It is good to be back with you. Last week we were away to a lake in Maryland, all of us, and I was spending the week pretending I was still young, discovering otherwise. But we had a great time. Last Sunday we had planned to go to a church there in the area. For various reasons it couldn’t work out, and so we Zoomed in with all of you last Sunday. Pleasure to do that as well, hear Pastor Boyd’s message on Providence. It’s good to be back with the fellowship, and it’s also good to sing with you again. One of the governors this week made a decree that churches cannot sing when they meet anymore. You know, there are certain things that you say, “Yes, sir, we submit,” and at certain points you say, “You know, there’s an authority higher than you.” And thankfully, we don’t have to face that here, but we should pray for our brothers and sisters who have to make decisions like that in other states.
Proverbs chapter 10. We are continuing our summer study from the book of Proverbs. It’s not been a new revelation to me, of course, but it has really impressed me again as we’ve gone through these studies in Proverbs to see again the great emphasis that God places on what godly behavior is, or in the terms of Proverbs, what wise behavior is. And that’s largely what Proverbs is about. It is to instill wisdom, a God-oriented wisdom, as we have seen—a wisdom that begins with the fear of God, and then a wisdom that reflects that fear of God in all of the various ways that we live and, in our study now, in the ways that we talk.
We started last time, as you’ll remember, looking at wisdom about words, and I hope to conclude that this morning. We started last time in chapter 25 and verse 11: “As apples of gold and pictures of silver, so is a word fitly spoken.” The Proverbs has that emphasis on the right use of words and how important that is. Or for example, chapter 15, verse 23: “To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good is it?” And Proverbs recognizes then, as we saw, the power of words. For good or for ill, words can minister wonderful things. As this verse I just quoted: “To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good is it.” Words have the power to refresh, to enliven, but then we saw also that words have destructive power as well. Words can destroy.
And so we saw that it is a mark of wisdom to be very careful about the words that we speak. We talked about words in difficult situations. We will see more of that in weeks to come. But for example, chapter 15 and verse 1: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” We saw that there’s even need for rebuke at times—a rebuke in love, a rebuke that a wise man, when the rebuke is called for, a wise man will appreciate. So we saw the power of words.
Now, the Book of Proverbs gives us many other categories, dimensions, categories in which wisdom will show itself in the way that we speak. Now in some separate studies in the weeks ahead, we’ll look at categories other than what we’ll look at today. We’ve already seen one, you’ll recall: we looked at the matter of truth and justice and honesty. Proverbs has much to say about that, the truthfulness of our words. In another study to come, we’ll look at the matter of a temper—not speaking rashly, but being careful in the way that we speak, particularly in the heat of the moment when provoked. We’ll touch on that this morning; we’ll see more of that in time to come. Proverbs and your temper. Another aspect or another category of speaking that Proverbs addresses is the matter of pride and boastfulness. We’ll see that in a separate study as well.
But today we’ll look at several, a smattering of different categories of wise words. How will a wise man speak and how does wisdom affect the way that we speak and when we speak? I’ll begin with Proverbs chapter 10, verse 19: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking. But whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” Let’s bow for prayer.
Our Father, we are your people. You have made us yours. We are twice yours, by right of creation, by right of redemption. We belong to you. We live under your will and under your law. We ask that you would make us to be people who are wise, and to reflect that wisdom in the way we speak, and we pray that you would use your word to direct us and to change us and to shape us this morning. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.
All right, again, Proverbs 10:19: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” Well, it’s pretty obvious what this proverb is all about. The more you talk, the more you’ll sin. That’s not because talking is itself sinful, but it is because talking reveals the heart, which is still very flawed. And we should be careful how we talk. And so our first category of wisdom of words this morning is:
A Wise Man Does Not Talk Too Much
A wise man does not talk too much. You’ll notice in the parallel here, the wise man doesn’t multiply his own words. And when he does, transgression is not lacking. The sense, many have suggested, the sense here is that he’s addressing a transgression and trying to correct it. And he multiplies his own words only to further transgression, to give further transgression. And so the idea here is that the wise man doesn’t always have to speak up. He doesn’t always have to fix the problem. He doesn’t always have to correct an error, a wrong, when he hears it. Otherwise, he knows he may just multiply the transgressions.
