EMERGENCY HELP REQUIRED
Opening Prayer
Lord, let the words of my mouth be pleasing to You.
Read PSALM 141
1 I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;
hear me when I call to you.
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil
so that I take part in wicked deeds
along with those who are evildoers;
do not let me eat their delicacies.
5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.
6 Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
9 Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers,
from the snares they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (Psa. 147:1).
When you call emergency services, the assumption is that the situation is urgent and that swift action is required to remedy it and to prevent a bad situation from becoming worse.
Our psalmist requires swift action to prevent his situation from becoming worse. The only one who can remedy the situation is the Lord; so, in the sanctuary the psalmist makes his urgent cry for help (1,2). There is clearly a problem with speech (3,4), and we are reminded of the warning that James gave centuries later (Jas. 3:6–8). The following verses (5–7) are obscure in the original, but the psalmist seems to be saying that he values the rebuke of one who is righteous, and his prayer is that the wicked will come to appreciate his words. In the Hebrew, “our bones” (7) refers to the psalmist’s bones and not those of the wicked. But (8) the psalmist looks to God for his vindication. He prays for protection for himself and for judgment upon the wicked (9,10).
I have no doubt that we are all aware of the problem of the tongue and the power that this very small organ possesses, both for great good and for great evil. One moment we can be praising God; the very next moment we are criticizing the music, the preacher or another member of the church and, before we know it, our tongues are instruments of sin. We might not need community emergency services, but we certainly need the urgent help of the Holy Spirit to bring our tongues under control. It is only he who can “set a guard over my mouth” (3). Let’s pray today not only that we will praise God, but that we will use our tongues to build up those we meet in worship today.
Apply
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thess. 5:11). Let’s make sure we do that today.
Closing prayer
Lord, keep me from vindictive, vile or vulgar speech. May my words be worthy of You.
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