Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
Psalm 141:3
Psalm 141 figures prominently in the liturgical life of the church, especially during Great Lent. Today is the first Wednesday of Great Lent and in most parishes, the Divine Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts (Pre-Sanctified Liturgy) will be celebrated. (This service is also celebrated on Fridays, as well as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday.) During the service, the priest will cense around the four sides of the altar table, and Psalm 141:2 will be chanted, with verses 1, 3 and 4 intoned in between each singing of 141:2:
Let my prayer be counted as incense before Thee, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2, the hymn)
(Lord, I have cried to You, hear me; hear me O Lord. Lord, I have cried to You, hear me. Give ear to the voice of my supplication, when I cry to You-verse adapted from 141:1)
Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips! (141:3, verse)
Incline not my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity; and let me now eat of their dainties! (141:4, verse)
The mouth is our greatest tool and greatest weapon. We can use our mouths to encourage people, or to destroy them. It doesn’t require money or time to do either. We can change someone’s outlook from bad to good, or from good to bad, in mere seconds based on what we say. There is great power in words. Words are what both build and destroy relationships. Wars begin over words of aggression and then end over words of peace. The sin we commit most often is with our mouths, and that is gossip. This is why there is a specific Psalm, and prayer in our Pre-Sanctified Liturgy (and Psalm 141:3 also is in the daily vespers service) to guard our mouths.
Just as harmful as gossip is the tendency to belittle, criticize and discourage. There is of course a way to correct in a constructive rather than a destructive way. There is a great need for encouraging others and for others to receive encouragement. And so, the guard over our mouths isn’t just for destructive gossip but for inadvertent criticism and discouragement.
Most of us have many conversations during the day. Some of those must be corrective conversations, because not everything around us is always as it should be. When we must have a corrective conversation with a spouse, child, co-worker or friend, it would be a good idea to pause and pray Psalm 141:3, asking God to guard what you are going to say, so that it can be corrective but also kind. While we should set aside time each day for dedicated prayer, a dedicated time and place where we consistently pray, we should pray in short spurts throughout the day, specifically before difficult conversations. Imagine how you’d feel if you prayed before a contentious meeting at work, to walk in knowing that you have invoked the name of God. Imagine if you and your spouse were about to have a discussion/argument, and before starting it, you paused to pray this verse.
In our tradition of iconography, our icons are painted with disproportionate features. The mouths are generally painted small, with ears big, eyes big, hands big and heads small. Why? Because the icons are visual representations of what holiness looks like. And we are reminded that if we want to walk the path to sainthood/holiness/theosis (the Orthodox word for deification, the end goal of our spiritual journey), we should speak less, listen more, keep our eyes open, do good works with our hands, but at the same time keep our egos in check. It is also significant to note that when we are anointed with Holy Unction (or another healing oil), we are anointed on our senses—over our minds, our mouths, near our eyes, and on our hands. But the mouth is included because we want it used to Godly things, and not sinful things. We are reminded of a verse from Psalm 49:3: My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. The mouth and the heart are connected. Jesus says in Matthew 15:18 “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man.” In other words, we have to watch not only what goes into our mouths, but what comes out of them. Which is especially appropriate during this period of Great Lent, as we fast watching what we are eating. Even more important is watching what comes out of our mouths. Let us fast not only from food, but from gossip, slander, and idle talk.
There are many verses of Scripture that when prayed can change our lives. I would certainly put Psalm 141: 3 in the top ten. Ask God to be with you in conversations and confrontations, leaning on this verse as the prayer through which to ask God for this.
I call upon Thee, O Lord; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice, when I call to Thee! Let my prayer be counted as incense before Thee, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice! Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips! Incline not my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties! Let a good man strike or rebuke me in kindness, but let the oil of the wicked never anoint my head; for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds. When they are given over to those who shall condemn them, then they shall learn the word of the Lord is true. As a rock which one cleaves and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol. But my eyes are toward Thee, O Lord God; in Thee I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless! Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers! Let the wicked together fall into their own nets, while I escape. Psalm 141
Reflection question: Which words do I want to speak—or refrain from speaking—to bring peace today?
