Today's verse about our speech tells us to keep our tongue from evil. Why and how do we do that? I hope this little video encourages you to look to the Word of God for answers to those questions. Thank you for watching!

In the Word on Wednesday

July 20, 2022

“Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.” Psalm 34:13

When my son was little, we had a Scripture memory CD that had a song for this verse on it. I will spare you from hearing me sing it, especially since I don’t have the copyright permission to do so on a video, but the verse, of course, is now ingrained in my brain. The song, however, either used a different translation or combined the New American Standard and New International Version because it was, “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.” Just a subtle synonym but sometimes I think the word “lies” really gives us more of a visceral response when we hear it. No one wants to be a liar or be lied to.

This verse is found in a larger section of Psalm 34 (in verses 11-22) that are David’s instructions on how to live a successful, God-honoring life. He instructs the people to live righteously and shun evil, pointing specifically to our speech and to honesty in this verse. He wants the people to be sincere in everything they do and say and not to speak “out of both sides of their mouth” - similar to James’s statement about blessing and cursing coming from the same mouth. In verse 14 of this Psalm, David tells them to “seek peace and pursue it.”

Some other verses that encourage us to keep our tongue from evil are:
Psalm 141:3: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.” I love this one because it is part of a prayer of David asking the Lord to keep his tongue from evil. We know that it is only possible with the Lord’s help.
Also, Proverbs 13:3:
“The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;
The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” We see the consequences of both guarding your tongue and speaking evil.
And finally, we see Christ as our example in I Peter 2:22:
“who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;”

Why does the Bible advocate this honesty and righteous living? It is NOT so that we may gain salvation. Romans tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The first part of I Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God,” so it is only through the blood of Christ that we are saved, not through our righteous living. But the Bible calls believers to righteous living so that we may please God and for our own good. God knows our lives will be more fruitful, will be more peaceful, will even be happier if we “depart from evil and do good” as it also says in verse 14 of this Psalm. Are there times when people will suffer for doing the right thing? Absolutely! But even then, we can have peace within our hearts knowing that we have done what is right and what pleases the One who gave His life so that we might be redeemed. We can rest, knowing that our souls will never be destroyed no matter what anyone can do to us here on earth.

I hope that this has encouraged you today and that this week you will ask the Lord to set a guard over your mouth so that your words can please and bring honor to Him.