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FEBRUARY 24<br />
WATCHING MY WORDS<br />
“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”<br />
(Ps 140/141:3) “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your<br />
praise.” (Ps 50/51:15)<br />
It is interesting to contemplate these two psalm-verses alongside each<br />
other. One of them asks the Lord to “guard” my mouth, while the other<br />
asks Him to “open” it. Of course, when the Psalms were first composed,<br />
well over two thousand years ago, the spoken word was the only kind<br />
most people used. Back then, most people did not have the resources to<br />
employ the written word, nor, obviously, did they have the keyboard or<br />
the phone to type their opinions and thoughts, as we do today.<br />
So today, when I recite these verses of the Psalms, I ask that the Lord<br />
guide my use of words, not only when I am saying them out loud, but<br />
when I am typing them on my keyboard or on my phone. Because today,<br />
strangely, I type many more words than I say aloud. The Psalm-verses<br />
remind me that I need God’s help in discerning when I need to share my<br />
words, and when I need to withhold them; when I should click “Send,”<br />
and when I should abstain from that. Today let me remember to ask for<br />
the wisdom to know the difference.<br />
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