Words

 August 21, 2020

My Psalm-reading pattern gave me an interesting focal point for my thinking today. Psalm 51:15—“O LORD, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise.” Psalm 81:10–Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” Psalm 141:3—“Set a guard O LORD, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips.”

All three of these Psalms deal with the words that come out of my mouth. The first and last are prayers asking God to guide our words; the middle is God’s promise to do just that. These are important prayers which we ought to be praying every day. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to complain about things than to praise and bless? A profession of faith in Christ doesn’t seem to make much difference; when Christians get together, so much of what we talk about is complaint and worry; so little of praise. No wonder we are so depressed and angry. No wonder we are so ineffectual in our witness and in our prayers.

How often I have failed to keep watch over my lips, opening that door for words of bitterness, complaint, and criticism to escape. Jesus said it’s what comes out of our mouths that defiles us—our words reveal our hearts (Matthew 15:18-19). “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.” The fact that there is so much to legitimately complain about is beside the point; anyone can criticize. It takes faith and determination to compliment and bless in the middle of all the negativity swirling around us.

So once more tonight, I recalibrate my words, not so much by guarding what I say, but what I think—what I allow to set up residence in my heart. It requires constant vigilance, for as the old hymn puts it, my heart is “prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” St. Paul said it well: I must “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). My thoughts can be like cattle; they want to wander all over the place. I have to round them up, sometimes repeatedly, but when I do, my words follow and when I speak blessing, I find I am blessed myself.