Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

Let the lying lips be dumb, Which speak against the righteous insolently, With pride and contempt.

Let deceitful lips be made dumb. Which speak iniquity against the just, with pride and abuse.

Let the lying lips become dumb, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.

Let lips of falsehood become dumb, That are speaking against the righteous, Ancient sayings, in pride and contempt.

Let the false lips be shut, which say evil against the upright, looking down on him in their pride.

O LORD, let me not be ashamed, for I have called upon Thee; Let the wicked be ashamed, let them be put to silence in the nether-world.

Let the lying lips be put to silence - See the notes at Psalm 12:2-3. The lips which speak lies. The reference here is especially to those who had spoken in this manner against the psalmist himself, though he makes the language general, or prays in general that God would silence all liars: a prayer certainly in which all persons may properly join.
Which speak grievous things - Margin, "a hard thing." The Hebrew word - עתק ‛âthâq - means "bold, impudent, wicked." Gesenius, Lexicon. The phrase here means, therefore, to speak wickedly, or to speak in a bold, reckless, impudent manner; that is, without regard to the truth of what is said.
Proudly and contemptuously - Hebrew, in pride and contempt: that is, in a manner which shows that they are proud of themselves and despise others. Slander always perhaps implies this. People are secretly proud of themselves; or they "desire" to cherish an exalted opinion of themselves, and to have others entertain the same opinion of them; and hence, if they cannot exalt themselves by their own merit, as they wish, they endeavor to humble others below their real merit, and to a level lower than themselves, by detraction.

Let the lying lips be put to silence - As to my enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices. See Jeremiah 18:18.

Let the lying lips be put to silence,.... Being convicted of the lies told by them, and so silenced and confounded; or being cut off and destroyed, as all such will be in the Lord's own time, Psalm 12:3. It is very likely the psalmist may have respect either to Doeg the Edomite, who loved lying rather than righteousness; or to others that were about Saul, who lying said to him that David sought his harm, even to take away his kingdom and his life, Psalm 52:3;
which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous; meaning himself; not that he thought himself righteous in the sight of God by any righteousness of his own, but by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him; see Psalm 143:2. Though he may have regard here to the righteousness of his cause before men, and assert himself righteous, as he might with respect to the "grievous things", the hard and lying speeches, which were spoken against him, in a proud, haughty, and contemptuous manner. And it is no unusual thing for such false charges to be brought against righteous men; nay, such hard speeches were spoken by ungodly men against Jesus Christ the righteous himself, Jde 1:15. The Targum interprets it of "reproaches".