DELIVER ME O LORD, FROM LYING LIPS

The Pilgrim’s Cry – Jennifer Woodley

‘Deliver me O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.’ Psalm 120:2 (NRSV) 
As the pilgrim begins the journey in of ascent traveling towards Jerusalem in Psalm 120, he asks his Heavenly Father to deliver him from slanderers who torment his life. He asks to be rescued from those whose lips speak devious words with malicious intent; whose heart is set on war (7); whose treachery makes them worthy of being pierced with a warrior’s arrow glowing with hot, fiery coals (4). In his distress, the psalmist earnestly seeks the One who alone can preserve his life. 

Yet the psalmist asks for even more. 

His prayer is not just for his preservation against the wicked. 

The pilgrim is asking that as he travels this often dangerous road, that God would keep his conversations pure and that he would utter words of righteousness and peace. 

This is the sign to the wicked that he belongs to God. His cry is for deliverance from the language that distinguishes his enemies as those who do not serve the Lord. 

Today, many seem to serve the god of deceit and violence rather than the Savior of peace. Their words are sharp arrows that pierce hearts and crush spirits. 

Only God can transform us through the power of His indwelling Spirit, to do otherwise. Let us seek the Lord and pray, “Heavenly Father, I ask that you would guard my footsteps, this day delivering me from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. 

Father keep the intentions of my heart pure and pleasing to You. May the words from my lips be honest and good so that they will edify others always. Amen.”