the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
iniquity
אָ֣וֶן'A.ven
H205
strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
deceit
וּמִרְמָ֑הu.mir.Mah
H4820
fraud · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
off
חָדַ֖לcha.Dal
H2308
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wise
לְהַשְׂכִּ֣ילle.has.Kil
H7919
to be (causatively · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
good
לְהֵיטִֽיבle.hei.Tiv
H3190
to be (causative) make well · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but…
Psalms 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
Matthew 22:15-18 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, t…
1 Samuel 11:6-13 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now…
1 Samuel 15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from be…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 36:1-4
David, in the title of this psalm, is styled the servant of the Lord; why in this, and not in any other, except in Ps. 18 (title), no reason can be given; but so he was, not only as every good man is God's servant, but as a king, as a prophet, as one employed in serving the interests of God's kingdom among men more immediately and more eminently than any other in his day. He glories in it, Psa 116:16. It is no disparagement, but an honour, to the greatest of men, to be the servants of the great God; it is the highest preferment a man is capable of in this world.
David, in these verses, describes the wickedness of the wicked; whether he means his persecutors in particular, or all notorious gr…
This reflection detailed.
until his iniquity--literally, "for finding his iniquity for hating"; that is, he persuades himself God will not so find it--"for hating" involving the idea of punishing. Hence his words of iniquity and deceit, and his bold rejection of all right principles of conduct. The climax is that he deliberately adopts and patronizes evil. The negative forms affirm more emphatically their contraries.
John Gill on Psalms 36:3
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit,.... Not only sinful, but sin itself; his mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, of filthy and unchaste words, of corrupt communication, lying, deceit, and flattery; out of the abundance of the wickedness of his heart his mouth speaketh; and which shows the badness of it, and proves all that is said before of him;
he hath left off to be wise, and to do good; by which the psalmist seems to intend one that had been a professor of religion, who, besides the light of nature he had acted contrary to, had had the advantage of a divine revelation, and had been enlightened into the knowledge of divine things, and had done many things externally good,…
"The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he would not understand, that he might do good" (ver. 3). Ye see that he attributeth that to the will: for there are men who would understand and cannot, and there are men who would not understand, and therefore understand not. "He would not understand, that he might do good."
What shall I say about Judas the traitor, who sought after greed and found sacrilege, saying: What will you give me, and I will hand him over to you (Matt. XXVI, 15)? Not satisfied with looting the spoils of the poor, he reached the fullness of the gravest crimes by committing crimes, mixing the sacraments of charity with wicked acts, when he said: He whom I shall kiss, he is: hold him (Ibid., 48); so that there can be no doubt that what was said about him is true: The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. She was giving kisses with her lips, she was pouring poison into their hearts; she was contemplating bitter punishments, she was offering a token of her favor. Indeed, a prophecy was made about him: He did not want to understand in order to do good; for he did not sin by nature, but by his own will. In the end, he was an Apostle, he heard daily divine commands, he learned the heavenly mystery; he could have understood in order to do good, if he had wanted. He saw the paralytics healed, the blind receive sight, the dead raised; should he not have understood that it was God who could perform such things? But he did not want to understand, because he was a greedy man and, focused on money, he turned away the power of his mind from knowing the divine. For every person who indulges in wickedness does not want to understand the commandments of heaven, lest they be turned away from their vices. See that person fleeing understanding, who says: Darkness covers me, and walls surround me: who knows if the Lord sees (Ecclesiasticus 23:26) ? They do not want to seek and find, that God sees and knows all things; lest they be held back from their wrongdoing. See King Ahab seeking Naboth's vineyard; know his response: Far be it from me to give up the inheritance of my fathers (1 Kings 21:3) . Should he not have understood that he was doing what was right? But he did not want to understand in order to do good and not seek what belongs to others. Should he not have understood that Elijah served God truly, when he saw that by the word of Elijah the heavens were shut for three years and six months; and that by his prayers rain was sent down to water the dry land? But he did not want to understand, lest he condemn their unfaithfulness and follow the faith.
Dictionary and topics
Deceit · Utter — Utter
Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Righteousness · The wicked: Leave off — The wicked: Leave off
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Psalm 36:1-4
1. Ungodliness saith to the wicked in the midst of my heart, There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. [1] 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity [2] and deceit; he hath left off to understand that he may do good. 4. He meditates [or devises] iniquity upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; and abhorreth not evil.
1. Ungodliness saith to the wicked in the midst of my heart Commentators are not agreed as to the interpretation of the first verse. Literally it is, The saying [or speech] of transgression, or rather, Transgression saith to the wicked As, however, the letter l…
(Heb.: 36:1-4) At the outset the poet discovers to us the wickedness of the children of the world, which has its roots in alienation from God. Supposing it were admissible to render Psa 36:2 : "A divine word concerning the evil-doing of the ungodly is in the inward parts of my heart" (נאם with a genitive of the object, like משּׂא, which is compared by Hofmann), then the difficulty of this word, so much complained of, might find the desired relief in some much more easy way than by means of the conjecture proposed by Diestel, נעם (נעם), "Pleasant is transgression to the evil-doer," etc. But the genitive after נאם (which in Psa 110:1; Num 24:3., 15f., Sa2 23:1; Pro 30:1, just as here, stands a…
Ps 36 This lament contrasts the world of folly devised by the wicked with the world of wisdom created and sustained by the Lord. The wicked care only about themselves, whereas the Lord cares for all of creation. He will intervene to bring about justice in his world. The righteous will enjoy his protection, but the wicked will perish.
36:1-4 Fools despise what is wise and good as they pursue evil.
36:1 no fear of God: Paul includes this phrase in his description of the depravity of all people (Rom 3:18).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 36:3
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. This pair of hell dogs generally hunt together, and what one does not catch the other will; if iniquity cannot win by oppression, deceit will gain by chicanery. When the heart is so corrupt as to flatter itself, the tongue follows suit. The open sepulchre of the throat reveals the foulness of the inner nature. God fearing men make a conscience of their words, and if they sin through infirmity they do not invent excuses, or go about to boast of their wickedness: but because wicked men think little of evil and artful speeches, we may be clear that God ru…
