From here onward, we begin a sequence of fifteen psalms of "Shir HaMa'alot" (A Song of Ascents). The Radak cites the words of Chazal in the Gemara in Sukkah (51b), that the Levites would recite these fifteen psalms upon the fifteen steps that were on the Temple Mount - the stairs leading up from the Women's Courtyard (Ezrat Nashim) to the Courtyard of the Israelites (Ezrat Yisrael) and from there to the Priestly Courtyard (Ezrat Kohanim), the entrance through the Nicanor Gate (which are usually depicted in illustrations as semi-circular stairs). There, the Levites would stand and recite one psalm on each step: one song for each ascent. Hence the name "Shir HaMa'alot" - ma'alot meaning steps.
Chazal further say: Corresponding to what did David compose these fifteen ascents? When he dug the Shitin - the drainage channels under the altar (foundations of the Temple) - the primordial deep (Tehom) rose up, and its waters threatened to flood the entire world. Ahithophel wrote the Ineffable Name of Hashem and cast it into the deep, whereupon the deep receded sixteen thousand cubits. They said: It is not good for the world that the deep descended so far down, for the waters are necessary for the world and the earth is moistened by the subterranean deep; when the deep is too low, the ground lacks moisture. David recited the fifteen Songs of Ascents and caused it to rise fifteen thousand cubits, leaving it standing at one thousand cubits.
Some say he raised it fifteen hundred cubits, which corresponds to what Rashi cites from the Midrash: "And according to the Agadah, its meaning is a song for a hundred ascents" - each song raised it one hundred levels, totaling fifteen hundred. But according to what the Radak cited, that it was fifteen thousand cubits, each song raised it one thousand levels rather than one hundred.
The Radak also cites another explanation in the name of Rav Saadia Gaon as to why they are called "Shir HaMa'alot": These songs were recited with increasing vocal intensity, and with each song they would raise the voice an additional step - a tone, an octave - so that "ma'alot" denotes the raising of the voice. The Radak brings yet another explanation: "the ascents of exile" - an expression of going up, referring to the future ascent of the Jewish people from the exile to Eretz Yisrael. The songs are, as it were, uttered from the mouths of the exiles ascending to the land. This is why some of these psalms mention the matters of exile and the salvation that the exiles yearn for in order to ascend from their places of dispersion.
שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת אֶל־יְהֹוָה בַּצָּרָתָה לִּי קָרָאתִי וַיַּעֲנֵנִי׃ - A song of ascents. To Hashem in my distress I called, and He answered me.
The Radak explains that here the psalm speaks of the people in exile, encompassing them in the singular: "in distress to me [li]" rather than "to us [lanu]," "I called [karati]" rather than "we called [karanu]" - for the collective nation in exile is regarded as a single person. And why does the verse say "batzaratah" rather than "betzarah li" or "batzar li"? The Radak explains that the additional letter tav serves to indicate an intensification and multiplying of the distress. This is not mere distress, but "tzaratah", distress magnified, much like the word "yeshuatah" indicates an abundance of salvation.
As for the phrase "I called and He answered me [vaya'aneni]" - in the Radak's view, this is past tense used in place of future tense. "Vaya'aneni" is phrased in the past, but the intent is that He will answer me in the future: I will call out to Hashem, and Hashem will answer me.
The Malbim explains that King David is praying here that the Holy One, blessed be He, rescue us from purveyors of lashon hara (slander), which is also the approach taken by the holy Alshich in explaining this psalm. According to the Malbim, there is no past tense standing for the future here; it refers to the actual past. David is saying: In every distress that befell me, I called out to the Holy One, blessed be He - and He answered me, and Hashem answered my plea.
However, there is an even greater distress, the Malbim explains, wherein I cannot wait until the trouble arrives to pray and call out to Hashem - namely, the mouths of deceitful people and purveyors of lashon hara. From an overt enemy and from evident distress I know how to guard myself and know how to call upon the Holy One, blessed be He. But against those who outwardly speak flattering words to me while "inwardly laying an ambush," concealing their hatred behind deception - there I cannot afford to wait until they speak, and therefore I preemptively offer my prayer and supplication.
יְהֹוָה הַצִּילָה נַפְשִׁי מִשְּׂפַת־שֶׁקֶר מִלָּשׁוֹן רְמִיָּה׃ - Hashem, rescue my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
This is the special plea that David places first: I cannot wait until their malice strikes - rescue me immediately. "Lying lips" refers to people who speak falsehood and slander against me openly and directly; not to my face, yet speaking about me. But there are worse ones - "a deceitful tongue": those who speak to me deceptively, presenting themselves as friends to my face while gossiping and speaking against me behind my back, as the verse says, "within him he lays his ambush."
