Ps. 73.8-9 (the realm of the demonic)

They scoff / and speak / with malice
in their arrogance / they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths / in the heavens
while their tongues / strut on earth. 

We have moved from the ‘clothing of the wicked’ to their ‘unlimited heart’ and now, in a concluding description, we have arrived at their speech. Speech is the mode of evil in the psalms par excellance. To end here is to end at the height of their rebellion. The first verse (vs. 18) identifies that their speech is one of ‘malice’ and ‘oppression’. The wicked are, corporately, engaged in the ex-pressing of destruction. This is something we perhaps overlooked in our previous reflection. There, it was “pride”, “violence” and “conceit”. We remarked in one of our opening reflections on the fact that the wicked’s ‘goods’ or ‘prosperity’ are the goods of vanity. Because they are not given by Yhwh, they are not given in safety and perpetuity. For that reason they suffer from the natural violence and decay inherent in the realm of creation apart from God. In order, therefore, for the goods to become ‘perpetual’ apart from God they must be violently obtained and violently retained. This is why the foundation of the wicked’s near divine status is this wicked ‘malice’, ‘oppression’ and ‘violence’. This is the ‘shape’ of their presence. They wear it without shame, as their power is encased in this preservation of goods. Without God the perpetuity of goods can only be obtained through the destruction of others. Which is why, now, their ‘speech’ partakes of this necessity. The concluding verse shifts the focus away from how their speech is aimed at others and, rather, describes it ‘in itself’. Their speech adheres to the scope of their monstrous presence: it fills heaven and earth. This a terribly disturbing picture, particularly the ‘mouths in heaven’. For what we see here is the fact that their speech has come to inhabit that realm where God’s will is perfect. This has already been alluded to when the psalmist said the wicked were not like mortals or humans in their lack of suffering. Now, not only is their presence in life (the lack of suffering) an emblem of the divine, but so too is the expression of their hearts (their speech). This is the realm of the demonic. The power of their speech, as it seems to operate not only free from consequence but to actually accomplish what it says, is not merely human speech. More to the point—it is entirely unified in its scope (their evil brings together ‘heaven and earth’). Like divine speech, it is what it says; it accomplishes what it speaks. And, what it speaks is, unlike the creative word of God, “malice”, “scoffing” and “oppression”. These men’s speech effect a tremendous and horrifying power. It is no surprise that they become an almost irresistible idol in the following verses.