The heart of the wise instructs his mouth And adds persuasiveness to his lips. Proverbs 16:23

One of the maladies that I face in my life is that I engage my mouth too often without fully engaging my mind as to what I am going to say. That particular malady results in another and that is that I find my foot often lodged in my mouth shortly after the first malady manifests itself. Needless to say today's proverb was eye-opening to say the least. I learned that what truly needs to be engaged before I speak is my heart - which is to be what instructs my mouth before it engages in saying what "ought" to be said.

The heart of a wise man instructs his mouth what to say. Some might say that if this were the case all we would say is, "thump, thump" in a rythmic fashion. (Oops, there I go again!) But the Hebrew concept of the heart is a wondeful one. The heart refers to the immaterial inner self - or what the Holy Spirit would refer to as man's spirit. This is considered by the Hebrew mind to be our inner nature - the workings of our mind as it is instructed by the Holy Spirit using as His primary text, the Word of God. Thus the mouth is instructed by none other than the Holy Spirit Himself - who takes the Word and uses it to instruct us, through our spirit, so that our mind is taught. This working then brings to our mind things that should be filtered out - or in some cases filtered in.

Scripture, for example, instructs us in Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." What a great instruction for our mouths. Therefore, as the Spirit does this He asks us, "Hey Bubba (sorry, I live in Arkansas and this is pretty effective here), is what you are going to say gracious? Does it have a little 'salt of the gospel' in it - so that it will make whoever is hearing you thirsty for God - and the gospel?" Something else the Spirit of God might ask is this, "Yo Bubbba, did you think about what this person truly and lovingly NEEDS - or - are you just spouting off what you want to say to them?" These are things that will truly alter how you speak - because in all honesty - not even our words belong to us. We were bought with a price - therefore we are to glorify God with our bodies - which, by the way, includes our mouths!

Here is another way our mouth can be instructed by the wisdom of the Spirit of God. He may choose to remind us of Ephesians 4:29 which says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." So this time the Spirit of God may chime in with something like this. "Dude (this is when I am in California), is what you are going to say wholesome, or does it smell like rotten fruit or nasty-smelling fish! Are you going to build up your friend - or just confirm him in the same worldly ways that his other friends speak? Like, you totally need to think about what he NEEDS right now! Have you even heard what HE'S been saying at a heart level in this conversation and others? Don't be a total bogart man - give him some grace - some love brother - some real helpful, encouraging, gospel-smelling stuff!"

Now, apart from the regionalization of all this in my language - there are a few VERY important things we can learn from just these two examples.  We learn how the Scriptures would be used by the Holy Spirit to instruct our mouths. First, note that in both examples the Lord wants to instruct us to think of others as we open our mouths. Second, note as well in both examples that the Lord wants us to have our words abound with grace as we speak. Lastly, there is either stated or implied that our words are to be used to build others up - not tear them down. You can take these three things to the verbal-bank! We ought to write them on the inside of our mouths, so to speak, so that we are reminded that any word that proceeds out of them should be -  1) others-minded, 2) filled with grace and the gospel, and 3) encouraging! Can you imagine the difference that would make in a matter of days in the things we say!?

The rest of today's proverb reminds us that when we do this - our hearts will help us to have additional "persuasiveness" added to everything we say. I have known people like this in my life - and they are amazing people. They are the E.F. Hutton's of the spiritual world - and in many ways the world in general. When they speak - people listen! The amazing thing is that this is not because they have "earth-shaking" things to say every time they open their mouths. It is more because you will be blessed and uplifted whenever they speak! You want to hear what they say - because it nourishes your very soul to hear it.

Precious ones . . . let us not be people whose mouths are instructed by our culture - or by our own selfish motives - or by the evil one who would love to use our mouths for his own destructive purposes. Let us be people of the grace-filled, love-overflowing, life-encouraging, Spirit-instructed mouth! Let us embrace hearing what our hearts have to say about what words we should use. And as we listen to this soul-nourishing instruction for our mouths - may we submit our hearts to be ruled and governed by the Holy Spirit of God. May His tutelage dominate our conversations, our statements, and our answers so that others may be blessed - made thirsty for the God who speaks through us - and hungry for the same gospel grace that has changed our hearts, which is the very reason that our conversation is so different!

A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones. Proverbs 14:30

The heart is physically one of the most important organs of our body. If the heart is stopped the body will die. But what we read in today's proverb is not dealing with the physical heart. It speaks of the heart as the innermost region of our lives. The Hebrew mind looked at the heart as the central, spiritual, inward aspect of our souls. So when we look today at the issue of the heart and whether it is tranquil and strong - or whether it is tossed about and weak - means everything to the blessedness of the individual who struggles with issues of the heart.