This aligns closely with how the Malbim consistently explains in Sefer Mishlei the distinction between "mouth" (peh) and "lip" (safah) versus "tongue" (lashon). The tongue represents internal speech, whereas the mouth and lips represent external speech. When Scripture wishes to describe speech conducted in secret, or the inner intention and true content of the words, it uses the term lashon; when it describes what is expressed outwardly, it uses peh or safah, the external organs. Therefore: "Rescue my soul from lying lips" refers to those liars who do not even pretend to care for me; and even more so, "from a deceitful tongue" refers to those who inwardly plot against me behind my back while speaking words of peace and friendship to my face.
Rashi explains "lying lips" as referring to the descendants of Eisav, who trap people through their speech with wicked fabrications, inventing baseless accusations. The Radak explains that this refers to the nations, who are people of falsehood and deceit.
The sefarim note that the words "הצילה נפשי משפת שקר" form an acronym for "Mishnah", and some explain this based on the literal meaning of Mishnah. It can also be suggested that the word relates to m'shanneh - altering one's words. Chazal teach that there are certain matters in which a person is permitted to alter the truth, such as regarding tractates of Torah or personal matters: when asked if he has learned a certain tractate, out of humility he may say he has not, rather than boasting, "Of course I learned it and know it." Even so, the sefarim note that it is preferable not to utter an explicit lie. If asked, "Did you learn this tractate?" he can answer, "If only I were worthy to learn it!" In reality, he has already studied it several times, and the listener assumes he has never learned it at all, whereas he internally means, "If only I were worthy to learn it again." This is far better than explicitly stating, "I have not learned it."
A story is told of the Chazon Ish, who concealed his greatness in his youth so that no one knew who he was. He would visit the town's rav to study with him on condition that the rav keep his identity hidden. People assumed he went to the rav because the rav was supporting him emotionally, but in reality the opposite was true: the rav, who had already published sefarim in the past, gave him a manuscript of a book he was preparing to publish, and following the Chazon Ish's remarks, the rav shelved the manuscript and decided not to publish it. Once, as the Chazon Ish arrived to study with the rav, a person saw him and assumed he was an idle fellow. He asked him, "Tell me, do you also try to learn a little?" The Chazon Ish replied, "Only whenever possible." The questioner understood this to mean: only whenever I happen to manage, perhaps half an hour once a week; while the Chazon Ish meant: every single moment possible for me, I learn. There is great wisdom in answering so that the listener hears one thing while you mean another, without uttering a lie. This is the lesson: even when one must diverge from the facts and it is halachically permissible, it is preferable not to lie outright, but merely to alter one's phrasing. This is what Dovid Hamelech requests: "Rescue my soul from lying lips" - the acronym of mishnah - so that even in times of necessity, I should merely alter my words rather than utter an outright lie, speaking with careful nuance rather than explicit falsehood. One might add further: rescue me even from the need to alter my words, so that my speech may always be pure truth.
The sefer Otzrot HaAggadah on Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai explains these verses based on the Avodat Yisrael, regarding the verse, "He shall not profane his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds from his mouth." It is a well-known principle: one who merits "he shall not profane his word" (lo yachel devaro), ensuring his speech is never mundane (chullin) but holy, merits that "he shall do according to all that proceeds from his mouth." His mouth becomes so sanctified that whatever decree he utters comes to pass, as it says, "You shall decree a thing, and it will be established for you." When a person guards his mouth from idle speech, whatever emerges from his lips carries the weight of a decree.
A story is told of Rav Elchanan Wasserman, when several unruly troublemakers entered the yeshiva to provoke a disturbance. He approached them and began ushering them out of the study hall, saying, "Out, out!" One of the brazen bullies said to him, "Without hands, without hands!" Rav Elchanan replied, "You without hands - out, out!" That evening, they came pleading before him: both of that young man's hands had become paralyzed. Did the Rosh Yeshiva intend to harm him? Not at all. But speech is like a blade, and when one preserves the sharpness of the blade and does not use it to chop rough wood, it remains razor-sharp and cuts instantly. He said, "You without hands" - and "you shall decree a thing, and it will be established for you." As a disciple of the Chafetz Chaim, he was certainly far above any suspicion of lashon hara and guarded the sanctity of his mouth, renowned as a holy man of God, may Hashem avenge his blood. It is related that he did not waste even minutes; once he reproved his son for bringing him shoes with laces, having calculated that tying them would cost him a certain number of minutes each year away from Torah study - to such an extent did he account for every fraction of time.
