![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Psalm_34_12-13.jpg)
| “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.” |
| —Psalm 34:12-13 |
It is relatively easy to do what my friends from the United Kingdom call “keeping a sharp tongue.” At least it is for me—and I suspect it is for you, too. In these days of unbelievable strife in our nation, we are a people deeply divided by a false narrative of politics, a false narrative of racial division, a false narrative of religious division, and a false narrative of income inequality.
Even in describing these points of division as “false narratives” I will be deeply offending some individuals who truly believe these matters divide us. I choose to sincerely believe these are all false narratives constructed by our enemy, Satan, to cause strife among us. Nevertheless, my point remains, it is very easy to keep a sharp tongue.
On the other hand, King David lived at a time when deep division had afflicted the people of Israel, as well. He also realized that these divisions were largely created by false narratives. And, David pushes back against these narratives by writing these words found in Psalm 34:12-13:
Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
How many times in the last days have you read something on Facebook, Twitter, or some other social media, or taken note of an article in a blog post or on-line newspaper or magazine, and immediately repeated what the article said without making any effort whatsoever to check out the so-called facts from first sources? I have watched entire churches divide over false narratives created by individuals who wanted to punish someone for a real or imagined hurt. A lie here, a stretching of the truth there, a bit of distorted information said enough times and soon strife arises.
As we begin a new day, let’s determine to speak only verifiable truth. Let’s be very slow to jump on any bandwagon these days. Instead, let’s look to God’s written Word as our source of truth. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to help keep our minds and hearts pure and free from falsehoods. Let’s be very careful what we repeat on social medial. If we do this, God will be pleased to honor our embracing of the truth.
