Psalms 78:36
“But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.”
What does Psalms 78:36 mean?
When times were hard, the people of Israel would cry out to God for help, and he'd deliver them. But as soon as things got better, they'd go through the motions of worship without meaning it, saying the right words while their hearts wandered elsewhere. This verse captures that painful gap between what we say to God and what we actually believe or intend to do. There's something deeply human about this kind of flattery, isn't it? We might thank God with our lips while planning to ignore what he asks of us, or we might make promises in crisis that we never keep once the crisis passes. The psalmist is holding up a mirror to that dishonesty, inviting us to notice when we're doing the same thing. Real relationship with God—like real relationship with anyone—requires our whole selves, not just pretty words.