We ask ourselves if anyone knows what the truth about anything anymore! We hear debates about nothing based on lies. We follow the lives of lying, yet popular people, seeking anyone who will tell us the truth. They make millions, so they must be telling the truth, we tell ourselves. They must be right! Right?
In everyday life we skeptically ask if what is advertised really true because we have been fooled more than once. Does that new appliance really last a lifetime? Then why must we buy a warranty? Will that vehicle really last until the wheels fall off? Will this roof really last a lifetime? Whose lifetime?
Who are trustworthy people who can lead us financially, emotionally, professionally, physically and spiritually? Can this job really feed my family and take me to places I never dreamed? Will this person who has all the credentials and degrees truthfully guide and mentor me to where I need to be? Who speaks truth? Where is truth to be found? “If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t”, say the wise sages.
Oh my, help us, Lord!
Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs
Psalm 12, The Message
A David Psalm
1-2 Quick, God, I need your helping hand!
The last decent person just went down,
All the friends I depended on gone.
Everyone talks in lie language;
Lies slide off their oily lips.
They doubletalk with forked tongues.
3-4 Slice their lips off their faces! Pull
The braggart tongues from their mouths!
I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything!
Our lips manage the world.”
5 Into the hovels of the poor,
Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:
“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way
To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”
6-8 God’s words are pure words,
Pure silver words refined seven times
In the fires of his word-kiln,
Pure on earth as well as in heaven.
God, keep us safe from their lies,
From the wicked who stalk us with lies,
From the wicked who collect honors
For their wonderful lies.
TRUTH: God’s words are pure Truth, like silver refined, on earth as it is in heaven. So, to pray to God to keep us safe from all the lies on earth is appropriate and wise, showing our trust in the Only One who speaks truth. Why trust anyone else but God who is Truth?
God cannot lie. Lying is not in God’s nature or character. God is Truth. Jesus, His Son, walked earth as His Person of Truth. God’s Truth is not what we believe to be true, what elements we choose to believe or how we create our personal spin on His Truth for God’s Truth is not based on human thinking. God’s Truth just is. Believe it or not.
The question we must ask ourselves often is this, “Do we really believe that what I believe is really real?”
Truth is God. The ultimate source of Truth is God. Our faith and trust is in the Truth claims about God. Our faith overcomes our feelings.
Our culture is filled with lies. Lies bombard us from everywhere. Our worldview drives what we think and how we behave. What is our worldview and what is it based upon?
Everything not God and of God is a lie. This is Truth. We need to change our minds from world thinking to God-thinking and behaving, says Paul;
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2
God’s Truth transform us from the lie language to God’s way of thinking and behaving. We are new people because of knowing Truth that is unchanging and forever reliable to be Truth!
So, like David, we will pray to God to keep us safe from the language of lies and show us Truth.
Our parallel Proverb paints a masterpiece of God’s Truth and Wisdom for living Truth. If you read closely you will see Jesus described beautifully as Truth. “When you find me, you find life, real life…”
Proverb 8, The Message
Lady Wisdom Calls Out
1-11 Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling?
Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice?
She’s taken her stand at First and Main,
at the busiest intersection.
Right in the city square
where the traffic is thickest, she shouts,
“You—I’m talking to all of you,
everyone out here on the streets!
Listen, you idiots—learn good sense!
You blockheads—shape up!
Don’t miss a word of this—I’m telling you how to live well,
I’m telling you how to live at your best.
My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth—
I can’t stand the taste of evil!
You’ll only hear true and right words from my mouth;
not one syllable will be twisted or skewed.
You’ll recognize this as true—you with open minds;
truth-ready minds will see it at once.
Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money,
and God-knowledge over a lucrative career.
For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth;
nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.
12-21 “I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity;
Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
The Fear-of-God means hating Evil,
whose ways I hate with a passion—
pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
Good counsel and common sense are my characteristics;
I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out.
With my help, leaders rule,
and lawmakers legislate fairly;
With my help, governors govern,
along with all in legitimate authority.
I love those who love me;
those who look for me find me.
Wealth and Glory accompany me—
also substantial Honor and a Good Name.
My benefits are worth more than a big salary, even a very big salary;
the returns on me exceed any imaginable bonus.
You can find me on Righteous Road—that’s where I walk—
at the intersection of Justice Avenue,
Handing out life to those who love me,
filling their arms with life—armloads of life!
22-31 “God sovereignly made me—the first, the basic—
before he did anything else.
I was brought into being a long time ago,
well before Earth got its start.
I arrived on the scene before Ocean,
yes, even before Springs and Rivers and Lakes.
Before Mountains were sculpted and Hills took shape,
I was already there, newborn;
Long before God stretched out Earth’s Horizons,
and tended to the minute details of Soil and Weather,
And set Sky firmly in place,
I was there.
When he mapped and gave borders to wild Ocean,
built the vast vault of Heaven,
and installed the fountains that fed Ocean,
When he drew a boundary for Sea,
posted a sign that said no trespassing,
And then staked out Earth’s Foundations,
I was right there with him, making sure everything fit.
Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause,
always enjoying his company,
Delighted with the world of things and creatures,
happily celebrating the human family.
32-36 “So, my dear friends, listen carefully;
those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely;
don’t squander your precious life.
Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,
awake and ready for me each morning,
alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.
When you find me, you find life, real life,
to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul;
when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.”
WISDOM: “Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.
Jesus was there before the creation of the earth. God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Three-in-One. Truth. Truth saves us. Truth protects us. Truth provides a blessed way to live well. Truth was, is and always will be Truth. This is the Language of Truth.
Abba Father,
I pray I only hear your Voice today above all others that bombard my mind. Change my mind. Transform my thinking and behaving to match Truth, to be Truthful, to live without the lies. In Jesus Name, by His power working in us, Amen. I believe.
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 