Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.” vss. 12-13
Proverbs 9:4-6
Some psalms had their origins in the Wisdom Literature of Israel and leaders used them in worship to teach people particular insights about how to live. This psalmist says that the way we use our mouths is the key to a long and fruitful life, that in fact, all happiness depends upon our tongue. The New Testament writer James would agree. Comparing the tongue to the rudder of a ship he writes, “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.” He calls it, “a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” We would be hard-pressed to disagree. There’s scarcely a person among us who hasn’t been betrayed by the careless use of our tongue. It starts as children as we try to figure out appropriate speech in the home and continues through adolescence as we experiment with profanity and curses. We use it in our courting and loving and then use it to demean and ridicule those we have wooed and won. We pass on gossip and salacious untruths, lie in every conceivable way, and then wonder why our lives have gotten so screwed up. The psalmist says, “It’s not rocket science, you fool! It’s your mouth! Choose words carefully, words of love and affirmation, and life will be good!”
Thought for the Day: How has my tongue betrayed me?
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