Proverbs Chapter 21

Proverbs 21:23 (ESV)
"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."

There is no quicker and surer way to get yourself into trouble than with the excessive and unwise use of your tongue. Isn’t it amazing that so little a part of our body can produce such pain and hurt in the lives of people. An inappropriate and harshly spoken word can immediately put a wall between family members or good friends. A parent who speaks only criticism to a child can cause hurt that may take years to heal. Lies, rumors or even jokes spoken at the expense of another person can have devastating effects on that person’s emotional state. Words spoken in anger at the wrong time may cause you to be missing some front teeth.

We could go on and on about the dangers of the misuse of our mouth or tongue. The Scriptures deal extensively with the subject of the tongue. In Proverbs we can read that there is sin in the multitude of words and that a wide open mouth shall bring destruction. James calls the tongue a raging fire, a world of iniquity, an untamed beast, an unruly evil and deadly poison. We don’t have to read very far in the Scriptures to see the potential evil of the human tongue and we don’t have to look very hard in the world around us to see the damage caused by the unrestrained and evil use of the tongue. Fortunately for us God also gives us many strategies for bringing our tongues under control. Here are just a few.

Here in Proverbs 21:23 we are told to "keep" our mouth and our tongue. To keep could be translated to guard, to watch, to protect or to put a hedge of thorns around something. So Solomon is telling us to put a hedge around our mouth and guard it so as to keep ourselves out of trouble. Maybe thorns in figurative hedge would cause a little pain as our mouth begins to move excessively and remind us to keep it closed.

Another Biblical strategy for controlling the tongue is simply to use it less. "He that has knowledge spares his words..." - Proverbs 17:27. "... he that refrains his lips is wise." Proverbs 10:19. In James we are told to be "swift to hear and slow to speak". The more we speak the more potential there is for us to speak wrongly and get ourselves into trouble.

A third strategy is to control what goes into our minds and our hearts thus giving our tongue a better source of raw material. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul writes that we are to be filled with the Spirit. It is interesting that the very next phrase deals with speaking. He says that our speaking will be psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing to the Lord and thanksgiving. In Colossians 3:16, a similar verse is found but in this verse the cause of spiritual speaking is letting "the Word of Christ dwell in you richly". As we allow the Holy Spirit to use the Word of God to renew and transform our sinful hearts we will be more likely to speak good rather than evil.

God help us to guard our tongues. Help us to limit the words we speak. Renew us from the inside with your Word. May we speak that which draws others to your love and mercy. May we build up and not destroy with our words. And may our lips glorify you. Amen!