John Calvin Commentary Psalms 59:12

"[For] the sin of their mouth, [and] the words of their lips, Let them even be taken in their pride, And for cursing and lying which they speak." — Psalms 59:12 (ASV)

The sin of their mouth, the words of their lips. Some interpreters read, for, or, on account of the sin of their mouth, supplying the causal particle, so that the words may be better connected with the preceding verse. And there can be no doubt that the reason is stated here why they deserved to be subjected to constant wanderings and restlessness.

The words as they stand, however, although abrupt and elliptical, well express the meaning David would convey; as if he had said that no lengthy proof was necessary to convict them of sin, which plainly showed itself in the mischievous tendency of their discourse. Wickedness, he tells us, proceeded from their mouth. They vomited out their pride and cruelty.

That this is the sense in which we are to understand the words is confirmed by what immediately follows: Let them be taken in their pride. Here he points to the source of that insolence which led them, with such proud and scornful language, and in such a shameless manner, to oppress the innocent.

He then specifies the sin of their lips, adding that they spoke words of cursing and falsehood. By this he means that their mouth was continually filled with horrid curses, and that they were wholly addicted to deceit and slander. Those who give a passive meaning to the word which I have translated to speak, have mistaken David’s meaning; they understand him as saying that the wicked would be regarded as examples of divine vengeance, with its plain and notorious marks written upon them.