They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency - whence arises his need to 'wait only upon God,' his 'only rock' (Psalms 62:2). "His excellency" is his high dignity as king (Genesis 49:3). The expression "cast down" or 'thrust down' is the very one, by undesigned coincidence, recorded in 1 Samuel 15:14, margin, as used by David.
They delight in lies instead of abhorring them as all good men do (cf Psalms 4:2; Psalms 63:10) They delight in lies - instead of abhorring them, as all good men do (cf. Psalms 4:2; Psalms 63:10).
They bless with their mouth - literally, 'with his mouth'; i:e., each one of them with his mouth.
But they curse inwardly. Hypocrisy was a chief instrument with Absalom for attaining his ends (cf. 2 Samuel 15:7-9).