Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 116:11

"I said in my haste, All men are liars." — Psalms 116:11 (ASV)

I said in my haste - The Hebrew word used here means to flee in haste and to be in alarm and trepidation; and the idea seems to be that the assertion referred to was made under the influence of excitement—or that it was not the result of sober reflection but of an agitated state of mind. It does not necessarily imply that what was said was false, for many true statements may be made when the mind is agitated and excited. However, the meaning is that he was then in such a state of mind as to suggest the belief, and to cause the assertion, that all men are liars. Whether calm reflection would or would not confirm this impression of the moment would be a fair question after the excitement was over.

All men are liars - Are false; no one is to be relied on. This was said in the time of his affliction, and this added much to his affliction. The meaning is that, in those circumstances of distress, no one came to his aid. No one sympathized with him. There was no one to whom he could unbosom himself. No one seemed to feel any interest in him. There were relatives on whom he might have supposed he could rely, those to whom he had shown kindness in similar circumstances, and old friends whose sympathy he might have had reason to expect—but all failed. No one came to help him. No one shed a tear over his sorrows. No one showed himself true to friendship, to sympathy, or to gratitude. All people seemed to be false, and he was confined to God alone.

A similar thing is referred to in Psalm 41:5-9 and Psalm 88:18. . This is not an unnatural feeling in affliction. The mind is then sensitive. We need friends then. We expect our friends to show their friendship then. If they do not do this, it seems to us that the entire world is false.

It is evident from the overall commentary here that the psalmist, on reflection, felt that he had said this without due thought, under the influence of excitement—and that he was disposed, when his mind was restored to calmness, to think better of mankind than he did in the day of affliction and trouble. This also is not uncommon. The world is much better than we think it is when our own minds are morbid and our nerves are unstrung. Bad as the world is, our opinion of it is not infrequently the result of our own troubled feelings rather than of just reflection on the real character of mankind.