David was a king. Before that, he was commander. Before that he was brother. He knew what it was like to participate in a large group with many voices and many opinions vying for supremacy. His psalms make the distinction time and time again as to the boundaries of what is wicked and wise. In these psalms, he doesn’t claim to be better ontologically than anyone else because he knows that every person, comparatively to God, is wicked. Though he is the king, he doesn’t see the divide between himself and anyone else as being too far a gap for him to cross. He knows that the one thing keeping him on the side of righteousness is God’s personal hand on him. This is of utmost importance to him. Here he highlights one of the ways in which a man crosses that divide so easily. He notes that his lips need to be sealed. This has two functions. First, it closes off his mouth so that evil doesn’t come spilling out from his words. Secondly, it closes off his mouth so that evil things cannot be consumed into his soul. It’s a sound metaphor given that evil first entered the world through Adam’s consumption of food. It is also prescient for believers who might be quick to trivialize the divide or the mundane way in which we cross it. Truthfully, whether a prince or a pauper, we all need God’s constant intervention to keep from quickly descending into wickedness.