Psalm 58 can be a confusing psalm for some, as it appears to glorify violence against an enemy, which would go against the Ten Commandments.
While it can be relatively easy to pray the psalms that talk about "green pastures" or that glorify God for his wonderful deeds, there are a handful of psalms that don't fit that mold.
There are some psalms that are actually quite violent, crying out to God for vengeance against an enemy.
How do you pray those psalms in a spiritual way?
Death to sin and spiritual enemies
It should be kept in mind that the psalms were not meant to be an historical retelling of events, nor were they designed to be a theological treatise. Often the psalms simply highlight the struggles of the human heart, as the Catechism further explains:
The Psalter’s many forms of prayer take shape both in the liturgy of the Temple and in the human heart. Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation or thanksgiving, whether individual or communal, whether royal chants, songs of pilgrimage or wisdom meditations, the Psalms are a mirror of God’s marvelous deeds in the history of his people, as well as reflections of the human experiences of the Psalmist. Though a given psalm may reflect an event of the past, it still possesses such direct simplicity that it can be prayed in truth by men of all times and conditions. (CCC 2588)
While David might have been struggling at the time with a real enemy at his doorstep, his desire for vengeance can be translated into a spiritual context, seeking death to sin and our spiritual enemies.
For example, often the psalms will mention Babylon, which is typically associated with Satan and evil in the Bible, as the book of Revelation points out, "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth" (Revelation 17:5)
With this in mind, Psalm 58 can be prayed in a much different way. Instead of praying for vengeance over an enemy in our everyday lives, we can turn that prayer towards Satan and the flow of temptations that we experience.
Psalm 58 may be confusing if we simply think about it at the human level, but when we see it in light of the spiritual world, and the battle we wage every day again the devil and sin, we can cry out to God for aid.
Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the sons of men uprightly?
Nay, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.The wicked go astray from the womb,
they err from their birth, speaking lies.
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
Let them vanish like water that runs away;
like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
Let them be like the snail which dissolves into slime,
like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
