TUESDAY 4th
Today marks devotion 550!
Psalm 109
NIV (v4b) ‘but I am a man of prayer.’
ESV (v4b) ‘but I give myself to prayer.’
As I looked through this psalm, I wondered what on earth am I going to bring for the devotion, as it seems that it only contained what the enemies of David were continually speaking out against him, in his own words, ‘Wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.’ What does David do, he is obviously hurting, does he attack them back? No, he says in verse 4 ‘but I give myself to prayer.’ Perhaps he knew that if he was left to himself, he may not handle the situation very well, he may get personal himself, he may offend, he knew that it would result in him acting in an unbecoming way, not like one who should behave as a believer, prayer was the only and the most valuable way of dealing with it. You can see his prayer in verses 21-30.
In the New Testament we read that we should be careful how we use our tongue, James says how is it that we can use our tongues to praise God, to bless our Lord and Father, then the next minute use it to curse people, speak ill or speak wrongly about our brother or sister. In Proverbs we read ‘Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight’, how we respond to those who speak against us whether it be through a lie, an accusation, gossip, or slander is important, again in Proverbs we read ‘A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.’
Returning to James, he continued, ‘Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.’ He also says in a later chapter, ‘Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.’
May we guard our tongues, may God help us to control what we say and help us to respond in an honourable way if someone should speak wrongly against us. Just a couple more Scriptures to end this devotion:
‘So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.’ (1 Peter 2:1)
‘Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.’ (James 5:9–12)