Psalms 52:2
Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
BSB
ASV
Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
KJV
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs,.... Abundance of mischiefs, in a variety of ways, against many persons, even all good men. What properly belongs to the heart is here ascribed to the tongue; because, as Aben Ezra observes, it is the interpreter and discoverer of the thoughts of the heart: out of the abundance of that the tongue speaks and declares the mischief it has devised.
It will not save us from the guilt of lying to be able to say, "There was some truth in what we said," if we pervert it, and make it to appear otherwise than it was. Subtlety in sin: " Thy tongue devises mischiefs; that is, it speaks the mischief which thy heart devises." The more there is of craft and contrivance in any wickedness the more there is of the devil in it.
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Thou speakest with an ulterior design. The information given was for Saul's assistance apparently, but in very deed in his heart the Edomite hated the priests of the God of Jacob. It is a mark of deep depravity, when the evil spoken is craftily intended to promote a yet greater evil. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. David represents the false tongue as being effectual for mischief, like a razor which, unawares to the person operated on, is making him bald; so softly and deftly do Oriental barbers perform their work.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 18:21Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
leads to
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on…
Through
Proverbs 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
leads to
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.