Lies
We had lunch with friends the other weekend and Lisa, who used to be a teacher, was telling a story of how the principal came to her class one day, only to find one of the boys with his hands covering his mouth and he didn't want to take them away. But eventually she got him to, only to find that there was duct tape on his mouth to make sure that he kept it shut!
We had such a laugh, but it made me think about Psalm 12, where David talks about the way that people speak and how some people should probably better just keep their mouths shut. And so let's look at that Psalm this week and maybe learn to sometimes keep our own mouths closed instead of using them in the wrong ways.
The Biblical Call for Truthful Speech
David begins the Psalm by saying this: "Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore. Those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. Everyone lies to their neighbor."
He was looking around and he just saw dishonesty everywhere. Makes me think of the Billy Joel song Honesty, which says: "If you search for tenderness, it isn't hard to find, but if you look for truthfulness, you may just as well be blind. Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue."
That was written in the 70s. But I guess we see the same thing around us today. Lots of dishonesty. And lies.
God's Standards for Honest Living
Maybe we need to be reminded today that God detests lying. Even in the Ten Commandments, we have "Do not steal," which is dishonesty, and we have "Do not give false testimony against your neighbor," which means don't lie about people.
It's a common theme, in fact, throughout the Bible. In Leviticus 19, God is talking about sins such as witchcraft and prostitution. And in amongst these, He commands the people to use honest scales and honest weights. David also said this in Psalm 101: "No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house." And his son Solomon wrote in Proverbs 12:22: "The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy."
And here's one more scripture from the New Testament. Paul said: "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self, your old sinful ways."
Finding Freedom Through Christ's Truth
And so, throughout the Bible, we learn that it's probably better to say nothing at all than to be dishonest and tell lies.
Before you get too comfortable thinking that this isn't your problem, what about half-truths and white lies and exaggerations and broken promises in your own life? Are your words trustworthy?
Of course, there is forgiveness in Christ for us who struggle with these types of things, and there is freedom from this type of thing through the power of the Holy Spirit.
But perhaps today, we need to come to God in a state of repentance and say, "Lord, forgive my lying lips, my dishonesty, and make me honest like Jesus was."
God will certainly be there to help you achieve this because He Himself is the very definition of truth.
