THE MOUTH
I. INTRODUCTION
Psalm 15 - read
(A Psalm of David, according to the title)
O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.
Questions are posed by the Psalmist in v1 and answered in v2-5
The questions are twofold:
Who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?
There are two separate questions, and the same answers apply to both questions.
1. The first question is, “Who shall abide, lodge, or sojourn,” in the tabernacle?
The tabernacle was not a residence, or dwelling-place, not a place to lodge in (though people were allowed access to its courts).
It was the home of the ark of the covenant, and was the place where sacrifices were offered.
The tent, or tabernacle, was a kind of moveable temple, carried about from place to place, not remaining long in any one place.
It was a type of the church, or the people of God in this world.
When the Israelites came into the promised land, they settled for a while in a place in the lowlands that later came to be called Gilgal in Benjamin’s tribal territory.
The tabernacle was later moved to Shiloh, in the hill country of the tribal territory of Ephraim.
Centuries later, David brought it to Jerusalem.
One generation later, when his son Solomon built the temple, the old tent was stored within the new temple as a relic.
Which brings us to the second part of the Psalmist’s question.
2. “Who may dwell on Your holy hill?’
Mount Zion was called the “holy hill.” It is one of the hills on which Jerusalem was built.
Mt. Zion was where Solomon, David’s son built the temple.
The Temple was a fixed, permanent building.
However, the temple, like the tabernacle, was not a place where people lived.
The question is asked, “Who shall abide, dwell, or have his permanent residence, there?”
The temple and Mt. Zion are together a type of the kingdom of heaven, and in a larger sense, the eternal home of the saved.
It is depicted in the scriptures as the place where God dwells:
Deuteronomy 12:11...then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for his name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord.
Isaiah 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
In Psalm 15, both questions ask—paraphrased—“who is fit to dwell with God, both now and forever?”
And thus answer is given to both of them.
Notice in verses 2-5 that spoken words are the dominant consideration in the Psalmist’s answer.
Several of the actions have exclusively to do with the mouth, while others can be considered as involving the mouth.
II. SPOKEN WORDS ARE DOMINANT
He who -
V2 - speaks truth in his heart (we shall see momentarily that Jesus taught that the mouth follows the heart)
V3 - does not slander with his tongue ... Nor takes up a reproach against his friend
V4 - He swears to his own hurt (sticks with the truth even when it is uncomfortable or damaging to himself
V5 - Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent (a bribe is most often taken for declaring an innocent person as guilty, or the guilty as innocent).
This tells me that much of what we do that makes us fit company for God’s dwelling, we do with our mouths.
Perhaps this is because much of what we do throughout life, we do by means of speaking and hearing spoken words. We are on the sending and receiving end of speech.
Centurion
For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it. Matthew 8:9
To a large extent, the Centurion did his job with his mouth.
Me, in the latter years of my career. I relate to that...
My whole job consisted of speaking or listening to people speak. There was an incessant un-meetable demand for verbal communication—either Washington or one of the regional offices. People needed to say things to me, and I needed to say things to them).
Jesus taught that what proceeds from the mouth, including bad things, is born within the heart, and those things defile the man.
...the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man... Matthew 15:18-20
It is not just the speaking of such things--but their residing in the heart--that defile.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who had just committed the unpardonable sin of attributing his miracles to Beelzebub by asking them:
You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Matthew 12:34
If our heart is right, what proceeds from our mouths will be right.
III. DANGERS OF THE TONGUE
Since our mouths are a primary outbound connection with others, it is a bodily member of paramount importance.
Used frivolously, or even ineffectively, or from a poisoned heart, words can do a lot of damage.
James 3:1-14 – read
Just as it is difficult to purge our hearts of the things that defile, it is equally hard to control our mouths. James wrote that any man who could was a perfect man.
The tongue is the primary apparatus we use in speaking.
And the tongue seems to have a mind of its own.
How often have you said something and immediately wished you had left it unsaid?
Words matter, either in a good way or a bad way.
Years ago, I took my Winchester .22 caliber lever action rifle to a firing range for some recreational target practice. After shooting a few rounds, I turned around and saw, directly behind me, a small child loading up a revolver with a big hole in the end of the barrel, which was pointed at the middle of me. I perceived that there were dangers aplenty in that situation, so I quickly gathered my belongings and departed the premises. I saw serious danger and preferred not to get hurt. Looking back, I might have done other people in the area a favor by taking the pistol away from the child and handing it to the parent after delivering a stern reprimand. That might have been an appropriate use of my tongue.
It is likely that the deepest hurts in your entire life were not inflicted by bullets, fists, a knife or a club, but by words. I’d rather take my chances with a 6-year-old gunslinger with a pistol than someone with a careless tongue.
You are walking around with a potentially dangerous weapon--your tongue--the careless use of which may injure someone very badly. Words don’t have to be deliberate sin to hurt – careless or insensitive words are sufficient to inflict permanent damage.
A dear (now deceased) life-long friend of my wife’s and me--I'll call her Jane--was a good woman but tactless, utterly lacking in interpersonal skills. She often hurt people by saying anything that came to in her mind, not realizing the wounds her words inflicted. She simply lacked the perception to realize their harmful impact on people who were affected by her words.
Consider how damaging any sin with the mouth can be, and then think of how devastating they are in combination--heaping hurt on hurt.
