LIPS
Lips are mentioned frequently in Scripture. They are a thread of scarlet on the face of the beloved (Song. 4:3), they distill the unctuous honey of the word (Song. 4:11), they even designate, sometimes, the nascent word (Jb. 16:5) .
Unlike the tongue, an active organ used to speak, the lips and mouth wait to be opened to express the depths of the heart.
It is common to find that the lips are at the service of the heart, good or bad (Prov. 10:32; 17:15; 24:2).
The lips reveal the qualities of the heart like this:
the grace of the ideal king (Ps. 45:3),
the deceitful claim of the foreigner (Prov. 5:3; 7:21).
In the sinner they place themselves at the service of duplicity, with its train of trickery and slander (Prov. 4:24; 12:22; Ps. 120:2).
The lips can hide inner evil behind a pleasant face: “Flattering lips with an evil heart are varnish on a clay pot” (Proverbs 26:23).
The lips can even express a duplicity that affects the dialogue with God himself: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mt. 15:8; Is. 29:31).
We are also told, by contrast, of him whose lips are always sincere and just (Ps. 17:1; Pr. 10:18-21; 23:15). But in order to keep his lips from every lying or flattering word ( Ps. 34:14; 1 Pet. 3:10) it will be necessary for God himself to instruct them (Pr. 22:17), they must hang on the lips of God with obedience and faithfulness (Ps. 17:4 ; Jb. 23:12). “Set, Lord, guard at my mouth and watch at the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3).
“Lord, open my lips.” Thus the psalmist asks the Lord for the grace of simplicity to begin dialogue. Before God, man knows that his lips are inclined to duplicity and lies (Is. 6: 5).
Authentic praise must come from lips purified (Ps. 63:4-6; Hos. 14:3; Jb. 11:5; Is. 6:6) by the fire of divine love and forgiveness. All the praise that we direct to the Father is the fruit of the lips that praise Jesus Christ, that is, it is the fruit of lips that confess his name (Heb. 13:15).
Thus, with the certainty of being heard, each believer must have this prayer on his lips: “Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise” (Ps. 51:15).