Psalm 78:36

Psalm 78:36, in plain English

But their change of heart was shallow. They spoke words of devotion with their mouths while lying about their true commitment.

Why it's here

They said the right things when desperate, but they didn't mean them. Their mouths promised faithfulness their hearts had no intention of keeping. This is the distinction between profession and possession—saying you believe isn't the same as actually believing.

Who's speaking

Asaph, exposing the gap between words and reality.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus will later condemn this kind of hollow righteousness—honoring God with lips while hearts are far away. It's the deepest hypocrisy.

The scholarly reading

Yet their repentance was hollow—they deceived God with flattering speech and false oaths, their verbal claims of faithfulness masking continued disloyalty.

Language and setting

The Hebrew construction וַיְפַתּוּהוּ בְפִיהֶם (vay'fatt'hu be-fihhem, literally 'they deceived Him with their mouth') uses the verb פתה (patah), which denotes enticement or seduction through deceptive words. The parallelism with וּבִלְשׁוֹנָם יְכַזְּבוּ־לוֹ (u-bilshnam y'kazberu lo, 'with their tongue they lied to Him') emphasizes the specifically linguistic character of their deception. The prepositions בְפִיהֶם (be-fihhem, 'with their mouth') and בִלְשׁוֹנָם (bilshnam, 'with their tongue') create an intensifying parallel: first the mouth (the organ of speech generally), then the tongue (the articulatory instrument specifically), suggesting multiplied deception. This recalls Jeremiah's indictment that Israel's repentance was merely superficial (Jeremiah 3:10).

Voice

The psalmist diagnoses the pathology of Israel's repentance as fundamentally insincere.

Significance

This verse introduces a theological problem that recurs throughout Scripture: the distinction between words and reality, between verbal contrition and authentic transformation. Jesus's Sermon on the Mount returns repeatedly to this distinction (Matthew 23:25-26, 'Woe to you, teachers of the law... you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed'). The prophets consistently condemned formal repentance divorced from ethical transformation (Isaiah 1:11-17, Amos 5:21-24). This verse establishes that mere words constitute a form of covenant violation more egregious than silence.

34When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

35And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

37Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

38And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

Read all of Psalm 78 — The longest historical psalm — a retelling of Israel's journey from Egypt to David. Remember, so the next generation won't forget.