Observe here, Malice is folly and wickedness. 1. It is so when it is
concealed by flattery and dissimulation: He is a fool, though he may
think himself a politician, that hides hatred with lying lips, lest, if
it break out, he should be ashamed before men and should lose the
opportunity of gratifying his malice. Lying lips are bad enough of
themselves, but have a peculiar malignity in them when they are made a
cloak of maliciousness. But he is a fool who thinks to hide any thing
from God. 2. It is no better when it is vented in spiteful and
mischievous language: He that utters slander is a fool too, for God
will sooner or later bring forth that righteousness as the light which
he endeavours to cloud, and will find an expedient to roll the reproach
away.