Life can suddenly change. Like a butterfly on a trembling leaf, our world can become tossed and shaken. When this happens, to say we are “anxious” is an understatement. The words in Psalm 108 are a better description of our life.
“For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded and stricken within me. I am gone like the shadow when it lengthens and declines; I toss up and down and am shaken off as the locust. My knees are weak and totter from fasting; and my body is gaunt and has no fatness. I have become also a reproach and a taunt to others; when they see me, they shake their heads.” Psalm 108:22-25
The Psalm writer is in this weakened state because, as he says,
“The mouths of the wicked and the mouth of deceit are opened against me; they have spoken to me and against me with lying tongues. They have surrounded me with words of hatred and fought against me without cause. In return for my love, they are adversaries, BUT I RESORT TO PRAYER. They have rewarded and laid upon me evil for good, and hatred for my love.”
Deceit is an enemy to all. If deceit dominates a situation, it can overcome our spirit in the ways described above. Deceit is the act or practice of deceiving or misleading somebody. Every evil ever committed is compounded and multiplied to the degree that deceit is allowed to prevail.
Telling the truth allows us to become an avenger of deceit.
Even though God knows all truth, if we ever hope to live free of the evil lurking in deceit, WE must tell the truth to Him, ourselves, and our family and friends.
In an ideal world, truth would be constantly upheld, but until heaven is reached, we live in a fallen world. Thank God we can look to Him as the Psalmist does, and say,
“O deliver me. O God of my praise! Keep not silent. Deal with me and act for me, O God the Lord, for Your name’s sake; because Your mercy and loving-kindness are good, O deliver me.”
Here’s an additional warning for those who thrive on deceit. The last verse of this Psalm and the beginning of the next tell where God and His power will be.
“For He will stand at the right of the poor and needy, to save him from those who condemn his life.” (“condemn” by deceit) Psalm 109:31
My Prayer
God save and rescue those who are trembling from life’s attacks. Uncover truth all around us. Cause us to run from deceit and false thinking, because it is not Your way. Help us to be brave in our stand for truth, but starting with truth in ourselves. Tangle our feet when we ignore the log in our own eye and point out the splinters in others eyes. Teach us how to refute our own false thinking. May Your way shine crystal clear in the muddiness of our life. Amen