“They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 62:4 Mean?
David describes people whose sole purpose is to bring down someone in a position of honor—"to cast him down from his excellency." Their methods are deception: they delight in lies, speak blessings with their mouths while cursing internally. The contrast between external speech and internal reality is the defining characteristic of these enemies.
The phrase "they delight in lies" goes beyond occasional dishonesty. These people find pleasure in deception—it's not a reluctant tool but an enjoyed practice. They've gone past using lies as a means to an end; lying itself has become the end. When deception becomes a source of delight rather than discomfort, the moral compass has been fundamentally broken.
The "Selah" at the end invites the reader to pause and reckon with this reality: there are people who will smile at you while plotting your destruction. Scripture doesn't idealize human relationships. It acknowledges with clear eyes that some people's words and hearts are in direct opposition. The mouth says one thing; the inward parts say another. David wants you to know this exists—not to make you paranoid, but to make you wise.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever discovered that someone who blessed you with their mouth was cursing you inwardly? How did you find out, and how did it affect you?
- 2.How do you develop discernment about people's true intentions without becoming cynical or distrustful of everyone?
- 3.What motivates people to want to 'cast down' someone from a position of honor? Have you seen this dynamic in your own community?
- 4.The Selah asks you to pause. What truth about human nature does this verse want you to absorb and carry with you?
Devotional
"They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly." David is describing people you probably know—people whose words don't match their hearts. People who smile to your face and scheme behind your back. People whose encouragement is a performance and whose true feelings are the opposite of what they express.
This verse isn't about garden-variety hypocrisy. It's about calculated deception aimed at destroying someone. These people specifically want to "cast him down from his excellency"—to take down someone who's been elevated, whether by God or by circumstance. Their motive is demolition disguised as friendship.
If you've ever had a nagging sense that someone's kindness wasn't genuine—that the compliments felt hollow, that the support came with conditions, that the friendship had an agenda—trust that instinct. David names this dynamic because it's real and because ignoring it leaves you vulnerable. Discernment isn't suspicion. It's wisdom.
The Selah at the end says: stop and think about this. Not to become cynical or to start doubting everyone around you. But to be honest about the fact that not everyone who blesses you with their mouth is blessing you in their heart. Let that reality make you wiser, not harder. And let it drive you deeper into reliance on the God who never curses inwardly while blessing outwardly—whose words and heart are always the same.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency,.... Either from the excellency of God, from his greatness, and…
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency - This is the object of all their counsels and plans. They aim at…
In these verses we have,
I. David's profession of dependence upon God, and upon him only, for all good (Psa 62:1): Truly…
Only to thrust him down from his dignity have they taken counsel, delighting in a lie:
With his mouth doth each of them…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture