“I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.” (v1-8)
This psalm is believed to have been written by David shortly after he became king, and it describes the kinds of people he will/won’t allow to be around him. His code of conduct draws a clear line that nobody is allowed to cross.
I realize that all sin is “equal” in God’s eyes (ie. wrong), yet two of the “worst” forms of wickedness (sin) in the Bible are slander and deceit, both of which David clearly says are forbidden in his presence. The main reason these two sins are seen as vile is they involve more than one person, and God despises the harm we commit upon one another. Sinning solely against God is one thing, but sinning against another who is made in the image of God is far worse. It’s kind of like how some of us laugh it off when someone insults us directly, but when a loved one is insulted, we want to rain down fire and brimstone. God feels the same anger when someone harms one of His children.
Deceit is one of the original sins in the Bible – Satan deceives Eve and Adam into eating the forbidden fruit, telling them they “won’t die” and will “become like God” (Gen 3:4,5). Satan is called the lord of lies for a reason. All deception comes out of a place of darkness and causes harm to least two people, the deceiver and the deceived.
Slander is even worse than deceit. This again is one of the earliest sins in the Bible – Satan slanders God (speaks falsely in an attempt to ruin His reputation) and queries “did God really say…?” (Gen 3:1) One ancient definition of slander says “speaking with a triple-tongue”, meaning, the speaker causes harm in three ways: they harm the person whom they are defaming, they harm the person to whom they are speaking, and of course they harm themselves as well.
It’s no wonder God and David will not tolerate deceit and slander in their presence, since both are incredibly hurtful and deadly to multiple people. They can destroy relationships causing lasting emotional and spiritual damage, completely busting the myth that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me”. Solomon had it right: “The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.” (Pro 10:18)
What does this mean for us today? If we have a habit of (intentionally/unintentionally) slandering or deceiving, pray for God to deliver us from that vile habit. It’s extremely harmful and destroys everyone in its path. Once the plank has been removed from our eye, we can become active in gently guiding others to do the same. Let’s say we’re in the lunch room at work and overhear someone speaking poorly about an absent coworker – we can stand up for that person with a simple statement such as “Hey, it’s not fair to talk about them like that, especially when they aren’t around.” and if you feel they would be receptive to it, you could even take it one step further with the challenge: “Would you like others speaking of you in this way?” or if they’re a Christian: “Was what you said loving that person as Christ loves them?” (Note: Whenever possible I would suggest approaching people one-on-one, since on average people will be more receptive and less defensive if they’re not getting called out in public. Let’s extend as much grace as we can when practicing the love of Christ 🙂 ) If we stop deceiving/slandering, and gently discourage others from it as well, the relationships around us (especially with non-Christians) will be healthier.
Father God, thank you for modeling grace and gentleness through our Savior Jesus Christ. He set the example of how we are to treat one another with love and respect. Father please continue teaching us how to extend Your love and grace to others by withholding harm, and modeling that restraint. Please also give us the words and discernment to help others model Your love, so our community can be healed and relationships can be restored. Please help us to be reconcilers and peacemakers within our friendships, city and world. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training