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“I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.” But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew worse. The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words:…”      Psalm 39:1-3  NLT

There are few confessions in the Bible more honest and blunt than this confession of King David. My first thought as I read that was, “Been there, done that.”

Haven’t we all promised ourselves to watch our actions and our tongues? When you’re in a stressful situation, don’t you steel yourself and rehearse in your mind how best to make your point?  Your blood pressure rises, and it’s almost like the fight or flight syndrome, except it’s something you’re passionate about and it’s too important to flee. So you take a stand.

It’s easy to walk in under our own power, having the best of intentions. But when you listen to your opponent speak words that sound like complete nonsense to you, or that you believe to be outright lies, the game changes. Like Israel’s greatest king, the more you think about it, the hotter you get. Before you realize it, your mouth has opened and the fire of words has escaped. Or you have typed it into social media and clicked “send.”

Let’s step back for a minute. It would be life-changing if someone could invent a button that, when pushed, words could be unsaid, allowing us a re-do; or something put on social media could be erased back to the moment before it was written. That inventor would be a wealthy person. But no such gizmo exists. The angry tone of voice, the insulting turn of phrase, or the confidence you betrayed hang in the air like a poison cloud. You can’t un-speak it.

Go down to verses 7 and 8 of that same Psalm 39: “And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. Rescue me from my rebellion…” A close relationship with the Lord is our only hope. None of us can consistently hold our tongues under our own power. But the Spirit of the Lord within us is the same Spirit that enabled the Apostle Paul to speak eloquently and persuasively on many occasions when he was in chains. And the same One that can forgive us when we fail.

“Father, we admit to being too human at times in our reactions to stressful situations. We pray that You would help us to stop, listen to You, and speak Your wisdom instead of our foolishness.”

 For His Glory

Cherie Harbridge Williams (www.cherieharbridgewilliams.com)
TRBC Women’s Life