“Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.”
The psalmist calls for the silencing of the lying lips and the deceiving tongue that speak against the righteous. The focus emphasizes the specific weapon of the psalmist's enemies: false speech and slander. The verbs "be silent" suggest the cessation of the destructive power of false testimony. The phrase "speak insolently" suggests arrogant and presumptuous speech. This verse calls for divine judgment against the weapons of the wicked: their false speech must be stopped.
Church Fathers on Psalms 31:18
To the end, a psalm of David himself, an ecstasy. 1. To the end a Psalm of David Himself, the Mediator strong of hand in persecutions. For the word ecstasy, which is added to the title, signifies a transport of the mind, which is produced either by a panic, or by some revelation. But in this Psalm the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the heathen, and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen. But first the Mediator Himself…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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