Deliver my soul, Yahweh, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
Parallel Translations
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Deliver my soul, Yahweh, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
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Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
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O LORD, deliver my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Psalms 120:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 140:1-3 Deliver me, Yahweh, from the evil man. Preserve me from the violent man: those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips.
- Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who do the truth are his delight.
- Psalms 52:2-4 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue.
- Psalms 109:1-2 God of my praise, don’t remain silent, for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.
- Psalms 35:11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
- Matthew 26:59-62 Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward, and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’ ” The high priest stood up, and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2. O Jehovah! deliver my soul from the lip…
2. O Jehovah! deliver my soul from the lip of falsehood. David now points out the kind of his affliction, declaring that he was loaded with false accusations. In charging his enemies with lying and falsehood, he asserts his own innocence of the crimes which they slanderously imputed to him. His complaint therefore amounts to this, that as he was conscious of having committed no fault, he was assaulted by the wicked contrary to all law, human and divine, and that they brought him into hatred without his having given them any occasion for such injurious treatment. Deceitful tongues assault good and simple people in two ways’ they either circumvent them by wiles and snares, or wound their reputation by calumnies. It is of the second way that the Prophet here complains. Now if David, who was endued with such eminent virtue, and free from every mark of disgrace, and far removed from every wicked action, was yet assailed with contumely, is it to be wondered at if the children of God in the present day labor under false accusations, and that when they have endeavored to conduct themselves uprightly they are yet in reported of? As they have the devil for their enemy, it is indeed impossible for them to escape being loaded with his lies. Yea, we see that slanderous tongues did not spare even the Son of God — a consideration which should induce us to bear the more patiently our condition, when the wicked traduce us undeservedly; since it is certain that we have here described the common lot of the whole Church.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying…
Psa 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, [and] from a deceitful tongue.
Ver. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips] This was David’s distress, and it lay heavy upon his spirit; so it did upon Job’s, and Jeremiah’s, Jer 20:10; the scourge of tongues he felt as sharp as scorpions. Of the mischief of an evil tongue see Jas 3:1-9 Psa 52:2-4 Psa 12:3. {See Trapp on "Psa 12:3"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain From lying lips; from the unjust censures and malicious…
From lying lips; from the unjust censures and malicious slanders of mine enemies, who traduce me as an egregious hypocrite, as a rebel and traitor.
From a deceitful tongue; which covereth mischievous designs with pretences of kindness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and…
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. Not from such lips, and such a tongue of his own, which David abhorred; though every good man desires to be kept from speaking lies and deceit; nor from the company of those who have such lips and tongues, which he was determined should not dwell with him; but from the malignity of them, from being hurt in his character and reputation by them; God can restrain them, and prevent the ill influence of them when he pleases, Psa 31:20. Such were the lips and tongues of Doeg the Edomite, Psa 52:2, and of Saul's courtiers, who insinuated to him that David sought his hurt, Sa1 24:9; and of the Scribes and Pharisees, that flattered Christ to his face, and reproached him to the people; and of Judas, that betrayed him with "Hail, master", Mat 26:49; and of the false witnesses suborned against him; and of false teachers, deceitful workers, that lie in wait to deceive, and, by their good words and fair speeches, do deceive the hearts of the simple; and of antichrist and his followers, who, as they are given up to believe a lie, speak lies in hypocrisy; and of Satan the father of lies, and who is the old serpent, the devil, that deceives the whole world: and to be delivered from the bad effects of such lips and tongues is very desirable.
; and of the false witnesses suborned against him; and of false teachers, deceitful workers, that lie in wait to deceive, and, by their good words and fair speeches, do deceive the hearts of the simple; and of antichrist and his followers, who, as they are given up to believe a lie, speak lies in hypocrisy; and of Satan the father of lies, and who is the old serpent, the devil, that deceives the whole world: and to be delivered from the bad effects of such lips and tongues is very desirable.
