January 24
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DELIVER ME FROM LYING LIPS AND DECEITFUL TONGUE
In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.
2 Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you, deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war! – Psalm 120:1-7
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This Psalm is an individual lament sung by someone living away from Israel (v.5). The psalmist weeps over those people who constantly seek to lie and pursue wars and conflicts. He wants peace so he even went away from such high conflict people, but the effect of living with such kind of evil is not unnoticed. In the first verse, he recalls how the Lord has delivered him in the past from such circumstances and pleads for deliverance from such situations and conflict lovers. I could easily identify with the psalmist. I have loved ones who just loves do fight for the sake of being right or just to prove how much better they are from others. It is an exhausting task to love people like this, but we are commanded to love all, especially those who are difficult and makes an enemy of us. I do my best to justify the reasons for their insecurities and pray for freedom from that bondage for all those who embrace a life of conflict. I have been there and I know how hard it is to cling to self-protection or mistrust. When I learned my true identity in Jesus, I didn’t have to continue being imprisoned by proving my self-worth.
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ADORATION: Praise you Jesus, for your faithful love that endures forever.
CONFESSION: Forgive me when I engage in conflict and anger to defend myself. You are my defender and I need not say a thing to explain.
THANKSGIVING: Thank you for being the epitome of unconditional.
SUPPLICATION: May all believers remember to surrender to God who is “love” himself.
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REFLECTION
• How do we deal with people who constantly lie to us? Should we just be silent?
• What is the antidote to those who love to argue and engage others in conflict?
• What other verses in the bible can we dwell on when faced with conflicts?