“The wicked go astray from birth; They are wayward, liars from the time they are born.” (Psalm 58:3)

Maybe the psalmist was having a bad day.

“Their venom is like the venom of serpents; They are deaf like the cobra that stops up its ear. It will not listen to the voice of charmers, No matter how skillful their spells. (v 4-5)

Whoa.

O God, knock the teeth out of their mouth! Break the jaws of these lions, O Jehovah! (v 6)

Whoa.

“May they disappear like waters that drain away.” (v 7)

Why does that time-old question arise in my mind, completely unbidden: Do waters swirl down the drain in opposite directions as you cross hemispheres? The answer is easily found but then you always forget.

“May they be like a snail that melts away as it moves along.” (v 8 )

The sun does a number on that slimy thing.

“Like a woman’s stillborn child who never sees the sun.” (v 8 )

Whoa.

“The righteous one will rejoice because he has seen the vengeance; His feet will be drenched with the blood of the wicked. Then men will say: ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous. There is indeed a God who judges in the earth.’” (v 10-11)

It’s probably good not to cross this One.

***  The bookstore