Psalms 119:43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
In the preceding verse the psalmist wrote of having wherewith to answer those who reproached him. As we showed, the best answer to give our enemies is the word of God. Now connect that with today’s verse. If God takes His word of truth utterly out of our mouth, He will be taking away our best defense against the enemy.
In order for God’s word of truth to be in our mouth, it must first be in our heart for our Saviour said that it is “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 11:34). Solomon taught that if you apply your heart to the words of the wise and keep them within you, “they shall withal be fitted in thy lips” (Proverbs 22:17-18). So if you don’t want God to take His word of truth out of your mouth, make sure you are storing it in your heart.
Now the prayer is that the Lord take not his word of truth utterly out of my mouth.
Utterly – In a complete or utter manner; to an absolute or extreme degree; altogether, entirely, absolutely; fully, thoroughly, out and out.
I might not have as much of the word of truth in my mouth as I want to have or ought to have, but may God not take it entirely out of my mouth. May He let me have something from His word to say. Charles Bridges said it well:
“A stammering confession is better than silence. If we cannot say all we want of, or for our Saviour, let us say what we can. ‘God’s servants are very sensible of the infinite value of the least atom of what belongs to him.’”
When mind and memory fail with age, God grant that I can keep some verses in my mouth to be a testimony to the faith I have held for the glory of His name, even if I repeat them again and again because I can think of no other.
Now how might God take the word of truth out of our mouth? First, He might strike us dumb so that we are unable to speak His word of truth. Or, He might let us lose our minds so that we do not think to speak His word. Or we might resist Him to the point that He gives us over to our carnal desires and we get so far away from the word of God that we no longer talk about it because our hearts of so full of ourselves, our desires, and of this world.
Psalms 81:11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways….
Or we might reject God’s truth for something we enjoy that is not right in His sight. In this case the Lord will give us over to deception so that we trade His pure word of truth for a perversion or corruption of the word of God (Jeremiah 23:36; 2 Corinthians 2:17).
2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
In this case, we might be quoting verses, but they will not be His word of truth. There are many “churches” today in the English speaking world that have abandoned the pure, preserved word of God in the King James or Authorized Version of 1611. Week after week never a verse is heard quoted from God’s pure word. Rather, perversions of God’s word are quoted. In this case, God’s word of truth has been utterly taken out of their mouths. How horrible this is! Along with the psalmist we should beg God to forbid that happening to us.
Now if you would not have the Lord take His word of truth utterly out of your mouth, be sure you can say this: for I have hoped in thy judgments. As we learned when we began this series of meditations on Psalm 119, God’s judgments refer to the commandments or laws of His written word. They are the judicial decrees of the sovereign Judge of the world. By these laws we are to judge ourselves and others, and by them we shall be judged. It is in the decrees of the sovereign Judge, God Almighty, that we should place our hope rather than in the opinions or decrees of men be they ever so powerful, or educated, or admired by us.
Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
Psalms 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
This is not to say that we can never have confidence in anything any man says. Many men judge wisely. But it is to say that any confidence we place in man should be within the framework of God’s word of truth. We should never trust any man’s word above the word of God. We should never hope in man as we hope in God for only God is all powerful and can always be there for us at all times and in all circumstances.
If you misplace your hope, you will wither spiritually.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
If the expectations of your heart are placed elsewhere than in the Lord and His word, then your confidence in God’s word and your love for it will wane. When that happens, God’s word will be less in your heart and less in your mouth until one day it will be utterly taken out of your mouth. God forbid!
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