Psalm 5:9 describes people whose speech cannot be trusted, because their words hide a heart bent on harm. David says their mouths contain no real faithfulness, and their flattery covers what is really going on inside them. The verse was written by David, the psalm’s traditional author, who was speaking to God about enemies who had turned their words into weapons.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.
Psalm 5:9 (WEB)
What Psalm 5:9 Means
The verse begins with “no faithfulness in their mouth.” Faithfulness here means reliability, keeping one’s word and being someone others can depend on. David is saying that when these people speak, nothing they say can be counted on. Their promises, greetings and reports are empty.
Next comes “their heart is destruction” and “their throat is an open tomb.” These images are vivid. A heart set on ruin produces words that bring ruin to others, and an open tomb is a place that gives off the stench of death. The speech of these enemies is poisonous and deadly, not just unpleasant. Finally, “they flatter with their tongue” points to smooth, pleasant words that conceal hostility.
The verse does not promise that deceivers will always be exposed in this life, nor does it tell us how to deal with them ourselves. It is a lament and a description, and it places the matter before God. The rest of the psalm shows David trusting God to judge, not taking revenge into his own hands.
The Context of Psalm 5:9
Psalm 5 is a morning prayer of David, as its opening lines suggest, offered to the LORD while David faces hostile people who seem to surround him. Psalms like this one belong to the lament tradition of Israel’s worship, where a believer brings real danger and real grief before God in the form of prayer. The original hearers would have recognized both the plea for justice and the confidence that God hears.
The verses just before and after help explain the verse. In verse 6, God is said to destroy those who speak lies, and in verse 7 David contrasts the wicked with his own hope of entering God’s house in reverence. Verse 10 turns the verse into a direct request that God hold the wicked guilty, and verse 12 closes with the promise that God blesses the righteous. Read this way, verse 9 is not an isolated complaint but the evidence David offers for why God’s justice is needed.
Key Phrases in Psalm 5:9
Proverbs 26:28
A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.
(WEB)
This proverb connects lying and flattery to a heart that hates and seeks ruin, much as Psalm 5:9 does. It shows that deceitful speech is always tied to the inner life of the speaker. Reading the two together reinforces the link between what we say and who we are.
Psalm 12:2
Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
(WEB)
Psalm 12 laments the same problem of insincere speech, describing people who speak with flattering lips and a double heart. Its complaint runs parallel to David’s, and both psalms bring the matter before God as the one who sees truly. Together they show that this kind of deceit has been a concern of the faithful for a long time.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 5:9
Lord, you see the hearts of people and you know when their words are empty. I bring before you the people whose speech has troubled me, and I ask you to be my judge and my defender. Guard my own mouth from flattery and from every word that hides a divided heart. Make my speech true, and let my words build up rather than tear down. Keep me close to you, and give me peace in the place where you have promised to hold me. Amen.
