. It could be
saying, “Don’t destroy this Psalm as it has a very important prayer and message”.
It could also be saying, “Don’t destroy the righteous people of the land or let
them be destroyed by the wicked and unjust people.” Prophetically, it might be
a reminder that God will not destroy the Israelite nation as they are His covenant
people. With all these signals flashing we can be sure that this is an
important intersection as we journey through the psalms.

Psalm 58 is a psalm about injustice and about the
abuse of judicial power. It is impossible to say exactly when David wrote it. It
is possible that it was written during David's exile years when he was fleeing
from the wrath of a jealous King Saul. 
Remember Saul reigned for 40 years and during those years he led the
nation down a path of political and spiritual ruin as he disobeyed God's law
and opposed God's anointed king. Saul was surrounded by a group of fawning
flatterers who fed his ego and catered to his foolish whims (1 Sam. 22:6ff),
and he put into places of authority people who used their offices for personal
gain and not for the national good. They wanted to get as much as they could
before the kingdom collapsed.

They could be compared to the bureaucracy in our
country today. This is the non-elected governing officials, and administrative
policy-making group of people that obviously have their own agenda and who have
become corrupt and are running and ruining our beloved America behind the
scenes.

David himself had been treated illegally, and it's
likely that many of his men lost all they had because they followed David (1
Sam. 22:1-2). This psalm could also possibly have been written very early in
his reign in Hebron, and may have grown out of his pondering the mess he had
inherited from King Saul. And as David came to a full knowledge of just how
corrupt the administration of justice in Israel really was, with his passion
for justice, the stories of judicial arrogance, venality, and oppression that
filled his ears must have made his blood boil.

Some think David wrote this psalm during the Absalom
rebellion. Absalom had stolen the hearts of the men of Israel by pretending to
be far more concerned for their social welfare than David was and by promising
the people that, when he came to the throne, he would see to it that the wheels
of justice moved swiftly, smoothly, and sympathetically. All the time he was
devising the most monstrous crimes, many of which he executed during that brief
time when he sat upon the throne. Those crimes made his name so to stink in
Israel that all who passed his grave felt the urge to pick up a stone and hurl
it at his tomb.

One reason there is so much difficulty with the date
of Psalm 58 is because the subject matter deals with a perennial problem: the
unjust judges and corruption in the courts and in the government.  This is a theme that touches us today and
this Psalm might not tell us the when behind it, but it does describe the why
behind the injustices and how we can pray about it!

God bless!