The tranquil heart is the quiet one. What God is saying here is that this person's heart is strong and quiet. Their inner life is like the clear, mirror-like, state of the water in the early morning on a lake. This person's peace and calm is not disturbed by things that happen around it. The "soul-life" is strong and they can deal with problems and difficulties. There is an ultimate sense of peace here, because this one knows that God is sovereign over all things. They know they are in God's hand no matter what their circumstances look like. The Word of God is their comfort - and they will hold to it no matter what information in life seems to contradict it.

On the other hand there is a person who has "passion" in his life. The proverb tells us that this passion is like a rottenness in his bones. Things like jealousy, anger, over-zealousness, and envy run rampant in this one's heart. As a result there is no stability in him. These things run roughshod over his peace and contentment. There is a constant passion running wild within this man - almost pushing him from one extreme to another. And like a rottenness in his bones - he feels more and more like all stability and peace is gone from him.

One might wonder the source of such a peace. It is the knowledge of the gospel that brings us to peace with God. If there is peace between us and our God, then we are at peace with Him - and know peace in our souls. I've watched as strong believers have gone through the most trying of times, but they do so with tranquility. That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ looks like - and even more what it produces. If our sovereign God holds us and holds all the universe - we can trust Him.

Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, Proverbs 22:20

God's call to wisdom is a call to consider and live by excellent things - to live a life of the highest order.  Some would call living for God a life that is boring and mundane.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The one who considers the things of God and lives accordingly is one who sees the most excellent course - one that is spoken of in the highest terms possible.  To consider this is to deeply plumb the counsel and the knowledge of God Himself.  Far from boring - this is the most glorious pursuit a man can give himself to on this earth!

The wise man begins by asserting to his pupil that in speaking of wisdom, he is speaking of something of the highest order of all.  He speaks of writing to his pupil "excellent things."  This is an interesting term, because it speaks of something associated with the number three.  When referring to a a measure of something it usually refers to a large measure of a substance.  It is used in music of an instrument with 3 of something on it - such as a lute.  But when used in contexts other that this it refers to a high-ranking officer (who was called the third man in a chariot) or something that is of a very high worth.  What is being communicated though is that what the wise man has given his student is the most excellent thing he could give him. 

This is a thought we should explore for a moment.  Every parent wants to give the best things to their child.  Unfortunately for most parents this means things they can buy and things that require money.  But what the wise man is saying to his student - and what every father should say to his children is that what is most valuable you can receive without cost.  The gospel is the most valuable thing we can give our chidlren and our students.  Nothing can compare with it!  We should give them the gospel - and give it to them within the context of teaching and training them in the Word of God.  That is what is what is worth more than silver, gold, rubies, and diamonds!  But is that the way we present the Word of God to our children - to our students - to others?  No wonder they consider the things of God boring - we treat them like an ugly step-sister, rather than like a treasure that is worth searching a lifetime to find!  But that is how this teacher refers to the material (the Word of God and the wisdom of God in it) that he has presented to his student.

He speaks of counsels and knowledge next.  The Word counsels is "moetsah" which means a plan, a purpose, and in some contexts it infers intrigue and mystery.  The teacher says that the things of God are His eternal plans and purposes.  It does speak of how God desires for us to live every day, but there is so much more.  It speaks of what God is ultimately after in this world - and it ushers us into the very counsel of God Himself.  This will be good for every day decisions - but it will also thrill and astound us as we see the eternal mind of God working out His own eternal purposes and plans.  When Paul saw this in the book of Romans - he exclaimed in ecstasy, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!  For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD , OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?  Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.  (Romans 11:33-36, NASB)  So infinitely far from boring, this is the stuff that thrills our hearts and makes our minds swoon at the very consideration of such grand things. 

He also speaks of knowledge.  This is the Hebrew word "daath" which communicates to us that this was a technical and specific knowledge.  It spoke of knwoing by experience, relationship, or encounter.  This was the word used by Balaam in describing that God had revealed Himself to him in a vision.  His response was astonished wonder and amazement.  So as this teacher speaks to his student - he speaks of the awe-inspiring knowledge of God that comes as we truly know and experience him.  Once again we say that this is far from boring.  It is the knowledge of the Divine Himself.  It is a thrilling thing. 

Let me ask a very serious question after looking at this proverb.  Do you look at the Word of God and find yourself lost in wonder, awe, and praise?  Do you see the Word and find yourself astounded by the glorious counsels and knowledge that it offers to you as the Holy Spirit takes you as His pupil and teaches you?  What the teacher does here is to make his students stand back in utter astonishment at the joy of having the Word and the Wisdom of God available to them.  He brings them to the point of panting after God and His wisdom - like a dog would pant for water on a fiercely hot day.  He shows them the living water - but only after pouring salt on their tongues.  He points them to a knowledge and an understanding that would make any sage jealous.  Yet all he is doing is sharing the truth about God's Word with them.  He is doing so with the hope that his students will long for it - and will desire to know it as he has in his lifetime.  Oh may God give us such teachers - men who will whet our appetite for spiritual things and make us literally long for more every time we open God's Word!