Psalms 52:2

Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs,.... Abundance of mischiefs, in a variety of ways, against many persons, even all good men.

Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp rasor, working deceitfully. Thy tongue - the organ of thy inner man. Like a sharp razor.

Deviseth i.e. expresseth what thy wicked mind had devised. Thus skilfulness is ascribed to those hands which are governed by a skilful or prudent man, . This word implies that Doeg’ s words were not uttered rashly and unadvisedly, but with premeditated malice, and a mischievous design, which he waited for an opportunity to execute; and therefore he readily took the first occasion which offered itself. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully; wherewith a man pretending only to shave off the hair, doth suddenly and unexpectedly cut the throat. So Doeg pretended only to vindicate himself from the imputation of disloyalty, , but really intended to expose the priests, who were friends to David, to the king’ s fury and cruelty.

Psalms 52:2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.Ver. 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs] i.e. Venteth the mischievous devices of thy mind, being an interpreter and an instrument fit for such a purpose, Cogitat, id est eructat. Such another Doeg was Nicholas Saunders, priest, the firebrand of Earl Desmond’ s rebellion in Ireland, A. D. 1580, a restless and wretched man, whose foul mouth was at length stopped with famine that had been ever open to stir up rebellions against the state; that had uttered so many blasphemies against God and his holy truth, and invented so many loud and lewd lies against men. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully] That, instead of shaving the hair, lanceth the flesh, Exscindit carnem cure crinibus (R. Solomon); or, missing the beard, cutteth the throat, Consulto aberrans iugulum petit, when Dionysius the tyrant would not trust any barber (no, not his own daughters) to shave him; but singed off his own hair with hot coals. The slanderer’ s tongue, as sharp as a razor or as the quills of a porcupine, slasheth and gasheth the good names of others, and that many ways, viz. both by denying, disguising, lessening, concealing, misconstruing things of good report; and also by forging, increasing, aggravating, or uncharitable spreading things of evil report; not for any love to the truth nor for respect of justice, nor yet for the bettering of the hearer or the delinquent; but only to prejudice the one, and to incense the other. This was Doeg’ s sin, and denominateth him a liar, Psalms 52:3, though he had spoken only the truth.

(2) Working deceitfully.—Better, working guile. (For the metaphor, see Psalms 55:21; Psalms 57:4, &c)

Verse 2. Deviseth mischiefs] Lies and slanders proceeding from the tongue argue the desperate wickedness of the heart. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.] Which instead of taking off the beard, cuts and wounds the flesh; or as the operator who, when pretending to trim the beard, cuts the throat.

2. Thy tongue deviseth] Cp. Psalms 35:20. Sins of the tongue—falsehood, slander, false witness, and the like—are frequently denounced in the Psalms and by the Prophets. See Psalms 5:9; Psalms 10:7; Psalms 12:2 ff; Micah 6:12; Jeremiah 9:3; &c. mischiefs] R.V., very wickedness (as in Psalms 5:9); or destruction, perhaps not without a reminiscence of the original meaning of the word, a yawning gulf, for his tongue is ready to swallow up (Psalms 52:4) the righteous. The plur. denotes mischief or destructiveness of every kind. like a sharp rasor] Lit., like a whetted rasor, which cuts you before you are aware, as you handle it incautiously. The tongue and its words are elsewhere compared to swords and spears and arrows (Psalms 55:21, Psalms 57:4, Psalms 59:7, Psalms 64:3; cp. Proverbs 26:18). Comp. Shakespeare, Cymbeline, iii.4, “’Tis slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword.” working deceitfully] The partic. cannot, unless we assume a laxity of construction, be in agreement with thy tongue; nor can it well be referred to the sharp rasor. It is best to take it as a vocative, O thou worker of deceit. Cp. Psalms 101:7.

Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs - The word rendered “mischiefs” means (a) desire, cupidity: Proverbs 10:3; then (b) fall, ruin, destruction, wickedness: Psalms 5:9; Psalms 38:12.