‘His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppressiveness,
Under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
He sits in the hiding places of the villages,
In the secret places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are surreptitiously set against the helpless.
He lurks in secret like a lion in his covert;
He lies in wait to catch the poor:
He catches the poor, when he draws him in his net.
He crouches, he bows down,
And the helpless fall by his strong ones (might).
He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He will never see it.'
The gradual growth of sin is well depicted in the Psalm. It begins with a callous attitude towards God and his fellow-man, and leads on into deeper and deeper sin. Here the sinner is depicted at his worst. Not all reach these depths, but all have the propensity for it. It begins with his words, which reveal what he is (compare Matthew 12:37), continues on into unscrupulous behaviour, and into increasing callousness, and all because he convinces himself with the vain hope that God has forgotten the world and will not see what he is doing.
‘His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppressiveness, under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.' He is loud-mouthed, aggressive, and deceitful, and plans evil and mischief with his tongue. ‘Cursing' may indicate his aggressive attitude, or his willingness to lie on oath to obtain what he wants. ‘Deceit' declares his dishonesty in his dealings. He says what he wants people to think, while hiding the true situation. His aim is to deceive people. We can think of much modern advertising and salesmanship. ‘Oppressiveness' indicates his determination to get his own way by any possible means. He tries to obtain his own way by aggression and forcefulness. And nothing that he says can be trusted.
‘Under his tongue.' He actually enjoys his unscrupulous behaviour like a man enjoying a titbit (see Job 20:12).
‘He sits in the hiding places of the villages, in the secret places he murders the innocent. His eyes are surreptitiously set against the helpless. He lurks in secret like a lion in his covert; he lies in wait to catch the poor.' Openly included here are muggers, and violent criminals, but equally included are any who are set to catch people out, or trap them into something, and make profits at their expense, without giving due and fair return. In their own way they all ‘mug' people. They are like man-eating lions who wait in hiding for some helpless human to pass by.
‘He catches the poor, when he draws him in his net. He crouches, he bows down, and the helpless fall by his might (or rather ‘his strong ones').' The picture changes to the subtle hunter who lays his nets out to catch the unwary, and then draws them in. The emphasis is all on hidden motives and secretive behaviour, subtlety and deceit. The one who crouches may be the hunter with his net, or refer back to the lion waiting in hiding. If the former the idea is that he crouches in hiding, bows down behind the bushes when they approach and then quickly draws in his net dragging down his prey with his strong nets and strength. If the latter then the ‘strong ones' may be his paws and teeth.
‘He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will has not seen it for ever.”' This is the crux of the matter, his attitude towards God. He convinces himself that God has forgotten the world, has forgotten the poor and needy, has hidden His face and that he therefore does not see what men are doing, and indeed will never see it, will never bring it to mind. He assumes that men are unaccountable and therefore that he can get away with his behaviour. He forgets, or refuses to accept, that ‘all things are laid bare and open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do' (Hebrews 4:13). It is something he dismisses out of hand.