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Guard the Lips: A Psalmist's Prayer Against Sin
August 23, 2026 · 15 min
David's plea (Psalm 141): pray for restraint of the tongue, avoid double-minded speech, and ask God to tame our words.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand August 23, 2026 · 15 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
David's plea (Psalm 141): pray for restraint of the tongue, avoid double-minded speech, and ask God to tame our words. ...more Show the full description Show less David's plea (Psalm 141): pray for restraint of the tongue, avoid double-minded speech, and ask God to tame our words.
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Psalm 141: Guarding the Mouth and Heart 0:10 Good morning, and welcome to the Oasis of Praise. We are nearing the end of our journey through the book of Psalms, but the journey is not over. In a few days, we're gonna be in 1 of my favorite books of the Bible.0:22 We're gonna be in the book of Proverbs. So if you've not yet gotten the chronological reading plan that we have for stand on the word, go to f r c dot o r g slash bible and download it.0:33 That's f r c dot o r g slash bible. Because I want you to join us, continue joining us on this journey. Alright. Back to today, 4 Psalms written by David. Psalms 1 41 through0:45 1 44. Verse 15 of 1 44. Happy are the people who are in such a state. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Alright. Psalm 1 41 is0:57 a lament or a prayer of David asking for deliverance from sin and evil men. I cry out to you. Make haste to me. Give ear to my voice when I cry to you. Let my prayer be set before you asPsalm 142: Crying Out in Loneliness 1:09 incense, lifting up my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a guard, oh lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart1:21 to any evil thing to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity, and do not let me eat of their delicacies. You know,1:33 my my dad used to tell me, son, your mouth gets you in more trouble. Well, here, David talks about the same thing. Our idle words can lead us down the wrong path away1:44 from the lord. How can we speak evil and then turn around and praise god? Our our our mouth can be a snare. What the words that come out of our mouth1:56 can trip us up. And it also it's inconsistent, as James talks about, in James 3 10, to to speak evil and good out of the same mouth.2:08 We can't do both. He says, out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursings. My brother, these things not ought to be. He says, does a spring send forth fresh water2:20 and bitter water from the same opening? It can't happen. We need to put a guard at our lips. And also, there's a connection here that the psalmist that David lays out between the words of our mouth, the evil2:32 intentions of the heart, and the iniquity of our hands. Alright? It's in the heart, comes out the mouth, and it has influence over the hands. So how do we keep from traveling down this wrong path? David2:44 follows up with 1 way, accountability, being open to correction. Look at what he says in verse 5. Let the righteous strike me, it shall be kindness. And let him rebuke me, it shall2:56 be an as excellent oil. Let my head not refuse it, for still my prayers against the deeds of the wicked. We need to be open to correction from those that we know are3:07 godly men and women who have, who have our interest at heart. We need to be open to that correction and also open to the correction of the Holy Spirit who will correct us as well. Then he prays that the3:19 Lord would keep him from the unseen traps and snares of the wicked. Now this is interesting. I I I as I read this this time, we've read it many times. We're almost at the end of the book. So I went back3:31 and looked. It's about 70 to 80 references in Psalms to traps, nets, pits, or other hidden ambushes set for God's people.3:43 This reminds me of what Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.3:55 Satan is always scheming to entrap and entangle those who follow the lord. So we need god's protection and wisdom from those traps that have been laid for us that we have not that we can't4:07 see. And and we need to ask for that. Like David, we should ask for God's protection and for the revealing of these snares. And and believe me, I they're out there. They're out4:19 there. Verse 8, but my eyes are upon you, oh lord, oh god, the lord. In you, I take refuge. Do not leave my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares they have4:31 laid for me and from the traps of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall in their own nets while I escape safely. Safely. And,Psalm 143: Longing for God's Guidance 4:43 verse 1, Psalm 1 42 is another lament that takes us back to David when he was on the run from Saul. This is from his time in the cave of, Adullam or at4:55 En Gedi. Verse 1, a prayer when he was in the cave. I cry out to the Lord with my voice. With my voice supplication. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare5:07 before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path. In the way in which I walk, they have secretly set a snare for me. There again, we see the5:19 snares being set secretly. Look on my right hand and see, for there is no 1 who acknowledges me. Refuge has failed me. No 1 cares for my soul. Now do you think David was5:31 a bit discouraged here? Yeah. I think so. He was alone. He was rejected, and his future was in question. Now, of course, we know the end of the story, but he didn't. It's just like in our lives. We5:42 don't know the end of the story. You might be going through something right now, and you don't know what the outcome is gonna be. Look what David did in verse 5. I5:54 cried out to you, oh lord, and I said, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors for they are6:06 stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison that I may praise your name. The righteous shall surround me for you shall deal deal bountifully with me. And then look how he closes this6:18 prayer with a proclamation of faith, for you shall deal bountifully with me. It was not because David was special or because you or I are special, but because God is6:30 faithful. It's about God. You know, we see the faithfulness and the righteousness of God as the basis for David's request in the next Psalm. In in Psalm 1 43, which is6:42 another lament, hear my prayer, oh god, give ear to my supplications. In your faithfulness, answer me. And in your righteousness see, it's all about the character of god.6:54 Do not enter into judgment with your servant for in your sight, no 1 living is righteous. True statement. It's only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we can boldly approach the throne of grace.7:06 For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have long been dead. You know, as we read through this chapter, if I read7:18 through all of Psalms, we we might be inclined to see the enemy that David writes about as men who opposed him, and that is true, like Saul. And and and and we face we face other7:30 human beings that, for some reason, we just we don't know why they they seem to be a problem. But here's the real application. Don't miss the application to our lives. Ultimately,7:42 it is Satan and his forces of darkness that oppose us. Alright? It's not other human beings. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age,7:52 against spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places. And that's what we're battling against. Therefore, my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My soul within me is distressed. I remembered8:05 the days of old. I meditated on your works. I muse on the works of your hands. This spiritual opposition, if we are not intentionally focused8:17 on countering it, can lead us away from god and our fellowship with him. We can become discouraged, depressed, disillusioned. So look what the psalmist does here. Look what David does.8:29 He thinks back to the goodness and the faithfulness of God in his life. We need to do that. We need to think back in those times where we saw God at work, because what God has done before, he can8:41 do again. And it stirs up our faith, and when our faith is stirred up, our hope is restored. Verse 6, I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you8:53 like a thirsty land. Right? Let that sink in for just a moment. I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you like a thirsty9:05 land. Right now, at home in, Louisiana, it's been very, very dry. And, it's August. It's usually dry, but it's extremely dry. And the ground just9:17 soaks up the water. It is thirsty. Our soul should long for the lord. Answer me speedily, oh lord. My my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me,9:29 lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Calls me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for in you do I trust. Calls me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift my soul9:41 to you. What a great request. And and I pray this frequently. Calls me to know the way in which I should walk. Lord, I wanna walk according to your perfect path. I I want9:53 I want to walk in that way, lord, that would have your blessing. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of righteous uprightness. Revive me,10:04 oh, Lord, for your name's sake. For your righteousness sake, bring my soul out of trouble. In your mercy, cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my soul10:16 for I am your servant. Again, look at the basis of this request, Your namesake. It's all about God. It's not about us. It's about him. It's10:28 about his glory. Jesus, his work was to bring glory to the father, and so should ours be. Psalm 1 44 is a royal psalm. In verses 1Psalm 144: Praise, Petition, and Blessing 10:40 through 4, David praises the lord for past victories. Blessed be the lord, my rock who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. My loving kindness and10:52 my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and the 1 in whom I take refuge, who subdues my people under me. Now notice in these 1st 2 verses how David describes God in 711:04 personal terms. Number 1, my rock, my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, the 1 in whom I take refuge.God's Blessings on His People 11:16 Then look at what David writes next, verse 3. Lord, what is man that you take knowledge of him? Or the son of man that you are mindful of him? Man is like a breath. His days are like a11:27 passing shadow. Again, we we've seen this before in Psalms. This is a recognition of man's helpless position, but for the loving kindness of god and how urgently we11:39 need god. We need god to move because our time is so short. Verses 5 through 11, David petitions for present deliverance from their enemies. And then in verses11:51 12 through 15, we have a portrait of god's blessing upon his people, and that's what we're gonna go clo close with this morning. That our sons, verse 12, that our sons may be as as plants grown up12:03 in their youth. That our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style. That our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce. That our sheep may bring forth thousands and 1012:15 thousands in our fields. That our oxen may be well laden, that there be no breaking in or going out, that there be no outcry in our streets. Man,12:27 look what it says in verse 15. Happy are the people who are in such a state. Happy are the people whose god is the lord. Blessed with posterity.12:39 Blessed with prosperity. Blessed with peace and stability. Blessed with happiness. And don't miss the basis for this prosperity and this happiness.12:50 They are the people whose god is the lord. Alright. Before we close our time in prayer this morning, I I wanna share another testimony of the power of god's13:02 word from 1 of our fellow travelers.13:05 God's word has changed my life because the truth of god's word has made me free. John 8 32 says, and you shall know13:17 the truth, and the truth shall make you free. I can feel the love of god's heart. I realize that Jesus came to save me and give me13:29 eternal life. I can say like the blind man in John 9 25, 1 thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see.13:41 Oh, father, we do thank you for the power of your word. We are so thankful, so thankful that you have given us your word, and we thank you for the word, our lord Jesus Christ. And I pray,13:53 lord, for the Holy Spirit to draw us closer to you to take the word, sanctify us by that word, and strengthen us in our journey with you. May we14:05 walk ever so close to you. And, Lord, I I just wanna pray this morning for those that might be discouraged that they would stir up their faith by looking back on the things that you have done in their lives, that,14:17 lord, their faith would be stirred up and their hope renewed, that, lord, you're going to see them through this challenge. We thank you for that, and we pray all of this14:29 in the name of Jesus. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the word.14:38 Today's study comes from the stand on the word Bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:49 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Psalm 141: Guarding the Mouth and Heart1:02 Psalm 142: Crying Out in Loneliness4:42 Psalm 143: Longing for God's Guidance10:39 Psalm 144: Praise, Petition, and Blessing11:16 God's Blessings on His People
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