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Psalms 120:3
psa 120:3
psa 120:3
psa 120:3What shall be given unto thee?.... Or, "what shall it give unto thee?" (s) That is, what shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, O my soul? or to thee, to anyone that hears and reads this psalm? It is capable of giving thee a deal of trouble, of doing thee a deal of mischief; and of injuring thy character, and hurting thy peace and comfort, if permitted;
or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? or, "what shall the false tongue add unto thee?" (t) it shall increase thy sorrows and distress: or rather, what gain, profit, and advantage, shall the deceitful tongue get to itself by its lies and deceit? none at all; it may do harm to others, but gets no good to itself; see Isa 28:15; Or, "what shall he (God) give unto thee?" (u) or, "what shall he add unto thee, thou false tongue?" so Jarchi. What punishment will not he inflict upon thee, who hates lying lips? what plagues will not he add unto thee, who knows all the deceit that is in thee, and spoken by thee? The answer is as follows:
(s) "quid dabit tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Gejerus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (t) "et quid addet tibi", Montanus, Castalio; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. (u) "Quid inferat tibi (Deus) aut quem rem adhibeat tibi, O lingua dolosa?" Tigurine version.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.]…
Verse 2. Lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.] From a people without faith, without truth, without religion; who sought by lies and calumnies to destroy them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 120:2-4. Deliver my soul from lying lips —…
Psa 120:2-4. Deliver my soul from lying lips — From the unjust censures and malicious slanders of mine enemies; and from a deceitful tongue — Which covers mischievous designs under pretences of kindness. What shall be given unto thee — By the righteous Judge of heaven and earth; thou false tongue — O thou false accuser, or slanderer, or whosoever thou art, that art guilty of any such like practices? Sharp arrows of the mighty —
The wrath and vengeance of the almighty God, which in Scripture, and particularly in this book, is often compared to arrows, as Psa 7:13-14, &c., and here to arrows of the mighty, that is, arrows shot by the hands of a strong man; and to coals, Psa 140:10, and here to coals of juniper, which burn very fiercely, and retain their heat for a long time. And the psalmist may possibly express himself in these words, to show the suitableness of the punishment to the sin. As if he had said, As thy tongue shoots arrows, (as calumnies are often called,) and kindles coals, so thou shalt bring God’s arrows and coals, kindled by the fire of his wrath, upon thyself.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Deliver my soul, O Lord - My soul is…
Deliver my soul, O Lord - My soul is harassed and distressed. Perhaps the meaning also may be, My life is in danger. Or, if it refers to the soul as such, then it means that everything pertaining to his soul was deeply affected by the course which was pursued. He was maligned, slandered, misrepresented, deceived, and he had no comfort or peace.
From lying lips - False, deceitful, slanderous. Compare the notes at Psa 31:18.
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And from a deceitful tongue - From a tongue whose statements cannot be relied on; whose words are deceptive; whose promises are false. David was often called to experience troubles of this sort; and this is a kind of trial which may come upon anyone in a form which he can no more anticipate or prevent than he can the coming of a “mist from the ocean.” No man can certainly guard against the influence of falsehood; no man can be sure that all that will be said to him is true; no man can be certain that all the promises made to him - save those made to him by God - will be performed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Lying lips… deceitful tongue—The source of his present…
2. Lying lips… deceitful tongue—The source of his present trouble, and more terrible than weapons of war.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. Cp. Psa_52:1-4; Mic_6:12.
