Psalm 51 (Day 37): The Tongue

On this thirty-seventh morning of my 50 days of waiting for Pentecost Sunday, I thank the Lord for placing me in the middle of verse 14 of Psalm 51, reading,

"Save me from blooguilt, O God,

the God who saves me,

and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness."

Yesterday, my meditation consisted of the true meaning of wronging my fellow man -- it causes the very blood of Christ to shed. Each time you and I sin (even through the slightest white lie), we are once again guilty of murdering Christ.

David's request "Save me from bloodguilt, O God" appropriately gives voice to the cry of every human heart that humbly receives the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Once our bloodguilt is graciously made plain to us, we are gripped with remorse just like Judas, the betrayer.

Yet, unlike him, we are not to go to the gallows of self-destruction. On the contrary, we are brought face-to-the-floor in repentance like Isaiah, crying:

"Woe to me! I am ruined!"

Is 6:5

From that humble, prostrate position, we are invited to come to the Savior who alone can scrub away the crimson stain of bloodguilt from our hands. There, in the hollow of His comforting hand, we find salvation . . . and abundant life.

And . . . what happens next?

David aptly adds, 

" . . . and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness."

I wonder why David chose the tongue instead of any other member of his body. Perhaps, it is because he had used his tongue greatly in this deplorable affair:

     -  telling messengers to fetch Bathsheba in order to sleep with her (2 Sam 11:4)
     -  sending word to the Captain ordering the release of Uriah from his army duties in an attempt to get Uriah to sleep with his wife so that David would conceal his contribution to Bathsheba's pregnancy (2 Sam 11:5-8)
     -  questioning/scolding the innocent husband after discovering that Uriah did not go home to sleep with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:13)
     -  inviting Uriah over for a drink, intoxicating him, and seeking to lure him into going back to Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:13)
     -  dictating Uriah's death sentence to Joab, "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die" (2 Sam 11:14-15)
     -  rationalizing his murder to Joab, "Don't let this [the death of Uriah] upset you; the sword devours one as well as another" (2 Sam 11:25)

Through the economy of God's grace, David's unmistakable guilt was turned into overflowing gratitude. This tongue of his that had been used for so much evil was granted the opportunity to do much more good -- his tongue can now sing.

How very much like David you and I are!

Too often, we allow the tongue -- this small member of our body -- to go wild and neglect to put a tight rein on it. 

As such, we find ourselves using our tongue to tell "messengers" to fetch the "Bathshebas" of our lives, the worthless and enticing idols of our hearts, in order to "sleep" or commune with them. We then allow ourselves to give in to the lust of our eyes and gorge ourselves with the bread of sensual indulgence.

We find ourselves sending word to this or that "captain"in order to catch the "Uriahs" of our lives, the sacrificial lambs of our hearts, in order to conceal our own sin. We then have to shush the voice of the Holy Spirit that seeks to convict and change us.

We find ourselves scolding the "Uriahs" of our lives each time their innocent actions hinder our plans of concealment from being fulfilled. We find ourselves sinning even more as we seek to dupe our "Uriahs" again and again to no avail. We further find ourselves signing the "death sentence" of our "Uriahs," willingly placing them in vulnerable positions where they are in the very line of fire. Worse yet, we find ourselves rationalizing our decision to have our "Uriahs" killed to the point of even washing our hands in the manner of Pontius Pilate.

Like David, with the tongue, you and I routinely make room for lust, adultery, murder, and cover-up in whatever form they take.  Should this pattern continue in the bride of Christ?

No! 
God says, "No!"
His Word admonishes that, when we are negligent with our tongue, we deceive ourselves and our religion is worthless (Jas 1:26).

May the Holy Spirit convict our hearts today, just like David's, that we may no longer deceive ourselves. May we remember that we are the Lord's and that our tongue is meant to bear good fruit not destroy life. May we too implore the God who saves so that our tongue may be loosened to sing of Christ's righteousness!