December 11: Psalms 120 1-7

Key Verse: Psalms 120 2
Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

Devotion:
Isn’t it amazing just how much people tend to lie in our society nowadays? We look at politicians as people who find it hard to tell the truth; we look at lawyers as people who need to find ways to bend the truth... And we think of this as normal living! Telling lies has become part of our culture and children are learning it from the very beginning of life because of the example we are to them. But God made sure this was one which made it into the “top ten”: Exodus 20 16 tells us “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.”

If we are honest with ourselves we will all admit to having told lies in the past, be those huge whoppers or tiny white lies, and have had to live with the consequences of those lies. Again, if we are honest, we will admit to thinking our lies are a direct consequence of the lies others have said or we have said to get us away from some situation. We use them as a tool in everyday life! Oh how God must look upon us with despair as we live our lies!

We may be surrounded by people who tell lies and many who are deceitful too; but that does not mean we have to follow on in the same manner. Whilst we do have a choice as to whether we want to follow a path of lies or follow God’s Commandments, the choice is more along the lines of we can choose to follow a path of safety or a path to destruction!

God is good, but He is a just God. He has quite clearly given us the instructions we should follow. He has very clearly given us the punishment we will face when we break His laws. So, the path of what we should follow should be quite clear – we should follow His laws to avoid the punishment! He is just and will allow us to receive the punishment unless we come to Him and repent! When we do cry out to Him, He will hear us. Unlike us, God cannot lie and hence we must trust everything He has given to us and trust that if we do disobey Him, we have to face up to the consequences!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you tell white lies?

Do you think God would believe your white lies too?