2. Cp. Psa_52:1-4; Mic_6:12.
2–4. The earnestness of the prayer and the severity of the condemnation point to a person or a party, fomenting feud and strife in the community by calumny and false accusations, and resolutely refusing all attempts to promote harmony.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Deliver . . .—This is the cry for…
(2) Deliver . . .—This is the cry for help of which mention has just been made. The thought is one we have met frequently. Of all the elements of bitterness which made up the lot of Israel under foreign dominion, taunts and calumnies seem to have made the deepest wound, and left the most lasting scar. This was “the torture prolonged from age to age,” under which we hear psalmist after psalmist raising his cry for deliverance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips. Such…
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips. Such as Sanballat"s. (Neh_6:6-8) And from a deceitful tongue; literally, a tongue that is fraud a mere variant of the expression in the preceding clause.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying…
Ver. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips. It will need divine power to save a man from these deadly instruments. Lips are soft: but when they are lying lips they suck away the life of character and are as murderous as razors. Lips should never be red with the blood of honest men's reputes, nor salved with malicious falsehoods. David says, "Deliver my soul": the soul, the life of the man, is endangered by lying lips; cobras are not more venomous, nor devils themselves more pitiless. Some seem to lie for lying sake, it is their sport and spirit: their lips deserve to be kissed with a hot iron; but it is not for the friends of Jesus to render to men according to their deserts. Oh for a dumb generation rather than a lying one! The faculty of speech becomes a curse when it is degraded into a mean weapon for smiting men behind their backs. We need to be delivered from slander by the Lord's restraint upon wicked tongues, or else to be delivered out of it by having our good name cleared from the liar's calumny.
And from a deceitful tongue This is rather worse than downright falsehood. Those who fawn and flatter, and all the while have enmity in their hearts, are horrible beings; they are the seed of the devil, and he worketh in them after his own deceptive nature. Better to meet wild beasts and serpents than deceivers: these are a kind of monster whose birth is from beneath, and whose end lies far below. It should be a warning to liars and deceivers when they see that all good men pray against them, and that even bad men are afraid of them. Here is to the believer good cause for prayer. "Deliver us from evil", may be used with emphasis concerning this business. From gossips, talebearers, writers of anonymous letters, forgers of newspaper paragraphs, and all sorts of liars, good Lord deliver us!
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Ver. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, etc. An unbridled tongue is "vehiculum Diaboli", the chariot of the Devil, wherein he rides in triumph. Greenhorn doth describe the tongue prettily by contraries, or diversities: "It is a little piece of flesh, small in quantity, but mighty in quality; it is soft, but slippery; it goeth lightly, but falleth heavily; it striketh soft, but woundeth sore; it goeth out quickly, but burneth vehemently; it pierceth deep, and therefore not healed speedily; it hath liberty granted easily to go forth but it will find no means easily to return home; and being once inflamed with Satan's bellows, it is like the fire of hell." The course of an unruly tongue is to proceed from evil to worse, to begin with foolishness, and go on with bitterness, and to end in mischief and madness. See Ec 10:13. The Jew's conference with our Saviour began with arguments: "We be Abraham's seed, "said they, etc.; but proceeded to blasphemies: "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" and ended in cruelty: "Then took they up stones to cast at him." Joh 8:33, 48, 59. This also is the base disposition of a bad tongue to hate those whom it afflicts: Pr 26:28.
The mischief of the tongue may further appear by the mercy of being delivered from it, for,
1. So God hath promised it (Joh 5:15, 21). "God saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty, "and "thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, "or from being betongued, as some render it, that is, from being, as it were, caned or cudgelled with the tongues of others. "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps 31:20); that is, from all calumnies, reproaches, evil speakings of all kinds. God will preserve the good names of his people from the blots and bespatterings of malicious men, as kings protect their favourites against slanders and clamours.
2. So the saints have prayed for it, as David: "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue." Edward Reyner.
Ver. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, etc. In the drop of venom which distils from the sting of the smallest insect, or the spike of the nettle leaf, there is concentrated the quintessence of a poison so subtle that the microscope cannot distinguish it, and yet so virulent that it can inflame the blood, irritate the whole constitution, and convert day and night into restless misery; so it is sometimes with the words of the slanderer. Frederick William Robertson.
Ver. 2. Lying lips bore false witness against him, or with a "deceitful tongue" tried to ensnare him, and to draw something from him, on which they might ground an accusation. George Horne.
