Monday, 1 August 2016

Psalm 120 - God promises to deliver us from lies and deceit

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Psalm 120:1-2 "In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue." NKJV

This first verse of Psalm 120 is telling us in affliction the writer called out to the LORD, Who provided an answer. The last word of this verse (root word ANA) is used with the "vav consecutive" (which changes tense; in this case from future tense to past tense). The word means sing, shout, testify, announce. This tells us that God is ready to answer us when we call out to Him. Even better than that, God will sing the answer back to us. In the second verse, the writer is asking the LORD to deliver his soul from false speech (lying lips) and from a tongue that is slack (treacherous).

Right away, as the penitent worshipper begins the ascent to the presence of God (on the top level of the Temple Mount) the Word is offering a clear message. We call, God answers and He will deliver us from lies.

While we are assured of receiving this blessing, we must also be watchful that we are not the offending party; that we, ourselves, do not have a "deceitful tongue" nor "lying lips". These meditations also appear in Psalm 34:

Psalm 34:13-15 "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry." NKJV

This Scripture from Psalm 34 is quoted in 1 Peter 3:8-12:

"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For 'He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.'" NKJV

Think on these things.