Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Thou shalt hide ... pride of man - (Psalms 27:5; Psalms 32:7.) Gesenius translates, 'from the conspiracies of man' х meerukceey (H7407), from raakac (H7405), to bind together]. Some of the rabbis (taking the Hebrew from the same root, 'to exalt one's self') translate as the English version: so Psalms 31:18, (a different Hebrew word), 'which speak proudly;' and again Psalms 31:23, which recapitulates what has gone before, "the proud doer," has the same Hebrew (Isaiah 40:4, "the rough places" - i:e., those rugged and high). As the Hebrew implies elation and knotted protuberances, we may combine the senses, 'from the proud conspiracies (the Hebrew is plural) of man,' answering to "the strife of tongues" in the parallel clause; and to Psalms 31:13, "they took counsel together against me ... to take away my life." "The slander of many," in the same verse, corresponds to "the strife of tongues" here.
Thou ... a pavilion - a spiritual pavilion, the favour and protection of Yahweh. The "pavilion" is explained by the parallel, "the secret of thy presence" (cf. Psalms 91:1). The Lord's people are His "hidden ones" (Psalms 83:3). None have access to an Eastern king's pavilion, in "the inner court," except those whom he pleases to admit (cf. Esther 4:11). Thus, to be kept secretly' in the pavilion of Yahweh, is equivalent to perfect security.
Strife of tongues - (Psalms 55:9; Psalms 55:21).