Ver. 2. The unjustly slandered have, besides the avenging majesty of their God to protect them, many other consolations, as
1. The consciousness of innocence to sustain them.
2. The promise of divine favour to support them: "I will hide thee from the scourge of the tongue."
3. There is the consideration to soothe: "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, "etc.
4. That a lie has not usually a long life.
5. There is, lastly, for comfort, the repairing influence of time. R. Nisbet.
Ver. 2. A prayer against slander. We are liable to it; it would do us great injury and cause us great pain; yet none but the Lord can protect us from it, or deliver us out of it.
Psalms 120:3*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips.
Psa_120:2
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips.
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Lying lips
A watch that cannot be depended upon is of very little use. It may have a beautiful gold case, it may be sparkling with jewels, but yet it will be of no service to me as a watch unless I can depend on what it tells me about the time. And so one of the things by which we judge of the real value and worth of men or women, of boys or girls, is this--Are they truthful? Do they mean what they say? Are they really what they seem to be? If so, then they are like a watch that keeps good time. But one of the effects of sin on our hearts has been to take away from them the love of the truth, and to incline them to lying.
I. The disgrace which attends lying.
1. It should make little difference to us what wicked men consider to be disgraceful. But if anything will bring shame and disgrace to us, in the opinion of God and of good men, then we should be very careful not to do that thing, whatever it may be. But there is nothing that will do this sooner than lying (Pro_6:17; Pro_12:22).
2. It is always disgraceful to follow the example of a very wicked person. But we know that Satan is the most wicked person in this world, or in any other. He is the father of lies (Joh_8:44). When we tell lies, we prove ourselves to be the children of Satan. And there cannot be a greater disgrace in the world than to be closely related to such a person, and to have it proved that he is our father. But liars are not only the children of Satan; they are his servants also (Act_5:8). Lying is Satans work. And when we engage in lying, we let our hearts become Satans workshop.
3. In some parts of India, if any person is proved to be a liar, he receives the penalty of the law, which requires that his mouth be sewed up. The offender has his hands tied behind him. He is led out to a post in a public place, to which he is tied, and one of the officers of the government, appointed for that purpose, sews up his lips with a needle and thread. Then he is allowed to go. And every one who sees his closed lips, and the blood flowing from them, can say to himself, There goes a liar! What a disgrace that sewed-up mouth would be to a man! David tells us that the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped (Psa_63:11); Solomon tells us that a lying tongue is but for a moment (Pro_12:19); and in another place David says that lying lips shall be put to silence (Psa_31:18). We are not told how God will do this; but we may be very sure it will be in some way that will fasten shame and disgrace on those who have not prayed earnestly, as David did, in the language of our text, Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips.
II. The injury that it does.
1. The first sin ever committed in our world was a lie. It was in the Garden of Eden. Satan was tempting Eve to break Gods commandment. He did it by telling her a lie, and getting her to believe it. And now it is impossible for anybody to count up all the injury that has been done by that sin. That one sin was like poisoning a fountain, and then all the water that flows from it is poisoned too.
2. And when we tell a lie now, we never can tell where the injury that springs from it will stop. It is just like loosening a great rock at the top of a mountain, and letting it go rolling and plunging down the side of the mountain. Nobody can tell how far it will go, nor how much injury it will do before it stops rolling. Telling a lie is like letting a wild beast out of a cage. You can never tell how many people that animal will wound or kill before he is caught again. Telling a lie is like dropping sparks in powder. It is sure to make an explosion, and no one can tell beforehand how much harm that will do. Telling a lie is like going out from the plain beaten path into a tangled wood. You can never tell how long it will take you, or how much you must suffer, before you get back again.
III. The punishment that follows it (Pro_19:9; Rev_21:27-28). But it is not only after death that punishment follows lying. The Bible shows Us how God often punishes people for lying even in this life. There we see Gehazi telling a lie, and the very same day on which he told it brought the punishment. And then we read about Ananias and Sapphira. They agreed together to tell a deliberate, dreadful lie; and they were both struck dead with that lie upon their lips. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.