A Lying Tongue (Proverbs 26:28)

2023-12-02

A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. (Proverbs 26:28)

We often think of little white lies as something harmless. But we see here that liars hate the ones they lie to. Moreover, flattery is not used to edify another, but to destroy. We all have had lying tongues at some point in our history; all are condemned by this proverb.

Why are lies so awful? Recall the first liar: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). And again, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

The lie is the opposite of the truth, which is found in God’s Word. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). God hates lying (Proverbs 6:17). It has devastating consequences for the liar. “...all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8).

Or how about this? “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). Or how about those who do not believe? “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son” (1 John 5:10). The one who rejects the Gospel calls God a liar.

Lying is so terrible because it is contrary to the character of God, which is truth. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). The liar stands opposed to God as an enemy. Truth corresponds to reality, and the lie is fiction. To be like God is to embody truth, and to lie is to be like Satan.

Words and actions are important. Every partial truth is a complete lie. Therefore, “put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:22-23). When we put on the new man, who we are in Christ, we read this: “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:24-25).