Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley, [1754-65], at sacred-texts.com
Psalms 58:1
psa 58:1
O congregation - The word seems to point at Saul's judges and counsellors; who met together to consult what they should do against David. Sons of men - So he calls them; to mind them that they were men, and must give an account to God for all their hard speeches.
Psalms 58:2
psa 58:2
Heart - With free choice and consent. Hands - He intimates that they did great wrong under the pretence of justice, and while they seemed exactly to weigh the true proportion between the actions and the recompenses allotted to them, they turned the scale; and pronounced an unjust sentence. Land - Or, in this land, where God is present, and where you have righteous laws to govern you.
Psalms 58:3
psa 58:3
Estranged - From God, and from all goodness. Their very natures are corrupt, even from their birth: they are the wicked offspring of sinful parents. Astray - By actual sins, from their childhood, as soon as ever they were capable of the exercise of reason.
Psalms 58:4
psa 58:4
Poison - Their malicious disposition.
Psalms 58:5
psa 58:5
Not hearken - As they commonly say of the adders, such really are these men: deaf to all my counsels, to their own consciences, and to God's law. Of the charming or enchanting of serpents, mention is made both in other places of scripture, and in all sorts of authors, ancient and modern, Hebrew and Arabick, and Greek and Latin. And particularly the Arabick writers (to whom these creatures were best known) name some sorts of serpents, among which the adder is one, which they call deaf, not because they are dull of hearing, but, as one of them expressly faith, because they will not be charmed.
Psalms 58:6
psa 58:6
Their teeth - Their powerful instruments of doing mischief.
Psalms 58:7
psa 58:7
Melt away - As waters arising from melted snow, which at first run with great force, but are suddenly gone.
Psalms 58:8
psa 58:8
Melteth - Which is quickly dissolved.
Psalms 58:9
psa 58:9
Before - Before your pots can be heated. Take them - Violently and irresistibly. Living - Alive, as he did Korah.
Psalms 58:10
psa 58:10
Rejoice - For the blessed effects of it; the vindication of God's honour, and the deliverance of himself and of all good men. Wash - There shall be so great a slaughter of his enemies that he might, if he pleased, wash his feet in their blood.