Psalm 31:18

“Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.”

Let lying lips be put to silence. There is somethingI see in the world around me that goes right along with its growing contempt for God, and that is contempt for fellow human beings. There is no such thing as forgiveness in the heart of man. Each of us is so sure of our “rights” and heaven help the person who treads on them.

Our rights have become our God. When someone treats us in a way we feel is unjust, we all hear those lying lips say, “How dare they do that to me??!!” What does this statement really say? First of all it says, “I don’t deserve this”. Is this statement true? According to the Bible, aside from the grace of God, we all deserve much worse than anyone could ever do to us here on earth. Next time we hear lying lips ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” we might put them to silence by asking another question, “What did Jesus do to deserve the cross?”

“How dare they do that to me?” What else does this statement say? How about, “I would never do something like that!” We might silence lying lips in this instance by calling to remembrance what we have done. All of which took our Lord to the cross. Nothing anyone could do to us compares to what we have already done to Christ.

The last statement I have found to come from lying lips is far worse than the previous two. When we say, “How dare they” what we are really saying is, “How dare God”. Don’t we have a sovereign God? Haven’t we read in the scriptures “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things” (Rom 11:36)?

“Lord, please help me to apply these concepts to my life. I struggle with anger and a “how dare they” attitude. Please put to silence lying lips that attempt to separate me from others. Help me to hold in my heart the words “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him”