Psalms 59:12

12 Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance catch up with them, Catch them out and bring them down - every muttered curse - every barefaced lie.

Psalms 59:12 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 59:12

[For] the sin of their mouth, [and] the words of their lips,
&c.] The words may be read as one proposition, "the words of their lips [are] the sin of their mouth" F25; they speak nothing but evil; whatever they say is sin; out of the abundance of their evil hearts their mouths speak: or "for the sin of their mouth" and lips; because of the calumnies cast by them on the Messiah, traducing him as a sinful man, a blasphemer, a seditious person, and even as one that had familiarity with the devil;

let them even be taken in their pride;
in their city and temple, of which they boasted, and prided themselves in; and so they were: or for their pride in rejecting the Messiah, because of his mean descent and parentage, and because his kingdom was not with outward pomp and observation; and being vain boasters of their carnal privileges, and works of righteousness, they refused to submit to the righteousness of God, and were neither subject to the law of God, nor to the Gospel of Christ;

and for cursing and lying [which] they speak;
for cursing the Messiah, pronouncing him accursed, and treating him as such, by hanging him on a tree; and for lying against him, saying that he was a Samaritan, and had a devil, and cast out devils by Beelzebub; and that he was a deceiver of the people, and a wicked man: for these things they were taken in their besieged city, as is here imprecated.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 So Gejerus, Schmidt.

Psalms 59:12 In-Context

10 God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin.
11 Don't make quick work of them, God, lest my people forget. Bring them down in slow motion, take them apart piece by piece.
12 Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance catch up with them, Catch them out and bring them down - every muttered curse - every barefaced lie.
13 Finish them off in fine style! Finish them off for good! Then all the world will see that God rules well in Jacob, everywhere that God's in charge.
14 They return when the sun goes down, They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.