Psalms 58:2

2 Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil, behind closed doors you make deals with demons.

Psalms 58:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 58:2

Yea, in heart ye work wickedness
So far were they from speaking righteousness, and judging uprightly. The heart of man is wickedness itself; it is desperately wicked, and is the shop in which all wickedness is wrought; for sinful acts are committed there as well as by the tongue and hand, as follows. This phrase also denotes their sinning; not with precipitancy, and through surprise; but with premeditation and deliberation; and their doing it heartily, with good will, and with allowance, and their continuance and constant persisting in it;

ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth;
they were guilty of acts of violence and oppression, which, of all men, judges should not be guilty of; whose business it is to plead the cause of the injured and oppressed, to right their wrongs, and to protect and defend them: these they pretended to weigh in the balance of justice and equity, and committed them under a show of righteousness; they decreed unrighteous decrees, and framed mischief by a law; and this they did openly, and everywhere, throughout the whole land.

Psalms 58:2 In-Context

1 Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house?
2 Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil, behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
3 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle; their first words out of the womb are lies.
4 Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison, drips from their forked tongues -
5 Deaf to threats, deaf to charm, decades of wax built up in their ears.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.