The term בלע , balang, in verse fourth, which has been translated destruction, I prefer understanding in the sense of hiding or concealment. He seems to allude to the drawing back of the tongue when we swallow; and under this figure, to describe the deceitfulness of Doeg’s words, by which he devoured the unsuspecting and the innocent. (277) The great design of David, as I have already remarked in the preceding verses, is to encourage himself in the hope of deliverance by dwelling upon the extreme character of that wickedness which his enemy had displayed.
(277) “ בלע, balang, is to swallow, to devour, with the idea of eagerness, greediness.” — Gesenius