From here we also find the answer to how one merits "I called and He answered me," where the Holy One, blessed be He, immediately grants one's request: "Rescue my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue." First pray that Hashem rescue you from lying lips and deceitful speech; guard your mouth from falsehood and deception so that it remains sanctified. Then follows "I called and He answered me" - I call, and the Almighty answers immediately, for every decree issuing from a sanctified mouth is fulfilled.
The Sfas Emes explains: "Rescue my soul from lying lips" - even when one alters the truth for the sake of peace, one must pray that this falsehood, though permitted, does not cling to the soul. A person should not become accustomed to lying. As the Gemara notes, even though one did the right thing - when he reversed matters for his mother and told her that his father wanted lentils when he actually wanted beans, switching it each time so that she would fulfill his father's wish - there remains an element of "they have taught their tongue to speak lies," meaning that a person might become habituated to speaking falsehood. This was also the prayer of Yaakov Avinu: when he told Yitzchak, "I am Esav your firstborn," he was compelled to conceal the truth, and he feared that falsehood might, Heaven forbid, adhere to his soul. Therefore, "rescue my soul from lying lips" - even when I am forced to utter words that depart from the truth, rescue my soul, so that those deceitful words remain merely on the surface, from the lips outward, and do not cling inwardly to the soul.
In the sefer Yalkut Imrei Chaim of Rimanov on Tehillim, a wondrous explanation of this verse is cited in the name of the Arizal. The word sheker (שקר) spelled out with the names of its letters (milui): Shin (ש-י-ן), Kuf (ק-ו-ף), Reish (ר-י-ש). The first letters of this spelling are naturally sheker (שק"ר). The final letters - Nun, Pei, Shin - spell nefesh (נפ"ש, soul). And the middle letters - Yud, Vav, Yud (י-ו-י) - have a numerical value of twenty-six, corresponding to the four-letter Name of Hashem (Havayah). Thus, the Name of Hashem stands in the middle, separating the falsehood at the head of the letters from the soul at their end, preventing the falsehood from attaching to the soul. This is what Dovid Hamelech means when he says: "Hashem, rescue my soul from lying lips" - the Name of Havayah rescues my soul so that it will not adhere to falsehood. According to this, they also explain the verse in the subsequent psalm, "Hashem shall guard your going out and your coming in, from now and forever": "your going out" refers to the final letters (nefesh), and "your coming in" refers to the initial letters (sheker). Through the Name of Havayah in the middle, the going out and coming in are guarded from joining together - so that the soul will not cling to falsehood, but rather the Name of Havayah in the middle separates between them. This is explained in the sefer Zeh HaSha'ar.
מַה־יִּתֵּן לְךָ וּמַה־יֹּסִיף לָךְ לָשׁוֹן רְמִיָּה׃ - What will it give you, and what will it add to you, O deceitful tongue?
The Radak explains that Dovid now turns to address the purveyors of falsehood, against the nations who fabricate false libels against us. As is well known, throughout its thousands of years in exile, the Jewish people have endured false libels and fabrications: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," blood libels claiming Jews slaughter children to use their blood for matzot, accusations that Jews poisoned the wells of Europe during epidemics, and the Doctors' Plot in Russia under Stalin that led to tragic executions. This has been the constant reality of lying lips and deceitful tongues among the nations, who perpetually concoct slanders and inventions against us. From such libels, we must pray that Hashem deliver us.
And anyone who thinks this is merely history can examine the resolutions of the Human Rights Council and the various international bodies that constantly champion human rights, and observe the libels they level against us - even as Israel conducts itself with the greatest humanitarian care toward its enemies. Even America does not practice "roof knocking" before destroying an entire village, only to discover later that it was an error: they suspected a Taliban operative was there and wiped out the village. No roof knocking, nothing. As a former prime minister once remarked: without the High Court of Justice and without B'Tselem - other nations have no such inhibitions. Yet here, one sees how meticulously cautious our forces are and the purity of arms they maintain; nevertheless, eighty percent of the Human Rights Council's resolutions are directed at the Israeli military, directed at us. It is not as if everything in Syria is fine, or that everything in Ukraine is strictly by the book, but the primary "problems" are allegedly found specifically here, as is notoriously well known. Therefore, Dovid pleads: Master of the Universe, rescue me from those nations who speak falsehood and fabricate charges against Israel in exile - what profit is there in a deceitful tongue? What will it give you, and what will it add to you?
