Set a guard, oh Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips.
– Psalm 141:3
Is that not a great prayer? Let me say it again and just think about how important this prayer is. “Set a guard, oh Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips.” What imagery. The door of my lips.
Psalm 141:3 Is Plea to God to Guard Our Mouths
We all know that the words that come out of our mouths, that flow from our lips have such power to build up and encourage and edify and such power to destroy and tear down. And all the more so when we think about words that we communicate through social media, through email, through things we write. So just think about the words we use. What would our words look like if God was guarding our every word and keeping watch over the door of our lips and our texts and our posts, and whatever messages we send, whatever words we communicate, both to people directly and about people indirectly?
Earlier in Psalm 140, we see a picture of the slanderer. Psalm 140:11. “Let not the slanderer be established in the land”. The temptation is there before all of us every day to speak to others or about others, to write to others or about others, to use words that do not build others up in Christ or point others to Christ.
Psalm 141:3 Encourages Us to Ask God for Restraint
Oh God, we pray Psalm 141:3 over our mouths and our lips over every word we say today. Set a guard, oh Lord, over our mouths. Keep watch over the door of our lips. God, we pray that our every word today would be pleasing to you and edifying to others, honoring and glorifying to you, and encouraging and helpful to others. Lord, we pray that you would guard us from gossip, from slander, from any words today that don’t bring honor to your name.
God, guard it. Stop those words from coming out when we are tempted to speak them. God, help us to think intentionally about what we’re saying by the power of your Holy Spirit in us. And God help us to speak words of life. God, help us to share the Gospel today with our mouths, with our lips, with what we post, with what we share with others. Lord, we pray you would help us to not just avoid evil, but promote, publicize good to be the witnesses that by your Holy Spirit, we are empowered to be. God, we pray you help us to share the Gospel with somebody today.
Praying for the Dahalik People
May grace in Jesus Christ flow from our lips today toward others. We pray that you would draw people to faith in you, God. And we pray for people who have never heard this good news around the world. God, for the Dahalik people of Eritrea. A small people group who live in the Dahalik islands in the Red Sea. To think that Dahalik that these islands get their name from the arabic words meaning horrible place. Lord, we pray the gospel light would shine in what people see as a horrible place. God among the Dahalik people, men and women, and children made in your image, God, we pray they would hear words of life, they would believe them and trust in you and be saved. Oh God, we pray. Use our lips, our mouths for your glory and others’ good exclusively today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
