Do you ever catch yourself complaining about the empty words of (many) politicians? Or the biased reporting in the media? Does it seem like today’s culture is awash in lies and deception? Through this psalm, God reveals the inner workings of falsehood and those who spread it.
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. [+Ps.6]
1 – Save, Adonai! For the devoted one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
חסיד (chasid) = “one sho is selfless”
אמונין (amunim) = “the trustworthy”
2 – Everyone utters vanities to his neighbor; with smooth lips and a double heart they speak.
בלב ולב (ba’leiv v’leiv) = “with a heart and a heart”
3-4 – May Adonai cut off all smooth lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, [A] “With our tongue we will become powerful. [B] Our lips are with us. [C] Who is lord over us?”
5-6 – “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says Adonai. “I will place him in the safety for which he pants.” 6 The sayings of Adonai are pure sayings, like silver refined in the finest smelting earth, purified seven times.
7-8 – You, Adonai, will keep them. You will guard us from this generation forever. 8 The wicked strut all around when vileness is exalted among the sons of man.
REFERENCES:
Verse 2
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of Adonai your God in vain [שוא, shav], for Adonai will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
‘Such speech does not serve to “express” thoughts, but merely to “veil” them in falsehood.’ (R’ S.R.Hirsch)
Verse 2-3
1 Samuel 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth [חלק, chalak] stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
Verse 3-4
All other sins are motivated by the pursuit of pleasure or financial gain, but with lashon hara [evil speech]there is no actual pleasure or gain. God’s command is simply insignificant to the person. That is why the Talmud compares it to heresy. (Chofetz Chaim)
Verse 6
Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.