Psalm 31 – Let their lying lips be silenced

Let their lying lips be silenced. Yes, it’s a line in Psalm 31. And David had his reason for writing it. These days, almost anything anyone says could be the target of that thought. There was a time when truth meant something. Now, it has almost no real meaning. Similarly, we used to know when people lied. Now, it’s like we either don’t know or don’t care.

Psalm 31 - Let their lying lips be silenced is article #31 in the series: Psalms. Click this button to view all titles for entire series.

It feels like, whenever anyone says anything, someone’s going to say the truth was spoken.

But someone else will say it’s a lie.

Maybe that’s why the little dragon looks kind of confused?

He thought he was speaking truth. Maybe the devil’s truth, since he is a dragon.

And yet, lots of people say no, it’s God’s truth.

It’s sad, disappointing, and downright scary when words are spoken in God’s name, to God’s people, and we can’t tell the difference between the truth and a lie.

We should be able to tell something though. Do you know the saying, actions speak louder than words? Let’s look at Psalm 31, the issues just raised, and then see what David did when he wrote the words, “Let their lying lips be silenced”.

Psalm 31

31:1-4 pp — Ps 71:1-3

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Ps 31:1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.

Ps 31:2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.

Ps 31:3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

Ps 31:4 Free me from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.

Ps 31:5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Ps 31:6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
I trust in the LORD.

Ps 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.

Ps 31:8 You have not handed me over to the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Ps 31:9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and my body with grief.

Ps 31:10 My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
and my bones grow weak.

Ps 31:11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
I am a dread to my friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.

Ps 31:12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.

Ps 31:13 For I hear the slander of many;
there is terror on every side;
they conspire against me
and plot to take my life.

Ps 31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”

Ps 31:15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from my enemies
and from those who pursue me.

Ps 31:16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.

Ps 31:17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and lie silent in the grave.

Ps 31:18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

Ps 31:19 How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men
on those who take refuge in you.

Ps 31:20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from the intrigues of men;
in your dwelling you keep them safe
from accusing tongues.

Ps 31:21 Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed his wonderful love to me
when I was in a besieged city.

Ps 31:22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.

Ps 31:23 Love the LORD, all his saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but the proud he pays back in full.

Ps 31:24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.

Background on Psalm 31

Psalm 31 is longer than most of those immediately preceding it. Only Psalms 18 and 22 are longer. But Psalm 31 has this interesting distinction. As a psalm of trust growing out of an individual lament—“a magnificent psalm of confidence”—it has appealed to many Bible characters.

For example, the phrase “terror on every side,” from verse 13, seems to have appealed to Jeremiah as a description of the dangers of his day, since he borrowed it no less than six times in his writings, sometimes picking up other echoes of the psalm along with it (Jer. 6:25; 20:3–4, 10; 46:5; 49:29; Lam. 2:22). In his prayer of repentance from inside the great fish, Jonah, the minor prophet, quoted the words “those who cling to worthless idols,” from verse 6 (Jonah 2:8). The author of Psalm 71, possibly David himself, quotes the first verses of Psalm 31 as his opening. Most striking of all, verse 5 of the psalm seems to have provided Jesus’ words for his last moving utterance from the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46).  ¹Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 268–269). Baker Books.

…

Prayer for Help in Trouble

The first five verses of this psalm are a prayer for help in trouble. They are a confident prayer since they, like all the sections of the psalm, express a very strong trust in God.

These verses have a theme. It is that God is the psalmist’s “rock of refuge.” The phrase itself occurs in verse 2, but the two nouns are also repeated separately. Refuge is found in verses 1 and 4. Rock is used again in verse 3. In addition, the nearly synonymous term fortress is used twice (in vv. 2 and 3). This was a popular metaphor with David, being found in Psalms 18, 19, 28, 61, 62, and 71, for example.

Unquestionably it comes from the years when he was fleeing from King Saul and so often found safety in the high rocks of the Judean wilderness. On the plain, David’s warrior band was no match for the numerically superior and better-equipped troops of his enemy. But he was safe if he fled to the mountains. In the same way, David saw God as his true “rock of refuge” when his later enemies encircled him and set traps for his soul.

David says two things about God as his rock that have been described as illogical by some who know little of the life of faith. He says that God is his rock in verse 3 (“since you are my rock and my fortress”) and yet asks God to be his rock in verse 2 (“be my rock of refuge”). How, such critics ask, can God be and yet be asked to be a refuge all at the same time?

How little such critics know! Charles Haddon Spurgeon understood that this is a logic not of words but of the heart, writing that it teaches us to ask God that we may “enjoy in experience what we grasp by faith.” We know by faith that God is many things, because the Bible tells us he is. But this is a very different thing from proving God to be those things in our personal experience. Do you believe that God is all powerful? Of course, you do. Then pray that he will prove himself strong in your weakness. Do you believe that God is wise. Of course! Then ask him to display his wisdom in the ordering of your life. In the same way, you can ask him to be to you loving and gracious and merciful and everything else the Bible says he is.
“You are … then be …,” should be the prayer of every Christian.  ²Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 269–270). Baker Books.

What does “Let their lying lips be silenced” have to do with God being a refuge?

