Psalm Meditation 1254 ¶Proper 8 ¶June 30, 2024 ¶Psalm 120 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+120&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶The second verse is interestingly ambiguous. Is the deliverance from the psalmist’s lying lips and deceitful tongue or from those of another? Either one is going to need the power of God for deliverance. Our own lips can become so comfortable with lies that they begin to sound like the truth to us. We deceive ourselves by repeating the lies over and over until we lose touch with what is true and what is fabricated. We have less control over the lies of others. We cannot know if those lies are intentional or misperceptions from those spreading the lies. As others come to believe what is being said, damage is done to all involved. ¶If only there were a way to tell truth from falsehood easily. If our noses grew like Pinocchio's, or our tongues burst into flames with the first untruth that came tripping off of them, we could hold ourselves and each other accountable for the falsehoods we spread to and about ourselves and those around us. Since that doesn’t happen we have to guard our own tongues and hold each other accountable for what we say, and how we say it. Even some truth is better kept to ourselves to avoid unnecessary damage to the people who impact our lives. ¶Meshech and Kedar are the farthest reaches of known civilization for the psalmist. When we are caught up in a system of lies and deceit we become separated from the people who mean a lot to us. When we seek to make peace without coming to terms with the lies we have told and had told about us we continue to break each other into pieces. It is only when we allow ourselves to join together in the presence of God that we can find release from lying lips that will bring us to a life of peace. ¶June 24, 2024 ¶LCM