“Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously” (Ps 119:29).
J.C. Ryle opines, “Think about how much falsehood and deceit there is in the world! How much exaggeration! How many untruths are added to a simple story! How many things are left out, if it does not serve the speaker’s interest to tell them! How few there are around us of whom we can say, that we trust their word without question!”
Our world is filled with false advertising, political prevarication, and social media fiction. How refreshing to find someone committed to telling the truth! And fake news? Francis Quarles wrote in the 15th Century: “Let the greatest part of the news thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest; lest the greatest part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true.”
The sure antidote? Replace lying with gracious truth. Paul writes, “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor’” (Eph 4:25, quoting Zech 8:16).