In the sefer Yosef Tehillot, an explanation based on the Yerushalmi is cited in the name of Rav Yosef ben G'wiya. Rabbi Shimon said: Had I been standing at Mount Sinai, I would have requested that the Holy One, blessed be He, create man with two mouths. Why specifically at Mount Sinai, given that man was not created then? Because it was then that man became obligated to study Torah, for at Mount Sinai we received the Torah. Master of the Universe, with the very same mouth with which I speak mundane matters, should I also meditate on the Torah?! Let there be two mouths: one mouth to study Torah, and one mouth for ordinary mundane matters - not, Heaven forbid, for evil speech, gossip, or lies, but simply for mundane affairs, so that the two are not mixed together. But Rabbi Shimon then reconsidered and said: If with a single mouth the world cannot endure because of the evil speech that emerges - man was created with only one mouth, and look at how much harm it produces - I retract my request; one mouth is quite enough.
Indeed, if a person had two mouths, he might speak evil speech "in stereo," simultaneously from both so as not to miss an opportunity! How fortunate it is that man has only one mouth, minimizing the damage. For there is no guarantee that we would use one mouth solely for Torah and the second for ordinary or idle talk; perhaps we would end up speaking evil speech with both of them, Heaven forbid. This is the meaning of the verse: "What will it give you, and what will it add to you, a tongue?" - Rabbi Shimon wished for an additional mouth and tongue, to which the verse responds: What will an additional tongue give you or add to you? You want another tongue added to you, but what will you gain with two tongues? In the end, that additional tongue would also become a deceitful tongue. Therefore, it is far better to have only one tongue, for if another tongue were granted, the ultimate result would be greater harm and even graver transgressions.
The Radak cites a Midrash of Chazal: "What will it give you, and what will it add to you" - what more could the Holy One, blessed be He, have done for you to safeguard you against speaking evil? The Almighty created all the other limbs erect and upright, whereas you, the tongue, lie flat and recumbent. An object that stands upright is far more prone to act than one lying down, yet despite this, see how the tongue never ceases to talk!
Notice another point: every limb in the human body tires after being exerted for a certain amount of time. If a person extends his arm and holds something, after just a minute he can no longer maintain it. A man related that he was present at the mass Birkat Kohanim at the Kotel, where Rav Shalom Cohen ztz"l was participating. The chazzan was prolonging the service with various musical flourishes and trills, while Rav Shalom Cohen, who was already past ninety years of age, stood with both hands outstretched forward. It is difficult enough for anyone to stand like that, yet the chazzan took his time elaborating the melodies. Suddenly, Rav Shalom Cohen lowered his tallit and signaled to the chazzan with his hand: "Nu, nu - hurry up already, why are you keeping us stuck with our hands in the air?" The chazzan immediately sped up. Every limb of a person, when exercised, tires after a while.
Yet who has ever heard someone say, "My tongue has gotten tired"? A person can stage a filibuster in the Knesset and speak for eight hours, and the tongue does not tire; the audience might grow weary, but the tongue does not. A person's body gets tired and feels fatigue, but the tongue does not tire - it is a muscle that never fatigues. Incidentally, this was designed for the good: so that a person can immerse in Torah study without interruption. Yet regarding this, the Midrash remarks: all other organs stand upright while you lie flat, and despite all this, your activity is endless.
Furthermore: all other organs are on the outside, while you are on the inside. An external organ acts more immediately - the hand is external and its action is immediate; but you, the tongue, had guards placed over you and fences set around you; you are on the inside. What is more, you were enclosed by two walls, one of bone and one of flesh - and despite all this, you remain unguarded. "What shall it give you, and what shall it add to you?" What more could the Holy One, blessed be He, do to safeguard you? From this one can see just how severe and immense the tongue's potential for harm is.
This psalm opens the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Shirei HaMa'alos), which were recited upon the steps of the Beis HaMikdash, and in the view of the Radak, also correspond to the stages of exile and the ascent from it. King David acknowledges that in every distress he called to Hashem and was answered, but there is one trouble that cannot be endured: the mouth of slanderers. Therefore, he pleads preemptively, "Rescue my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue" - from those who lie openly, and from the deceivers who conceal hatred behind words of peace. From this we learn the value of the sanctity of speech: even when Halachah permits modifying the truth for the sake of peace, it is better to employ clever phrasing rather than an outright lie, so that falsehood does not taint the soul, and so that one who guards his mouth merits the fulfillment of "he shall not desecrate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds from his mouth" - and through this merit, "I called, and He answered me." Conversely, "What shall it give you, and what shall it add to you, deceitful tongue?": The Holy One, blessed be He, surrounded the tongue with two walls and laid it down inside, yet despite all this, it remains unguarded and never tires - a testament to how great its damage can be, and how immense is the lifelong work of guarding it.