As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
As for the head of those that compass me about (namely, to destroy me), let the mischief of their own lips cover them. A very different covering from that wherewith God 'has covered the Psalmist's head in the day of battle' (Psalms 140:7). It is in order to make this contrast between their covering, of head and his that "the head of those," etc., is placed first in the nominative-absolute. "The mischief of their own lips" is the mischief which they seek to do me by their calumnies. Compare Psalms 7:16.