DEUT1511 Our Sages, z"l, said (Arachin 15b), "One who speaks lashon hara is as if he denies Hashem, as the pasuk says (Tehillim 12:5), 'With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?'" ["Our lips are with us"--to speak lashon hara. "Who is master over us?"--This denies Divine providence (Malbim)]. The reason he is regarded as one who has denied Hashem is the following: Such a person affects and causes great harm and much evil to his peers by tarnishing their reputation in the eyes of others, or by other types of damage; and it cannot be that one prepares for his peers utensils of destruction and harm more bitter than death itself without any personal benefit or economic gain, unless his yetzer [I.e., evil inclination] has overcome his soul, he has divested himself of the yoke of Heaven, and has severed his bonds [to Hashem]. This is as the pasuk says in the psalm, "when the Ziphim came and said to Shaul..." (ibid., 54:5): [The people of Ziph revealed David's hiding place to Shaul, therefore endangering his life (see I Shmuel 23:19)] "For strangers have risen up against me, and violent men have sought my soul; they have not set God before themselves." Our Sages, z "l, expanded upon this as follows (Midrash Tehillim 54): "They have not set God before themselves'--for their intent was for Shaul to bless them, just as he [subsequently did when he] said to them (I Shmuel 23:21), 'Blessed are you unto Hashem, for you have shown me compassion.'' They have not set God before themselves'--for the Torah states [this verse], 'Cursed is he who is secretly strikes his fellow man.'" [Secretly strikes his fellow man" – – this refers to lashon hara (Rashi). Thus, the Ziphim spoke against David merely to receive Shaul's blessing, and were not concerned with God's curse. This shows their denial of Hashem and His providence.] The pasuk also says (Koheles 10:11), "There is no gain for one who has an [evil] tongue." [I.e., who speaks lashon hara; see Arachin 15b].