Friday, June 26

O Jehovah, who may be a guest in your tent?—Ps. 15:1.

For Jehovah to be our Friend, we must meet certain conditions. As recorded inPsalm 15,
David sang about what is required for us to be ‘a guest in Jehovah’s tent,’ that is, to
be a friend of God. Two of these requirements are avoiding slander and acting honestly
in all our dealings. David said of such a guest: “He does not slander with his tongue
. . . He does not accept a bribe against the innocent.†(Ps. 15:3, 5)

In another psalm, David warned: “Guard your tongue from what is bad.†(Ps. 34:13)

Failure to heed this inspired counsel would create a gap between us and our righteous heavenly Father.
In fact, slander is a characteristic of Jehovah’s great enemy, Satan. The term “Devil†is derived from
a Greek word meaning “slanderer.†Controlling what we say about others helps preserve closeness
with Jehovah. Especially is this true of our attitude regarding appointed men in the congregation.

—Heb. 13:17; Jude 8.



w14 2/15 4:10, 11​