The boy, 13, lies in his hospital bed, recovering from injuries sustained in a terrible car accident. The car had lost control and slammed into a tree. It is now a write-off. He is lucky to be alive.

Yet he is no victim. He had stolen the car. He was the one driving it. And though badly injured, he had managed to escape the wreckage, take out his phone and record a video of his exploits. He now posts that video to social media from his hospital bed with no sense of remorse. His feed testifies to the fact that he is a repeat offender.

Psalm 58 paints a bleak picture of a godless world. It is a world ruled by people with no moral compass. They have no regard for others. They care only for themself. And yet, in doing so, they inflict mortal damage on themselves.

In the world of Psalm 58, the power-hungry don’t merely tolerate injustice and inequitable judgement; they deliberately endorse it for their own gain. Any humane instinct inclined to fairness is defied for the sake of self-promotion. It is a violent and unsafe world.

If he continues on, the 13-year-old boy who boasts of his recklessness will have no future. Do we not long for that to be subdued? Do we not long for him to be reformed, reshaped, and recreated, not only for his own sake but also for the sake of the community around him? Should we not yearn for evil to be suppressed?

Psalm 58 does. It exposes evil and shows there is no future for it. God will bring it to an end. We know this to be true in Christ, for ourselves and others. Evil is either dealt with now on the cross of Christ’s judgement, or it will be dealt with later on the day of Christ’s judgement.

On that day, God’s goodness will vindicate the righteous. Those who are faithful and obedient to his word of promise in Jesus will stand as a witness to God’s impeccable goodness. It is the foundation of who we are and what we do now. But it is also the bedrock of where we are heading. It is our hope. It is the world’s hope.