So James wrote:
...the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6
We fool ourselves if we say “words are just words,” and shouldn’t hurt, and justify insensitive words by rationalizing, “The person is just too touchy.” Such is to say “I’m going to speak my mind, and if anyone is offended, that’s their problem.”
But Jesus warns:
"Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" (Matthew 18:7)
"…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42)
Criticizing the church or its people in the presence of children (Clyde Lee)
False platitudes fool us by hiding the true danger of harmful speaking:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me?”
(A platitude that is false. True, the words of others cannot define you, but thoughtless or malicious words hurt badly.)
“Truth never hurt anyone.” Not true. Not every true thing has to be told indiscriminately. One of the criteria for dwelling with God (v3) is “does not take up a reproach against his friend.” If you hear something against a friend, leave it alone. Don’t spread it.
“I have to be honest” (as an excuse for saying a hurtful truth unnecessarily when kindness would dictate silence)
Shall we cast kindness to the winds in favor of honesty?
Or shall we combine the best of both virtues?
“I shouldn’t say this but...” There is the 2nd best stopping point, right before continuing with the tidbit. The 1st and best stopping point is before saying even that, because now you have your audience leaning forward, all ears.
People always perk up because they expect some juicy bit of inside gossip, and won’t let you off the hook.
Why does one say “I shouldn’t say this”? There must be a cogent reason a thing shouldn’t be said. Why then say “I shouldn’t say it” and then say the thing that you shouldn’t?! There must be some reason a person feels he must say things would better left unsaid. The best stopping point is before bringing it up at all. Let the thought die in your mind, not on your tongue.
IV. JESUS’ WORDS
If anyone has ever known when to speak, what to say, and when to be silent, that person was Jesus Christ.
In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. Revelation 1:16
Revelation 2:15-16 (To the angel of the church at Pergamum) 'So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 'Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
The sword coming from Jesus’ mouth is a figurative representation of the power that resided in his words.
Jesus said about his own words:
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. John 6:63
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. John 14:10
The words Jesus spoke are the very words of Almighty God himself! So Matthew wrote:
Matthew 7:28-29 - When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
V. RIGHT USES OF SPEECH
I won’t suggest we need to follow the whims of the politically “correct” police, who occupy themselves by finding offenses in perfectly innocuous things people say where no offense was intended or taken, and can be detected only under a microscope. It is the things that truly contain offense and cause real pain that concern us.
Similarly, it is spoken things that are truly beneficial that are of interest to us now:
Eccl 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.
Communication, Edifying, Speaking the truth in love, Peacemaking, Praise, Soft answer, Warning, Singing, Thanksgiving (Eph 5:4), Giving comfort, or solace (Job 16:5), Preaching, Teaching, Apologizing, Encouraging, Praying, Exhorting, Admonish, Rebuke (and I include this advisedly, for rebuking is sometimes an excuse for unloading anger), Thanksgiving, Listening...
and sometimes, Silence.
He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent. Proverbs 17:27-28
But some things do need to be said--things that are uncomfortable to say, but that really cry out to be said for the benefit of all concerned, and the harm of no one.
Eccl 3:1 - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone”
There is a time to speak, and a time to be silent.
It is the wise person who can judge rightly.
I have not always been that wise person.
Blessing:
...from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. James 3:10
It is plain that we are to be a blessing.
But what is blessing?
We have heard that to blessed is to be happy, or something that is like happiness, but bigger and stronger. Someone suggests that “joy” expresses it better. It is true that one of the definitions of bless, blessed, blessing, has to do with happiness.
Strong defines “blessed” as “to be level, straight, right, or happy.”
But let’s look further.
God blessed Adam and Eve, saying “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen 1:22). Those were God’s first words to them.
Patriarchs’ “blessings” spoken (e.g. Isaac pronounced blessings upon Jacob and Esau, which consisted of telling what the future held for each of them.)
Jacob, after wrestling with an angel all night, said “I will not let you go until you bless me.” (Gen 32:26)
Verse 29 says “And he blessed him there.” What happened? His name was changed to Israel. What else? Much, as read the rest of his life story.
Jesus took bread and blessed it on Passover night, and gave it to his disciples. (Luke 24:30).
What is it to speak blessings today?
“Say the blessing” at mealtime
“Bless this food” (what does that mean?)
“Bless the hands that prepared it” (what does that mean?)
With it (the tongue) we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. (James 3:9)
What is the blessing with which we bless God?
Strong: To bless God is to express adoration.
For God to bless man is to confer a benefit.
We must conclude that God considers it a benefit to be praised, honored, and adored.
Sometimes things do have to be said that will be received with pain. (My wife Robin went to our friend Jane to tell her that she was hurting people by things she said.
Here is what the Bible says about what Robin did that day:
Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances. Proverbs 25:11
The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Ecclesiastes 9:17
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6
To her credit, when my wife met with Jane and let her know how she was hurting people and injuring her relationships, Jane thanked her, wept, and hugged her before she left.
But to my knowledge, Jane never gained complete mastery over her tongue. She had a blind spot, and lacked the perception of the injuries her words inflicted. But thanks to Robin, Jane came to realize her shortcoming and accepted the admonition of a wise and godly woman who does not wound others by her words. Though Jane still sometimes hurt others by words after Robin’s visit, it seems certain that some damaging words were avoided as she continued on the pathway of her life.
This lesson really has no end.
It is a lesson we must take out of here into our lives from day-to-day. So I leave it with you now.
