How Scripture Confronts Deception and Calls Us to Truth

Lying is so common. Parents and children lie to each other. Spouses do lie. Coming home late from the office may not always be some urgent work that landed on the table as “I was about to leave the office.” The unexpected traffic may not be the reason for turning up late for the Sunday morning church. Politicians have perfected this art. Exaggerated resumes, tall claims of achievements, grades, qualifications—lying comes in diverse shades.

The Bible, especially the Psalms, takes lies very seriously. The Hebrew word for “lie” occurs 21 times in Psalms and many more times in the rest of the Old Testament, and its synonyms occur even more often.

Isaiah was concerned with untruthful, deceptive, and misleading speech. He cried out, “For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isa 6:5). Throughout his ministry, he had to fight political lies and deceptions.

Jesus warned his disciples that the Devil is the source of all lies: “For he is a liar and the father of lies’ (John 8:44). The Devil’s character is diametrically opposite to the character of God, for whom “it is impossible to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).

Followers of Christ who have put on the new nature and are growing into the likeness of Jesus Christ should not lie, especially to one another: “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:9). John’s vision of those the saints who make it to heaven is very much in line with exhortation to Colossians. They are the ones in whose “mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless” (Rev 14:5).

There may be several reasons people lie, but one thing is clear: lies hurt. Lies hurt the person who lies and then the people they lie about. They also hurt those who act on the lies that they believe. That is why the Psalmist prayed for deliverance from lies.

We need protection from self-lies for many reasons. First, our lies can backfire and harm us. We may be caught, and the self-esteem we build through lying and false pretences will collapse under its own weight.

Secondly, lies distance us from ourselves. When we lie, we must tell more lies to substantiate the previous one. Then, as we build on each previous lie, we move farther from reality and live in a false one. We end up with a false self-image: an imagined self rather than a real one. The real self, which needs care, nurture, and growth, is ignored as we live in an unreal world.

Lies also hurt the victims badly. The lies that people say about us hurt our reputation and our relationships. Some lies can be harmful to the extent that they could be mortal. When two scoundrels gave false testimony about Naboth, he lost his property and life (1 Kings 21:1—16).

Victims of lies are not only those who are lied to, but also those who believe lies about others. Those who are gullible distance themselves, hate, or even attack the innocent victims of lies. Thus, those who believe and act upon lies become victims of the lies they are told.

Lies are harmful, but who can protect us from lies? You may not know how many lies about you are going around. Even if you know you cannot defend yourself everywhere, every time. Even if you could do that, people still may not believe me! Lies are silent destroyers. Lies never build anything up. We are helpless victims of lies.

This sense of helplessness leads the Psalmist to turn to God for deliverance, as he cries, “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue” (Psalms 120:2).