Psalm 5:9
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.
Here David's attention returns to his enemies, who are clearly
both wicked and dangerous. But what I find surprising is the weapons they are armed with. We might expect that enemies of a king would be notable for their violence and their weapons. And perhaps these men are the 'bloodthirsty' of verse 6, keen to attack him physically. But it seems that what David is most
concerned about are their words. It is their throats and their tongues that do the damage. They are full of lies and cannot be trusted. Looking ahead to verse 10 we see that they are involved in 'intrigues' - presumably plotting to deceive David. Often we consider physical violence to be the greatest evil humankind commits, but reflecting on this verse we are reminded of the destructive power of words. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. The devil himself is described as 'the father of lies' - deception is his speciality. After all, if the truth of God's goodness and
love were clearly visible to all, and our minds were not deceived into believing lies, who would ever rebel against him? All sin grows out of the same lies that Adam and Eve believed in Eden - 'God doesn't really love me'. 'God just wants to deprive me of something good'. 'Surely I know better than God does what will make me happy'.
In contrast to the intrigue and deception of the enemies, the path that God leads David along is straight. We know that he is utterly
trustworthy. His words are always true. God never lies. What great comfort and reassurance that is for us as his people - surrounded as we are by the devil's deceptions, and living in a world where truth is often considered irrelevant.
Let's thank God that his words can be trusted, and pray that
we will be people marked by a love of truth - that we will treasure his true words and be on our guard against being deceived by his enemies.
