Psalm 34: 12 – 13 TPT
Do you want to live a long, good life, enjoying the beauty that fills each day? Then never speak a lie or allow wicked words to come from your mouth.
A friend of mine once remarked that we need to be reminded about the words of our mouth weekly if not daily. I so agree. We forget the power that is in our words and we forget the impact they have on our lives and the lives of those around us, like our families.
Don’t you like the idea of beauty filling every day? Of course, a long life and good life are attractive too. The psalmist here is David. He is teaching how to have a beautiful, long and good life. And, he ought to know. Never tell a lie, he tells us and don’t allow wicked words to come from your mouth. You have to decide for yourself what words are wicked and you may find that your definition changes over time but set a bar and make it your determined purpose to refrain from words you wouldn’t want to hear your mother saying. That is a decent test. I also think we can broaden our view by including vulgar words. There are terms we can use in place of words that may not be considered profanity but that are vulgar none the less. Civilization, in part, reveals itself in language. So I cast my vote for a more civilized lexicon, a vocabulary that gives honor to our Father instead of embarrassing Him.
What shall we say of lying? We all know, empirically, that it is wrong and yet do we refrain? Even from little white lies? I do not believe there is such a thing as a little lie. Either a statement is true or it is not. It may be phrased in such a way as to not be an outright lie but it isn’t the truth either. It is a deception and phrased in such a way as to be intentional misleading.
Here is the question I would like answered. Why do we lie? Is it that we are cowardly and cannot face up to the truth? Is it that we are embarrassed by our behaviors and thus attempt to paint a better picture of ourselves? Is it that we wish to avoid the natural consequences of our actions? I don’t know. Perhaps it is all of these and more but here is the bottom line, and I will not equivocate. Every lie is cooperation and companionship with Satan. Jesus is the truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. There is a very clear line here. We either line up with Satan or we line up with Jesus. Which shall it be? If we want the good life, a long life filled with beauty, then we must make the difficult choice to live in truth. I know it’s hard but everything about following Jesus is a challenge when you live in the world. His way is not the world’s way.
David teaches how to live in God’s blessing. It means we must guard our mouths. This is likely one of the most difficult tasks many of us undertake, but life and blessing are in the words of our mouths. Like my friend, said, remind yourself today about your words. Clean up your language and have a good life.
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