Psalm 58

 

Psalm 58
by Richard Lawry

How can silence wear the crown of truth

How can quiet lips pass judgment right

You weigh the world with hidden scales

While in your heart you plot the night

Your hands move out across the land

And leave behind a trail of wrong

You call it justice with your voice

But violence hums beneath your song

The wicked wander from their first breath

Lost before they learn to stand

They cradle lies like native speech

Falsehood formed in heart and hand

Their words drip sharp like serpent's venom

Cold and coiled prepared to strike

A deafened snake that will not hear

The charm of truth or mercy's cry

O God, break the teeth of their power

Tear the fangs from lions young

Let their rage run off like water

Let their arrows come undone

Let their schemes dissolve and wither

Before their fires can even start

Sweep them like a storm of justice

From the land and from the heart

Let them fade like trails that vanish

Like a snail that dries in sun

Like a life that never opened

Eyes to see what might have come

Before their thorns ignite the fire

Before their pots can feel the flame

Whether green or blazing fierce

Let wrath erase their fleeting name

Then the righteous stand and witness

Justice rising fierce and clear

Feet washed in the fall of evil

Truth made visible and near

O God, break the teeth of their power

Tear the fangs from lions young

Let their rage run off like water

Let their arrows come undone

And the people all will answer

As your justice fills the earth

Surely goodness is remembered

Surely righteousness has worth

You can listen to the song as recorded by Faded Chrome at this link

You can listen to the song as reimagined as a hard rock song by The Junkyard Misfits at this link