The last few Psalms have been full of vengeance, haven’t they? We rarely hear them as they are so vengeful and with difficult language. However, no one is perfect and we all get angry, look at things from the wrong perspective or blame others. These types of Psalms are known as laments and they show us that it is alright to cry out to God!
In my own life, I have been having a period of reflection on what to do after curacy. I got very angry with God in one of my recent prayer sessions, as I have been on the path from discernment to ordination to priesthood now for 14 years. “Come on,” I cried out, ” it’s long enough, give me a clue, will you, on the path where my ministry should go?!” Funnily enough, in the evening after that prayer, I picked up a book at the page which had the “Pioneers’ Prayer” on it, and certainly, pioneer ministry is something which I do feel increasingly called to. My virtual ministry is venturing into new areas and I feel it’s a unique “pioneering” ministry which perhaps I should fully focus on. I hope some of my followers agree, too.
But back to Psalm 58. This is undoubtedly a very difficult Psalm. The writer cries out about the wicked who “have venom like a serpent” (v4), who have “fangs like young lions” and that God should “break the teeth in their mouths” (verse 6).
Even though we do get angry, especially when we look at the innumerable injustices in our society and, indeed, injustice against our planet, which cannot speak for itself, we do have to keep tempering our emotions. We should continually remind ourselves that the greatest commandment of all is to “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Most of the problems of the world would not exist if we lived by this advice.