13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
The following two phrases are a quotation from Psalm 140:3:
With their tongues, they have practiced deceit.
The poison of asps is under their lips.
This sentence is the eighth indictment against mankind.
What men say is dishonest (deceit). “With their tongues they have practiced deceit” means literally smoothed their tongues. Mankind is smooth with words in order to mislead. The Greek tense conveys perseverance in their deceit. God designed the tongue for man to communicate, but mankind turned it into an instrument of deception.
PRINCIPLE:
Sinful mankind habitually uses words to mislead others.
APPLICATION:
When man departs from truth, he arrives at lies. He creates a falsity to deflect others from the truth. He seeks to put his own ideas about life in a favorable light.
Ps 36:3, The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
There are people out there who butter up others for their own purposes. Some people can teach an idea that closely parallels Scripture, but it is a deadly error, subtle in its approach. The message has all the appearance of truth, but that is what makes it dangerous. The tongue lacks a bone; thus, it is soft. Soft speech softens those who listen because it is “nice” to their ears.
Is 30:10, Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.”
David tried to deceive Bathsheba’s husband by calling him home from war so that he would have sexual relations with her. His idea was to deceive her husband into thinking that he had impregnated Bathsheba. David’s deception did not work, so he had to murder Uriah again by deception.
