A song of ascents.
I call on the LORD in my distress,
and he answers me.
Save me, O LORD, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
What will he do to you,
and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom tree.
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
I am a man of peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.
A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
My Understanding: The Psalmist was in distress over lies that were being spread or told about him; false accusations intended, evidently, to discredit him. So, he called out to the Lord in prayer for the Lord to save him from lying lips and deceitful tongues.
A lie is an untruth, a falsehood and/or something that somebody makes up either to protect himself or herself, often to cover up something he or she has done that is sinful, and for which he or she does not want to be found out; and/or to willfully cause harm to another, perhaps to cause harm or to discredit someone who has discovered this person’s sin.
Deceit is even more sinister than a lie, because deceit involves treachery (betrayal), trickery (scamming; conning; cheating), pretense, duplicity (a double-minded man, unstable in all he does), fraud, misleading and dishonesty (lies). So these lies are intended to misdirect, mislead and to cause great harm to another person; used as a weapon of war against another for the purpose of trying to discredit the person and to bring him or her down. Wow! Proverbs 6:16-19 says this about lying lips and deceitful tongues:
There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
And, James 3:3-8 says this about the tongue:
“When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
The Psalmist, in Psalm 120, spoke of how God would judge the deceitful tongue. He would punish the deceitful tongue with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree. I find it interesting here that the judgment of God against the deceitful tongue appears to parallel the manner in which the deceitful tongue caused great harm, i.e. the tongue is compared to a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body; it sets the whole course of the person’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. And, God will judge the deceitful tongue for the harm that it caused.
And I Peter 3:9b-11 says this about the tongue:
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.”
The Psalmist, in Psalm 120, said he was a man of peace but that those who were speaking lies against him were for war, i.e. they were using their lies and deceit against him as weapons of war in order to try to defeat him. This is one of Satan’s greatest weapons against believers in Jesus Christ, too. As well, true peace is not the kind of peace that the world often speaks of, i.e. it is not necessarily the absence of conflict or some euphoric state of mind, but true peace comes from being in a right relationship with Jesus Christ and thus at peace with God through repentance, faith and obedience to Christ and to his commands. All hell could be breaking loose on the outside and the believer can still experience true peace within, i.e. resulting from his faith and trust in the Lord, and in God’s sovereignty over the circumstances of his life.
Going back to the beginning, the Psalmist was in distress over the lies which were being spread about him, so he called on the Lord to save him from lying lips and deceitful tongues. I believe Psalm 121 continues this theme of praying for some type of deliverance from God, because of the strong pursuit of an enemy. The Psalmist recognized that his source of help and deliverance came from God and from God alone. He is the only one who can keep our feet from slipping, i.e. from us falling into the devil’s trap and/or into sin. When the enemy of our souls is in hot pursuit and is breathing out lies and violence against us to try to bring us down, we must remain faithful to God and to his word, and we must not cave to the enemy of our souls by allowing his attacks on our character to defeat us.
The way in which we remain strong and faithful during such times as these is by understanding God and his sovereignty over our lives, and by accepting these trials and tests of our faith as from the hand of God intended to humble us and to purify us. As well, we are able to remain true to God and to his word when we do not cave to Satan’s lies, which often try to tell us that God doesn’t care or that he has abandoned us, but we fight off his lies with the truth of God’s word which teaches us that our Lord Jesus will never leave us or forsake those who are truly his, but he is paying attention, he does care, and he is watching over us to see us through these difficult times, and to bring us safely into his eternal kingdom. Yet, God does not promise us that we won’t have to go through such trials, but what he does promise us is that he will lead and guide us through these times.
The “harm” he is most concerned about is not necessarily the harm to our reputations, but the harm he intends to keep us from is the type that might destroy our relationship with him, i.e. he watches over us to keep us from falling into the devil’s trap and to keep us from falling into sin due to despair and discouragement. These trials come to test our faith, so he watches over us to keep us from falling away from our faith on account of these kinds of persecutions. As well, it is his will for us that we experience peace and joy within even when all is going wrong on the outside. Paul said this about trials in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
God often allows such trials into our lives to test our faith so that we might not rely on ourselves but on God. He uses these times of great difficulty and/or persecutions in order to strengthen our faith and resolve to follow him in all things, and to get us to place our absolute trust in him, knowing full well that there is nothing we can do in our own flesh and will to combat these attacks of the enemy. Only in the strength of the Lord, and through his loving and protecting hand in our lives, can we endure such opposition and still come out strong and determined to keep following the Lord Jesus. So, the Lord may not deliver us from the trial, though he may, but he will most certainly deliver us through the trial by increasing our faith, by keeping us from falling, and by making us even more determined to follow him wherever he leads us, and more resolved, too, to obey him in all things.
Fit for Service / An Original Work / October 5, 2011
Holy Spirit, come within us.
Cleanse our hearts,
and from sin free us.
Make us holy vessels fit
for service to the King.
Fill us with Your love and power.
Anoint us within this hour
To be living witnesses
For Jesus Christ, our King.
Our praise to Him bring.
Father God, our heart’s desire,
Come and speak to us in power.
Revive our hearts to obey You;
Live for You always.
May we love and serve You only,
Walking with You;
Not a phony.
May we always tell the truth,
And show integrity.
Your true servants be.
Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.
Purify our hearts within us;
Be transformed into Your likeness,
Holy unto You.
May we always listen to You
Speaking Your words
Now within us.
May we heed Your counsel to us;
Follow You today.
Do all that You say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3BcCHKADr4
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