Look at Proverbs chapter 13. Again, in this category, a wise man does not talk too much. Chapter 13, verse 3: “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” My dad had me memorize this when I was a young child. I can’t imagine still today why he thought I needed this verse, but he had me memorize it. Of course, in those days, it was the King James Version: “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life. He that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” Well, the significance of the proverb, I think, is self-evident again. It’s very obvious. You talk a lot, you’ll have trouble. You bite your tongue, you’ll avoid trouble. He that guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. The wise man does not talk too much.
One more in this category, chapter 21, verse 23: “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” Well, I have to admit, Dad was onto something. How much less trouble I would have had in my life if I had just kept quiet. That’s this proverb. He that keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. You’ll find it in your own best interests very often. Just hold your tongue. Don’t talk. You don’t always have to have the last word. I was probably 13 or so, and my grandfather remarked to me—I forget the conversation, but it was a back and forth kind of a thing, all pleasant, but a little smart-alecky—and he remarked, “Fred, you always have to have the last word, don’t you?” Well, it’s not a compliment. And Solomon is telling us here, we keep our mouth, we keep our tongue, and we’ll just avoid trouble. A wise man doesn’t talk too much. Hold your tongue. Now a variation of that theme we find in Proverbs is:
A Wise Man Does Not Talk Too Soon
A wise man does not talk too soon. Look at Proverbs 15, verse 28. The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. Now again, it’s one of those proverbs that just grabs you as soon as you read it. “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” So we have a contrast here. We have the righteous on the one hand, we have the wicked or the fool on the other, and the righteous is slow to speak, he’s thoughtful, and we have the wicked or the fool who just blurts out, immediately spouts what he thinks he knows.
And it’s curious here because it’s the righteous who actually does have something to say. And yet it’s the righteous who’s careful and he ponders; he thinks first and then speaks. It’d be a great lesson for us to learn. Just pause first before we speak up and then speak. That’s the idea. It’s the mark of a fool who just spouts off quickly and in so doing displays his own folly. So the heart of the righteous or the wise man, he ponders, he thinks before he speaks. He doesn’t talk too soon.
Again, chapter 18, verse 13. This is another of those proverbs that bites you before you’re done reading it. “If one gives an answer before he hears, it’s a folly and a shame.” He that answers a matter before he hears it, it’s a folly and a shame to him. Now that can be taken in a couple of different ways. It might be that we have here a man who responds to a matter before he really hears it all out. He spouts his opinion before he’s heard the whole story. Or it might be something a little bit more immediate than that, and it’s the guy who interrupts before the other person is done speaking, and he interrupts just so he can spout off his own knowledge and show his own opinions, which are undoubtedly superior. In any case, though, the idea here is that he doesn’t pay careful attention, and he just spouts off what he already knows. So sure of himself, he speaks up and then again displays his own folly and embarrasses himself. It’s a folly and a shame to him. He speaks only to show himself a fool. Don’t speak too soon.
Now, this is very important in relationships personally. It’s also very important in a community of relationships like we have in a church congregation. You hear something and you’re ready to give an opinion. Hear the matter out before you speak. That’s a mark of wisdom.
Again, in this category, chapter 29 and verse 20: “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There’s more hope for a fool than for him.” So here we have the guy who’s hasty, he’s reckless, he’s always ready to opine. He can give you his opinion on anything, anytime, and it’s ready to go. It’s cocked and loaded. It’s very interesting here the way it says it. “You see a man who’s hasty in his words. There’s more hope for a fool than for him.” That’s an interesting thing because in Proverbs there’s no hope for a fool. He’s beyond it. He won’t listen. You can’t beat it into him. There’s no hope for a fool. And so what he’s saying here, it seems, is it is a particular kind of fool who speaks too soon and is hasty with his words. It’s a particular kind of stupid. You know you’re just going to embarrass yourself when you speak too soon, and yet you do it anyway. It’s really foolish. I suspect this may lie behind James’ thinking when he tells us that we must be quick to hear and slow to speak.
So a wise man does not talk too much. A wise man does not talk too soon. And then one more of this type of category:
A Wise Man Knows When to Say Nothing
A wise man knows when to say nothing. Now that’s implied in several of the verses we’ve already seen, but let’s look at some more. Chapter 12, verse 23: “A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.” A prudent man—there’s your wise man—he conceals knowledge. He doesn’t have to tell you all he knows. He can hold it in. He doesn’t have to have the last word. He doesn’t have to have the first word. He doesn’t have to correct the matter. He doesn’t have to set you right. He can hold it in. The wise man, one mark of his wisdom, is he doesn’t have to tell you everything he knows.
