1I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.
Isn’t this what you would expect, that the LORD would answer when we call? Notice the distress the Psalmist refers to in the next verse: lying lips and deceitful tongues. His distress is present because of other people’s lies. Have you been hurt by other people’s lies? Maybe you have been the liar inflicting the harm. Lying attacks the very heart of relationships. When lying is present, how do you know what to trust? And if you can’t trust, how do you have a secure relationship? Now you can understand the writer’s problem. He has obviously trusted and was hurt by the lies. For some, lying has become the “easy” way out of a difficult situation, often when they have overcommitted and can’t possibly keep all the commitments. So one lie becomes two. That is how lying takes over. Lies multiply. Then lying becomes easier than telling the truth. And easy is often the way of sin. When you are on the receiving end of lies, especially when you know it is a series of lies, it can be hard not to lose it in anger. You just want to slap someone! (At least that is the way I feel.) I want to scream, “Enough already! Just tell me the truth, no matter how much it hurts.” I think this is how the writer feels in today’s text. We are not alone in our hurt over lies.
The Arnold Journey 