Psalm 101 Study Notes/Verse 5

5. “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.”

Why will the king destroy the one who secretly slanders his neighbor? We call this gossip. And the Bible strictly forbids it. Gossip is cowardice in its fullness. It is the enemy of everything good. A little gossip can destroy the inner workings of anything it touches. Especially, when it is done in secret, gossip can devastate the one being gossiped about without even the decency to have the offended present to defend their selves. To believe a lie is the first step to the path of destruction. Satan is called the, “father of lies” by the Lord Jesus himself. To secretly slander someone is to traffic with Satan. To secretly slander your neighbor is to be partners with the evil one.
A haughty or proud person is one who is headed for a fall according to the Bible. “God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud.” God actually sets up a line of opposition against anyone who is prideful. And we all know you can’t win when you stand toe to toe with God. A proud person is especially dreadful because they are deceived. They think that they are someone or something that they are not. Pride is exactly what got Lucifer kicked out of heaven to the earth. Now that is quite a fall. The truth be told, it actually has gotten him kicked out of heaven to the “Lake of Fire”, where he will be locked away forever and ever. He is just not there yet. But he will be.
The proud person refuses to be humble and teachable and that is sad, because the truth is that if we don’t remain humble and teachable, God will humble us and teach us anyway and it won’t be near as pleasant as it could’ve of been.