But, by contrast, and here we have that antithetical parallel, we have the heart of fools proclaims folly. Notice by the way, we’ll see this a little bit later, the link between the heart and the mouth. The mouth is a revelation of the heart, and we have that here. “The heart of fools proclaims folly.” So the wise man doesn’t have to tell you all he knows, but the fool, oh, he just can’t wait to tell you all he knows, and he’s always ready to give his opinion, and he spouts off all the time.
So elsewhere in the book of Proverbs, we find that the fool can’t conceal his emotions. He’s always showing them. He can’t keep a calm spirit. The fool can’t hide his sinfulness. And here we have the fool can’t conceal his knowledge. He’s driven by a kind of pride to parade all that he knows in front of everyone. And in the process again, he shows himself to be an annoying fool. Don’t you hate being around a guy like that? He’s got to talk, got to tell you everything he knows, got to set it right. Don’t be a person like that, is what the proverb is telling us. The wise man, by contrast, has self-control. He knows how to wait for the right time, the right circumstances, and he also knows how to just let it go. He’s not saying here, when he says a prudent man conceals knowledge, he’s not saying here that the wise man hides his wisdom from those who genuinely seek it. But what he’s saying is that the wise man doesn’t have to speak up, especially to a fool who won’t hear it anyway.
So a wise man knows when to say nothing. We have another one like this, chapter 12, verse 16: “The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.” So here we have a tough situation. You’ve been rubbed the wrong way. Someone has said something that irks you. And the fool, he spouts off immediately. The vexation of a fool is known at once. When he’s rubbed wrong, everyone around him immediately knows it. The wise man, however, ignores the insult. He’s not so emotionally charged. He doesn’t have to give an immediate retort. He doesn’t have to fix it. He doesn’t have to come up with one better. He knows how to keep his tongue, and he determines, the wise man determines, that it’s better for all involved if he just lets it go.
One very close to this, if you’d like to look, chapter 19 and verse 11: “Good sense makes one slow to anger. And it is his glory to overlook an offense.” Again, the idea is it’s a mark of wisdom to calm yourself and to hold back. And it’s interesting here. He says that it is his glory to overlook an offense. It’s your glory to overlook an offense. It’s not how we generally think. When I’m offended, my tendency is to glory in coming one up on you and besting you somehow. But the mark of wisdom is, and the mark of… it will be your glory just to hold your tongue and let it go. You don’t have to look better at the end of the discussion. You don’t have to cut the other guy off at the knees in order to stand taller. It will, in fact, be your glory just to let it go. A wise man knows when to say nothing.
Again, chapter 17, verse 14: “The beginning of strife is like letting out water. So quit before the quarrel breaks out.” Okay, so you have this guy, he digs a hole in the dam, and at first it begins to leak, and then it begins to pour a little, and pretty soon it breaks out. And the idea here then is just shut up before the quarrel begins. Avoid it altogether. You don’t have to say anything.
Again, chapter 18, verses 6 and 7: “A fool’s lips walk into a fight and his mouth invites a beating. A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.” Again, the mark of a fool is that he always has to talk. He has to speak. He has to address the situation. He’s got to fix it. He’s got to correct it. Whatever it is, he’s got to tell you what he knows. That’s the mark of the fool. And so here, the fool sees a controversy, and he immediately speaks up. He’s going to settle it. He always has to answer it. He’s got to correct whichever side or both. And it says, “A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.” How many times have you thought afterwards, “If I had just only shut up?” It’s a mark of wisdom to avoid controversy if possible—if you need to correct it, Proverbs speaks of that as well—but if possible, just avoid the controversy, particularly if it’s not your concern. There’s an old, I think it’s an American proverb, a saying that says, “A fool’s tongue is long enough to hang him.” That’s the idea here.
Chapter 17, verse 27: “Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” Whoever restrains his words has knowledge. He who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Now we have here something of a… it’s generally a synonymous parallel, both lines saying generally the same thing, but I think it’d be better to classify this as a synthetic parallel where the second line says generally the same thing but adds a little. Notice the parallel structure here in this verse, 17:27. We have on the one hand, “the one who has knowledge,” and in the second line, “a man of understanding.” All right, there’s a perfect parallel, the same thing. One who has knowledge is a man of understanding. But notice that the first part of each line, “whoever restrains his words,” in the second line is “he who has a cool spirit.” So the one who restrains his words—that’s the effect—is the one who has a cool spirit—that’s the cause. A wise man has a cool spirit, calms his spirit, doesn’t have to flare back. And because he has a calm spirit, he restrains his words and doesn’t walk into something worse. And there he shows himself to be a wise man.
