I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.” – Psalm 39:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 25, 2013): Psalm 39

“Loose Lips Might Sink Ships” was an American propaganda campaign during the Second World War. The propaganda campaign was waged by the Seagram Distillers Corporation and it was one of several similar campaigns waged by Allied countries. In Britain, the campaign was called “Keep Mum” while in Sweden the campaign was called “en svensk tiger” which warned of the danger of unguarded conversation around foreign people. The idea behind all three campaigns was that we may know things that we do not realize we know – and in times of war, there are ears all around us that are willing to listen to our secrets. For the United States, the fact that the campaign was carried out by a purveyor of alcoholic beverages carries some significance – the message seems to be that a person needed to be careful even when they were relaxing with a drink – a time that they might also be most vulnerable to telling secrets. Be careful how you drink, because what you say accidently while sitting at the bar nursing your beverage can have consequences that will carry far beyond the place where you are sitting.

There is a bit of controversy about what David meant as he wrote this Psalm. Early translations have translated the word “machcowm” to bridle, but the word muzzle that is used here is a better translation because it is not direction that is needed (as a bridle would indicate) but rather the silence that comes from the use of a muzzle. But it is not that the words indicate a doubt in the goodness of God that needed to remain hidden from the unbeliever. Rather, the passage is more about David’s pride. David seems to be sorting out the events of his life. And the temptation that we all face in these moments is to lean back on all of our life’s successes and let pride run free. It would be the pride of another king, Hezekiah, a descendant of David, that would a few generations later usher in the Babylonian Captivity. But David’s words stand as a warning to all those that would follow as to the results of that kind of pride. Pride is dangerous because it gives information to those that do not have our best interest in mind – information that they can use to hurt us. So David in Psalm 39 basically just originates the campaign that would be picked up by Seagram’s three millennia later – Loose Lips Might Sink Ships.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 40