“O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.” -Psalm 31:17–18
Building off the parallelism of verse 17 and using the imperfect verb “let” to summarize his petition, David expresses his ultimate desire for all those who lie and speak against the righteous to be utterly and completely silenced because they are insolent in their pride and contempt.
This is instructive because it reminds us we can rest in the Lord when evil people speak against God’s people. Because they are prideful, they will fall.
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” -Proverbs 16:18
Because the face of the Lord is against the insolent and contemptuous, the righteous will be safe.
“Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” -Proverbs 24:15–16
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”” -1 Peter 3:12