So we have here in this verse a tense situation. Something is said that irks you, rubs you wrong. The wise man has self-control. He holds his tongue, and that shows him to be wise. Proverbs is nothing if not practical. Look at verse 28, the very next verse. 17:28: “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise. When he closes his lips, he’s deemed intelligent.” This has got to be, I’m convinced it just has to be the background of a saying that Abraham Lincoln is famous for. It was something like, “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” That’s the idea here. The fool knows, the wise man knows how to hold his tongue. And he knows that much talk is going to result in sin and saying something stupid. And so this verse encourages thoughtfulness. Be careful before you speak. This is very much like a verse we saw, was it last time or the time before? Chapter 26 and verse 4: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.” Now the next verse says you answer a fool according to his folly in another circumstance. But that first verse, answer not a fool according to folly. A wise man knows when to say nothing.
Chapter 26, verse 17. This is another one that’s just painfully practical. Proverbs 26:17: “Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.” I’m not certain, but I suspect that lying behind this imagery is just the idea that the dog’s ears are sensitive. When our children were younger, we had dogs. We bred them for a while. We looked into which kind of dog to get, and we decided the Labrador Retriever would be a good one because they’re the most pet-friendly, children-friendly kind of dogs, and you can’t upset them. It’s hard to get them angry. One of the tests they gave us: pinch the dog’s ears. Another one was take the bone away while he’s eating it. But pinch the dog’s ears. Dog doesn’t like that. Pinch his lips. Same thing. They don’t like it. If they snap back at you, that’s one thing. In our case, the dog was fine and just ignored us. So here is the idea that here’s a dog, you pinch his ears, and he’s not going to be happy about it. It’s not going to go well. But here, whoever meddles in a quarrel, not his own, he’s like that. It’s not going to go well. When you see a quarrel, it’s not yours to settle. It’s not your concern. Let it go. A wise man knows when to say nothing.
Now, there are not many proverbs more practically important for congregational life than this one. Don’t meddle in a controversy that is not your own. I remember many years ago, many years ago, when I was a new pastor, my dad came, who was a very experienced pastor of many years, and the men of the church, we asked him to give us a message, just for us men, the leaders of the church in particular—church problems and dealing with church problems and things. Just give us some of your years of wisdom and tell us about it. And one of the points he made is that often in a congregation you will have someone who offends someone else or someone who thinks he’s offended by someone else. And that is one thing. But generally when it gets blown up, it’s when a third party comes in and takes up the cause of one or the other. And then another person comes in and takes up the cause of one or the other, and pretty soon you have a divided congregation. And the idea here of this proverb is: it is a mark of wisdom not to walk into a quarrel that is not yours.
Chapter 29, again in this category, verse 11: “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” It’s the fool who, when he’s rubbed, has to let you know about it. But it’s a mark of wisdom just to hold the tongue and don’t speak quickly. All right, so a wise man does not talk too much. He does not talk too soon. A wise man knows when to say nothing. Now there are some particular kinds of sins that the wise man knows to avoid. So we have another category here:
A Wise Man Does Not Flatter
A wise man does not flatter, and a wise man does not listen to flattery. Now both sides of that are important. A wise man does not flatter and a wise man does not listen to flattery. So look at chapter 26, verse 28: “A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.” So he’s speaking here of the ill effects of flattery. A flattering mouth works ruin. A lying tongue hates its victims. So someone is telling lies, an untruthful slander. But on the other hand, you have a flatterer, and he works ruin as well. That’s the ill effects of flattery.
Now, I think to understand this, we have to give the contrast that lies in the background. And that is there is a genuine ministry of mutual encouragement that is very important. And the Bible encourages us to that in several different places. So for example, if you’d like, chapter 12, verse 25: “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” So here’s a man who’s anxious, he has some kind of anxiety, and a friend comes along with just the right word of wisdom and gives it to him and encourages him. And at the same time, we can have that in terms of encouragement, genuine praise to someone who has done well or who has been a blessing in whatever way. It is a mark of wisdom to give that praise. And it’s an important ministry to encourage one another in that way.
