Psalms 55:21 (YLT)

Passage

Sweeter than honey hath been his mouth, And his heart <FI>is<Fi> war! Softer have been his words than oil, And they <FI>are<Fi> drawn <FI>swords<Fi> .

Nearby Context

Psalms 55:19 God doth hear and afflict them, And He sitteth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, and fear not God,

Psalms 55:20 He hath sent forth his hands against his well-wishers, He hath polluted his covenant.

Psalms 55:21 Sweeter than honey hath been his mouth, And his heart <FI>is<Fi> war! Softer have been his words than oil, And they <FI>are<Fi> drawn <FI>swords<Fi> .

Psalms 55:22 Cast on Jehovah that which He hath given thee, And He doth sustain thee, He doth not suffer for ever the moving of the righteous.

Psalms 55:23 And Thou, O God, dost bring them down To a pit of destruction, Men of blood and deceit reach not to half their days, And I--I do trust in Thee!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sweeter", "than", "honey", "hath", "been", "mouth", "heart", and "softer". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sweeter" and "than", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "He hath sent forth his hands against..." into verse 22's "Cast on Jehovah that which He hath...", so "sweeter" and "than" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sweeter" and "than" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.