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Psalm 52:2
Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
1For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to Ahimelech’s house.” Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.
2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.
4You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue.
Notice
The sharp razor makes speech feel dangerous: in the setting of Doeg’s report to Saul, David names a tongue that plans destruction and works through deceit.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the razor comparison help you notice about the harm deceitful words can cause?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, do you see a difference between careless speech and a tongue that plots destruction?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Ephesians 4:29Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.Both passages treat speech as consequential for others: the psalm exposes destruction, while Ephesians directs words toward building others up.
Jeremiah 18:18Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. …Jeremiah’s opponents plan to strike him with the tongue, matching the psalm’s picture of speech used for planned harm.
Proverbs 12:18There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.Both compare harmful speech to a blade, though Proverbs describes rash speech and the psalm describes deceit that plots destruction.
Proverbs 18:21Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.The tongue’s power to bring death in Proverbs shares the gravity of the psalm’s tongue that plots destruction.
Romans 3:13“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.”Both name deceit on the tongue and pair speech with images of deadly harm.
Nehemiah 6:8Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart.”Nehemiah rejects claims invented against him; the psalm also confronts speech that works through deceit.
Proverbs 6:16–19There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:The connection is broad: Proverbs introduces things God hates, while the psalm condemns destructive deceit; the supplied Proverbs line names no examples.
Psalm 5:9For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.Both link destruction with untrustworthy speech, exposing harm behind what comes from the mouth.
Psalm 57:4My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.A sharp razor and a sharp sword portray the tongue as a weapon capable of harm.
Ezekiel 11:2He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;Both connect devised wrongdoing with speech: Ezekiel names wicked counsel, and the psalm names a tongue plotting destruction.
Psalm 25:19Consider my enemies, for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred.Both confront human hostility, though Psalm 25 names cruel hatred without specifying the deceitful speech described here.
Psalm 26:10in whose hands is wickedness; their right hand is full of bribes.Both expose wrongdoing through bodily images: a tongue working deceit here, and hands holding wickedness and bribes in Psalm 26.
Where this verse fits
Work conflict. broken friendship. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Deceitful speech can cause real destruction, and David names its violence without softening it. The surrounding words also affirm what such speech cannot end: God’s enduring loving kindness.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 52:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).