But flattery is not just encouragement. Flattery is a false imitation of genuine encouragement. It’s kind of a sinister imitation of it. And the difference between genuine praise and flattery is not always in the substance of it. Flattery might be excessive praise, overstating it. But flattery might also be giving praise that is otherwise genuine and truthful, but it’s done for ill motives. It’s done with selfish motives. It’s done to get something back out of the person being praised. Flattery works that way as well. So you can have honest encouragement, you can have flattery, but it has selfish kinds of motivation. Both of them, he says—the idea here is flattery, whatever specific form it takes—works ruin.
Chapter 26, verse 23: “Like the glaze covering of an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.” This glaze that’s being talked about here—the earthen vessel obviously is a piece of pottery worked out of clay. It’s just a hunk of clay, but you put a glaze over it, it looks nice. The glaze in view here probably is that of a silver glaze. When silver is being refined and you want to melt out so you get just the ore, what’s separated out is lead and oxygen. And you have this monoxide dross of some kind, which is very shiny. And so you use it to glaze the pottery and it looks valuable, looks great, but it’s just an appearance that’s not true. It’s worthless. Flattery, he is saying, is only a guise for evil intent.
Chapter 29, verse 5, another warning against flattery: “A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.” So we have here the imagery of a hunter trapping a wild animal, and by flattery he’s seducing his neighbor to a false sense of security and that in order to get something out of him himself.
One more in that regard, chapter 28, verse 23, just across the page: “Whoever rebukes a man will afterwards find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.” Of course, this assumes that the man receiving the rebuke is himself wise, but in either case, it remains true that the rebuke is of more value than flattery. So when we’re praised, we want to assume the best of our friend’s motives. But at the same time, when we are praised, we have to be careful to listen discerningly. Now the point here is not just hearing flattery. The point here is the wise man’s own speech. And so a wise man will not be the kind who flatters. And what these verses are telling us is that we, if we are wise, will seek to be kind in our speech, we’ll want to be genuinely encouraging, but we’ll check our motives and not try to get something out of it ourselves and have a false kind of flattery. Again, chapter 26, verse 28: “A lying tongue hates its victims and a flattering mouth works ruin.” In a larger perspective of Proverbs, the ruin spoken of here might not be the ruin of the person who is flattered, but the ruin of the flatterer himself. All right, a wise man then does not listen to flattery and he doesn’t flatter. One more category:
A Wise Man Does Not Gossip
A wise man does not gossip. The Book of Proverbs has a lot to say about gossip. Chapter 11, we’ll start with chapter 11, verse 13: “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” So we have the idea here of someone who’s betraying a confidence. Gossip in that sense. Notice that gossip is not lying. Gossip may include lying. But gossip is simply saying something that’s not your business to say. And here it’s betraying a confidence, revealing something that ought to remain hidden. A wise man doesn’t do that. And we’ll see some other verses as to why.
Chapter 16, verse 28: “A dishonest man spreads strife and a whisperer separates close friends.” The NIV here reads, “A perverse person stirs up conflict and a gossip separates close friends,” emphasizing the sad effects of gossip. You know how it works; you just can’t hold yourself. And so because you’re concerned or you want to give a prayer request, you say this and that about someone that ought to be kept covered. And it separates close friends. Shame on us for ever doing it.
Chapter 17, verse 9: “Whoever covers an offense seeks love. He who repeats a matter separates close friends.” Again, a true friend is one who keeps concealed what ought to remain concealed. But a gossip is one who just betrays a friendship, telling what he knows when he shouldn’t.
Chapter 18, verse 8. This one is particularly graphic: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels.” Oh, I can’t wait to hear it. Oh, this is good to hear. I got it. “They go down in the innermost part of the body.” So the first line, he’s telling us, whispers that words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. That is, it’s juicy, it’s attractive, you want to hear it. But the second line, “they go down into the inner parts of the body.” That is, they sink in and they’re not forgotten, and the damage done is permanent.
Chapter 26, verse 20: “For lack of wood, the fire goes out, and where there’s no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” Or the NIV: “Without wood, a fire goes out, without a gossip, a quarrel dies down.” Again, he’s talking about the ill effects of gossip. Nothing good is accomplished by it. What happens is only destruction.
