In the foregoing verse the thoughts of the wicked and righteous were
compared; here their words, and those are as the abundance of the heart
is. 1. Wicked people speak mischief to their neighbours; and wicked
indeed those are whose words are to lie in wait for blood; their
tongues are swords to those that stand in their way, to good men whom
they hate and persecute. See an instance, Luke xx. 20, 21. 2. Good men
speak help to their neighbours: The mouth of the upright is ready to be
opened in the cause of those that are oppressed (ch. xxxi. 8), to plead
for them, to witness for them, and so to deliver them, particularly
those whom the wicked lie in wait for. A man may sometimes do a very
good work with one good word.