After reading that background info, you may be wondering, what does “Let their lying lips be silenced” have to do with God being a refuge? Actually, everything.

Think about the divide in the U.S., as in many countries around the world right now. So many things are in a 50-50 split between those in favor vs those opposed. And it doesn’t matter what that “thing” is. Even the question of whether the world is getting twarmer is questioned, and ignored, by most people on the right who think businesses are more important than people.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to money. Who has it, who wants more, and where can they get it? Surprisingly, to me, that manages to be pretty evenly split, even though a single digit percentage of the people have nearly all of the money.

How does that happen? It’s done by bringing up other issues that are also divisive, but are very much like straw man issues. Rather than bring up money, bring up immigrants. Rather than talk about tax breaks for the rich, tell working people they’ll lose jobs if those tax breaks aren’t forthcoming. And on and on.

What does God have to do with this?

What does God have to do with all the divisions? Sadly, apparently, nothing. Sure, God’s name is often used. But God Himself, is pretty much left out. Instead, some falsely claim to be following Him. Some say one person or another was chosen by God. Others just call out to God, but seemingly don’t follow Him themselves.

David prayed, let their lips be silenced.

Yes, David prayed, let their lips be silenced. But David prayed to God. That, in a nutshell, is the problem today.

Christians claim God is all powerful. That God is, in David’s terms, our rock. Our refuge.

However, David reached out to God as his “Rock”.

Today’s Christians, all too often, reach out to a political candidate as their “rock”. Even claiming that someone who doesn’t act like a Christian at all, is sent by God.

Maybe, just maybe, the prayers to God today are legitimate. Maybe they really do look to God for help. But even here, we must recognize two things.

We must know something of God. Especially in this case, we must be aware of the differences between the things we want and the things God wants. Then, we must change our wants and desires to align with God’s when there are differences. After all, Christians are supposed to want to be transformed into the image of Christ. God is not going to be transformed into the image of even the best of us.

Second, we must use the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, a gift from God, to know the difference between someone who truly follows God and someone who uses some key words but doesn’t follow them.

Conclusion – Psalm 31 – Let their lying lips be silenced

Let’s just take the thought about let their lying lips be silenced.

First, when we claim to speak for God or speak while claiming to follow God, we need to be sure it’s not our lips that are lying. When we don’t do that, God will still act. But not the way we want.

We should have learned from the Old Testament, that God raises up/allows leaders to come to power for two very different reasons.

1. To give the people a leader, like David, who follows God and will help the people follow God as well.
2. To give the people a leader, or conqueror, who will show the people the error of their ways.

Let’s face it. The Old Testament was largely the second kind of leader/conqueror. The people weren’t following God. God gave them the leaders they wanted. To what end? to get His people to call out to Him.

If/when we fail to recognize the kind of leader God gives us, we continue on the path to getting further and further from God. Somehow, as we get worse, we continue to look to people who don’t follow God, believing that we have the power in ourselves to get out of this mess.

Even worse, when we only nominate people to lead us who don’t truly follow God, we get the choice between the lesser of two evils. But even the lesser of two evils is still evil. The lesser of two evils will not lead us back to God.

Eventually, either The End will come, or we will truly turn back to god. Not the “god” we so often worship today, the one we made in our image. No, it must be God as He described Himself, as Jesus modeled and taught during His short time on earth.

If we don’t do that, we end up where Israel was, in a situation like the one below:

Israel Unrepentant

Hos 6:1 “Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

Hos 6:2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

Hos 6:3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”

Hos 6:4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.

Hos 6:5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth;
my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

Hos 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hos 6:7 Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—
they were unfaithful to me there.

Hos 6:8 Gilead is a city of wicked men,
stained with footprints of blood.

Hos 6:9 As marauders lie in ambush for a man,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
committing shameful crimes.

Hos 6:10 I have seen a horrible thing
in the house of Israel.
There Ephraim is given to prostitution
and Israel is defiled.

Hos 6:11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

Hos 7:1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;

Hos 7:2 but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me.

Hos 7:3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.

Hos 7:4 They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

Hos 7:5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.

Hos 7:6 Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

Hos 7:7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.

Hos 7:8 “Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over.

Hos 7:9 Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.

Hos 7:10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the LORD his God
or search for him.

Hos 7:11 “Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.

Hos 7:12 When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like birds of the air.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.

Hos 7:13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak lies against me.

Hos 7:14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail upon their beds.
They gather together for grain and new wine
but turn away from me.

Hos 7:15 I trained them and strengthened them,
but they plot evil against me.

Hos 7:16 They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.

If we think a candidate who going to silence people, shut them up, move them out, put them down, or any other similar thing, is the one who’s going to be our leader from God, please, read that passage again. And especially note verse 6. After all, Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 to the people of His time. And, it still applies to us.

Hos 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Mercy.

And let’s not forget forgiveness.

Or love.

And let’s remember, everyone is our neighbor.

Even, if we somehow still hate someone, we must love them instead. Even if they’re our enemy.

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Image by Bing Chat / DALL-E

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Footnotes

• 1
  Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 268–269). Baker Books.
• 2
  Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 269–270). Baker Books.