Now, I have been at another time in a church where when I came across the subject of gossip in the biblical text we’re going through, I had to address it very pointedly because it was a real problem in the church. I am happy to say that this does not at all seem to be a problem at RBC. There have been a couple of times I have heard some things about me that someone said that weren’t so and I couldn’t go back to it. But I have to say that this is not a problem that we have at RBC and I am greatly thankful for that. There’s nothing that can harm a congregation like this kind of sin. But these verses are here for you as well. The urge to gossip is powerful. It’s an incurable urge. It’s due to our sin. And we are always tempted to tell what we know about someone else because, well, then we look better. And these Proverbs are telling us it’s a mark of wisdom to rein in that urge and don’t give vent to it, keep it back.
And in fact, Proverbs tells us not only don’t gossip, we have something on don’t listen to gossip as well. Chapter 17 and verse 4: “An evil doer listens to wicked lips and a liar gives ear to mischievous tongues.” There are times, brothers and sisters, where you need to have the gumption to say to someone, “Wait, wait, wait, I don’t need to be hearing this.” There have been times in my ministry where it really has irked me that I have had to engage in a conversation with someone that I shouldn’t be having, but I have to have it because they have had a conversation with someone else that they shouldn’t have had. And it just grows like that. Don’t give in to the urge. It is a mark of wisdom not to gossip and not to listen to the gossip. And we will do all of us a favor if we will minister to one another that way, not gossip. If it happens, stop it. One more, very quickly:
A Wise Man Recognizes That the Words He Speaks Reveal the Heart
A wise man recognizes that the words he speaks reveal the heart. Chapter 18 and verse 4: “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” Or NIV reads here: “The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.” Notice the idea here is that of where the words come from. They reflect the heart. We have the same thing in chapter 10 in verse 20: “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.” Notice the parallel: “the heart.” The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth. In both cases, it’s the words that are in view. But in the one, it’s the heart, because the words reveal the heart.
Well, this is just what Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 12, that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If I had a bottle of water up here, I could illustrate it. If I take a bottle of water, unscrew the top, shake it, what’s going to come out? Water, right? What comes out is what’s inside. And that’s what we find everywhere in the scriptures about the heart. What we speak is simply a revelation of what’s inside, and that is why the words become so very important. And so we might say, “Well, I really didn’t mean it.” Maybe you didn’t. Usually when that is said, you have to at least say, “Well, you may not have meant it, but you did mean to hurt when you said it.” But whether you meant it or not, it revealed the heart. And a wise man recognizes that.
If you’d like to jot down some more verses that reflect that idea, I’ll just give them to you quickly: Chapter 12, verse 23; Chapter 15, verse 2; Chapter 15, verse 28; and Chapter 16, verse 23. Well, you may not have thought that the words you say are so significant, but the scriptures have very much to say about our words. Our words have a great potential for either evil or for good, and our words are very telling and very revealing about who we are and what we are inwardly.
The New Testament picks up the very same thing. Jesus, I already mentioned, tells us that: out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. James, I suppose, is most famous for talking about the use and the misuse of the tongue, especially in Chapter 3—that the tongue is a great occasion for sin, a great potential for sin, and it’s the most difficult member of our body to tame. And he criticizes Christians for using that same tongue, both for blessing and for slander, for praise and for sin. What an awful thing it is. Our tongue reveals who we are.
And that’s why Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12, “By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” In judgment, words will matter. They will reveal who we are and what we were like. And of course that is a reflection of what the gospel promises. The gospel promises not only escape from hell and acceptance before God; the gospel promises transformation. And from the inside out, God is going to remake us. And that will show in the words that we speak. And we ought to give praise to God every day for Christ who took all of our sins of the tongue to himself and took the punishment for them. We also must remember carefully that he saves us not just from hell, but he saves us from sin. He intends to remake us and to change us.
And if we are going to hear this wisdom from Proverbs and look at it through our New Testament glasses, we ought to hear it in such a way that we resolve that by the enabling power of the Spirit of God given us by Christ through his death, that we will be very careful to honor Christ in everything that we have to say. Let’s bow together in prayer.
Our Father, you know that we need this instruction. We are so apt to sin with our tongues. Lord, we pray that you will preserve us from these sins. We pray that you’ll preserve us as a congregation from these sins. We pray that you will enable us by the right use of our tongue to minister to one another and to be encouraging and kind and uplifting to one another, that we may honor you in that way. Help us, Lord. Forgive us of our sins. Make us to be better ministers for Christ with the use of our tongue. We pray in Jesus’ name.
To conclude our service this morning, please take out your blue Trinity hymnal, open to number 400. Let’s stand together and sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” number 400.