"The Wrong Direction"

"Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:" (Psalms 64:3) So you are probably wondering where I am going with this, but it will hopefully make perfect sense once God has given me a little more of the direction; at least that is my prayer. Which reminds me, this is meant to be about "A Prayer for Protection", and since that is what David is asking for, what could possibly be the point of these very descriptive verses? Think about it. There are two different directions we could take when it comes to seeking God's protection, as I have previously mentioned; there is protection of our life here, such as our health, wealth, or families, and there is protection of our eternal soul; which one do you think matters the most? The whole point of yesterday's post was about seeing our need to change direction in the way we seek to lift ourselves up above others, which is by putting others down. In 1 Peter 2:1-3, Peter says, "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." In the second part of chapter one, his point was being taken from being holy, to loving one another, to the right perspective on life, and real glory; therefore the "wherefore", which continues his point about being holy; which is not as much the point of holiness, as in "BE YE HOLY", as it is the direction that we seek for our lives. In other words, "This is what I am asking you to do, but this is what you are doing!" What that was, was God saying, "Can you just put forth a little effort to go in the right direction?" I guess the point is made more understandable by giving a little more clarity to "the point": if you don't think bad thoughts, then you won't speak bad thoughts! So now you might wonder in your heart, What in the world does any of that have to do with asking God for protection? Funny you should ask... "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless." (James 1:19-26) NLT