Be Careful How We Speak


 

”I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.“ ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭39‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV

This Psalm really stood out for me, so I thought I would share some thoughts. What I think David is saying, is he will guard his ways; watch what he says so he may not sin with his tongue. He will “muzzle” his mouth as long as the wicked(enemy) are in his presence. But what strikes me is he also says, in effect, the longer he remains silent and holds his peace, the more distressed he feels! What a quandary!

Have you ever felt this way? I know I have! When the negativity around me gets to be too much, when I get tired of the hate filled rhetoric and weary of listening to it, I can feel the stress building within me, my heart starts to pound, indigestion starts to flare up, my head starts to hurt and I can feel my BP rise. I feel like I could explode! It’s definitely hard to hold your peace. In times like these I try to remember to just go to Jesus, pour my heart out to Him. Because some things are better left unsaid. Once the words are out there, you can’t take them back. Like the example I read about once, where a mom was trying to help her daughter to understand the importance of her words. She emptied an entire tube of toothpaste in front of her then asked the daughter to put it back into the tube. To which the daughter replied, I can’t! Exactly. On more than one occasion I have sensed the Lord shutting my mouth, and I am thankful for those times I listened before I said something I would later regret. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:29, to use our words wisely. To let no “corrupting” talk come out of our mouths. But use our words to build others up, to encourage, to “give grace to those who hear”.  James reminds us in James 3:1-12, “no human being can tame the tongue”! How true this is! It's so easy to jump to conclusions. React before I have all the facts. Misinterpret  a comment then blowing it out of proportion! And then usually feeling  like a real low life afterwards. But I don't have to. I can practice self control. In James 1:19, we are instructed to be,  "quick to hear, slow to speak,  slow to anger." And again in Proverbs 19:11, "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is to his glory to overlook an offense." I can choose not to take offense. I can choose to take a deep breath, think before I respond. I can choose the Spirit over the flesh. Jesus tells us, in Matthew 15:11, it’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles us, it’s what comes out! Ouch! Oh that I would learn to memorize Psalm 19:14, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Especially before I open my mouth:)

‭‭In summary, let us learn to think before we speak; choose our words carefully; hold our tongues. And ask ourselves, “Is my speech edifying and bringing Glory to God”? So, like David, we may not sin with our tongues! And always, always remember, when we mess up, which I definitely have, His mercies are new every morning(and sometimes moment by moment)! See Lamentations 3:22-23. 


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