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Delicacies

             Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds (Psalm 141:3-4a)

          I found a pack of “Fighter Verses” in the basement, and the above was the first one I pulled out. I sighed. “Keep your mouth shut. Don’t say a word! Never voice your opinion again!” But when it came time to include it in my blog, I discovered the “rest of the story.” Notice what follows the word deeds:

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.  (Psalm 141:3-4)

It’s no longer about what we say. It’s about what we eat, with whom we eat it, and about what we desire. Today’s verse is another example of why we need to check the context. I won’t say that there’s no need to be careful in what we say. There are verses that make it clear that we should, but this is not one of them. This verse is more easily illustrated by Edmund Pevensie (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis) who ate the White Queen’s Turkish Delight, and was enslaved. It’s demonstrated in Sooley (James Patterson) about a young basketball star being lured into taking drugs.

It's also illustrated by a lesson parents have been trying to teach their children for decades- maybe centuries: Stranger Danger. Don’t take candy from strangers. Beware of the Trojan Horse. Of course, once we “grow up” we think we’re wise, but then we see someone with a nicer TV, a fancy car, and we want those things. The people might not be our sort of people, but we desire their delicacies.  When we desire, we are tempted. The temptation may not have anything to do with associating with the people and everything to do with the delicacies and their allure, but the allure of the delicacies lead us away from God and away from healthy living.

That’s why we need to pray that we are not drawn toward evil.

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