Psalms 15:1–3; 17:3; 34:13
Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
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Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
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Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
The early Brethren in our dispensation deepened our understanding of the power of speech when they taught, “It is by words . . . [that] every being works when he works by faith. God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’ Joshua spake, and the great lights which God had created stood still. Elijah commanded, and the heavens were stayed for the space of three years and six months, so that it did not rain. . . . All this was done by faith. . . . Faith, then, works by words; and with [words] its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed.”62 Like all gifts “which cometh from above,” words are “sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit.”63 Words are so powerful that sometimes we need to assess how we speak to each other and even how we speak of ourselves.
There is a line from the Apocrypha that puts the seriousness of this issue better than I can. It reads, “The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones.”64 With that stinging image in mind, it is worth noting what James, the brother of Jesus, said about “a perfect man”: “For in many things we offend all. [But] if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
Continuing the imagery of the bridle, James writes: “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
“Behold also . . . ships, which though they be . . . great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm.”
Then he makes his point: “The tongue is [also] a little member. . . . [But] behold, how great a [forest]65 a little fire [can burn].
“ . . . So is the tongue [a fire] among our members, . . . it defileth the whole body, . . . it is set on fire of hell.
“For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, . . . hath been tamed of mankind:
“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
“Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
“Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”66
That is pretty straightforward, to say the least. Obviously James doesn’t mean our tongues are always iniquitous, nor that everything we say is “full of deadly poison.” But he clearly means that at least some things we say can be destructive, even venomous—and that is a chilling indictment! The voice that bears profound testimony, utters fervent prayer, and sings lovely hymns can be the same voice that berates and criticizes, embarrasses and demeans, inflicts pain and destroys the spirit of oneself and of others in the process. “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing,” James grieves. “My brethren [and sisters], these things ought not so to be.”
Paul put it candidly, but very hopefully. He said to all of us: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but [only] that which is good . . . [and] edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God. . . .
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you. . . .
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”67
We should all try for at least this form of perfection—that we bridle our tongues when they need to be bridled, that we will not transgress with our mouth.
Notes
^62. Lectures on Faith (1985), 72–73; emphasis added.
^65. An alternate translation from the Greek.