27 He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
28 Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.—Proverbs 17:27-28
First off, I have to confess that I really don’t want to write on these two verses. Why, you ask? Because what I write on, I am usually tested on...and in regard to sins of the tongue, nine times out ten I fail miserably and I hate to fail. I don’t even hate failing for the right reasons. Yes, I am grieved that I grieved God, but my mostly I hate it because my pride was injured and I now have to “see” and “deal” with not just one ugly sin, but also the underlying causes and effects of my lack of lip restraint. How much better it would be if at the outset, I had purposed to listen to His still small voice. Then, I would have been counted as a wise woman instead of a foolish one who tears down her own house with the words of her lips. How much easier it would be to just humble myself and pray BEFORE I speak. Oh, to be a man of understanding, filled with the Spirit of God, whose spirit is calm and not clamorous to speak.
James, by the Spirit of God reminds us in the first chapter of his book that a man should be slow to speak, and in Chapter 3 says the following..I am including the entire passage...I ALWAYS NEED the reminder.
For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.—James 3:2-12
Sigh! We all know what James tells us is true. We see it played out in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. Beloved, the heart of the righteous studies how to answer. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious...the law of kindness is on his tongue. In contrast, the lips of a fool swallow him up. The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, and the end of his talk is raving madness. Truly, in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking.
Oh, Father, Your lovingkindness is better to me than life! Set a guard over my lips today that I might not bring reproach to Your name. I say to my own heart the words Job spoke to his faithless friends...
Oh, that you (I) would be silent,
And it would be your (MY) wisdom!—Job 13:5
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