The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.  - Proverbs 15:28

Look before you leap.  There is a proverb outside Scripture that reminds us to seriously think about the steps we take, because once we take them we cannot get them back.  Our proverb today is similar to this except it deals with what we say.  One might say that this proverb could be said this way, "Think before you speak!" 

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer.  We should note right from the start that the "heart" of the righteous is what is pondering his answer.  The godly man does not allow his mouth to run its own course without the management of the heart.  He wants to speak from the heart - not shoot from the hip.  The problem about shooting from the hip when we speak is the carnage that results from drive-by speaking.  This wise man thinks and considers what he is about to say.  He takes the time to meditate on God's Word before he speaks his own.  He discerns what is needed for the situation and speaks according to what God wants.  This godly man speaks as God directs in Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear."  Ultimately this man speaks those wonderful, edifying words that are like "apples of gold in settings of silver" which are words spoken at just the perfect time.

The wicked allows his mouth to have free reign in his life.  This is a dangerous thing because left to itself a mouth can be dangerous.  We read in the third chapter of James, "So the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.  See, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fireon fire!  And the tongue is a fire: the very world of iniquity, the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, ans set on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell."  These verses warn us in the starkest terms of the danger of allowing our mouths and tongues to gho unchecked in what they say.  When we do this it is inevitable that our mouth will "pour out evil things."  The heart of the wicked man will be fully expressed by his words.  The result of this will be much evil and pain in the world.  Consider how many horrible things started with evil words pouring out of a wicked man's mouth.  Think for a moment how Adolph Hitler mesmerized entire crowds in Germany by his wicked words.  Then consider what the end of his leadership brought to the world.  We may not ever do the damage of Hitler, but much harm can come from unwise, un-considered words. 

Precious ones, God wants us to think before we speak.  It will bring blessing to us - and will benefit those who are the recipients of our words.  May we submit what we say to our Lord every morning.  May we ask the Holy Spirit to bridle our tongues so that they do not speak of themselves.  May we surrender all we say for God's purposes and God's specific leadership so that they can truly edify those who hear them.

A man has joy in an apt answer, And how delightful is a timely word! Proverbs 15:23

Don't you love it when you say the right thing - in the right way - at just the right time? That is what our proverb is about today. It is about being wise enough to know when to speak - and not only that - but what to speak when you have the opportunity.

The beginning of this proverb starts with a Hebraism about the mouth. There is joy in having an answer of the mouth, which the way that this Hebraism would read. It has to do with the ability to speak well - or in this case to speak what helps others. When speaking of Moses' complaint to God about his inability to speak, this similar Hebraism is used. Moses complained to God that he had a "heavy mouth." This meant that he stuttered and stammered when he spoke. This speech problem made Moses think he could not be a spokesman for God. God gave him Aaron to speak for him, but we see plainly that Moses did not struggle to speak when the Spirit of God moved upon him to confront Pharaoh. The mouth of the man here in proverbs knows no such problem. He brings joy to others as they here the "answer of his mouth," which means the perfect thing to say in the moment. Whether this is a word of teaching, reproof, correction, or training in righteousness - the best word to speak is one that is in agreement with God's Word on the matter.

The prophet Nathan spoke the perfect word to David to bring him to repentance over his adultery and cover-up of his sin. Joshua spoke the perfect word to the people of Israel as they needed to decide whether they would serve the Lord. David spoke the perfect word to Goliath to remind him that God was going to give David victory because of Goliath's mocking of God. Daniel had the perfect words to speak to Nebuchadnezzar when he needed his dream interpretted. Jesus always had the perfect word to speak to detractors, to those who were hungry for his Word, and to those who came to Him needy and longing for God's grace and healing.

A timely word is delightful - both to the one who speaks it and to the one who receives it. There are so many who come to church hurting who need to hear such words. They long for a word of encouragement - for someone to lift them up. Others who are complacent and full of themselves need rebuke. Others still may need exhortation because they are timid about following the Lord radically. And a few who are long term church members, but who do not know Christ, need someone to love them by sharing the gospel with them so they can move from just being religious - to being Christians. No matter what the need, God will give us these "answers of the mouth." He will do so as we surrender to Him and desire far more to speak the truth in love - than just to engage in small talk.

There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.   Proverbs 12:18

Have you ever had someone say something to you that was so cutting that it felt like a sword stabbing you in the heart?  Unfortunately, those moments happen - and God warns us about them.  Today's proverb reminds us that our words can cut deeply when we speak out of anger or resentment - and do so rashly without thinking about what we are about to say.

Solomon warns his son that there are those who will speak out of the wrong kind of passion.  They speak in anger and rage.  They speak rashly - and therefore do not consider what their words are about to do to the one who is hearing them.  Just about everyone in our world has had one of those moments.  We speak out of anger to a spouse and cut them deeply to the heart.  We speak out of frustration to a child and crush their spirit.  We speak out of resentment to a co-worker and damage our relationship with them.  Whatever the situation, the key here is not to speak "rashly."  This word means to speak thoughtlessly.  The fact is that they just do not take the time to think about what they are saying - and to do so with a graciousness that considers the other person's feelings.  Therefore their words are foolish and said flippantly.  They usually do not know the damage they are causing till later - and sometimes they don't get it at all.  We cannot get our words back once we speak them - therefore we should send out our words with some thought before speaking them.  James warned in the New Testament that we should be "slow to speak."  Following such wisdom will keep us from broken relationships and from having to apologize for saying something stupid.

There are also those whose tongue bring healing.  One damages while the other heals.  Their statements can comfort those who have been hurt.  They can counsel people to do what is necessary to remedy bad choices, bringing spiritual healing to their lives.  There is also another way they can speak - and that is with the Scriptures - which can heal a breach between men - but more importantly can heal THE BREACH between man and God.  Such words are spoken of elsewhere in Proverbs as apples of gold set in settings of silver - for they are words spoken in a right situation. 

One last thing about this particular proverb - and it comes from a personal experience of reading the Scriptures in my quiet time.  I remember reading this particular proverb and thinking that I do not want to use my tongue like a fool swinging a sword blindly.  But I also began to grieve - thinking that I wished that there was something more powerful than a human tongue.  Then the Holy Spirit brought to mind a Scripture that I had memorized.  Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword.  It was then that I realized that although human words can cut us - nothing is as sharp as the Word of God.  And whereas the careless words of the fool may damage - God uses His Word to cut in a way that brings healing.  Hosea speaks of this in chapter six of his prophecy.  God was going to use His word upon His people - and it would wound them.  But it would be the kind of wounding that would be bandaged and healed later.  It was like the wound of a surgeon - who only cuts to remove a cancerous tumor that will eventually kill us.  These are Hosea's words,

"Come, let us return to the Lord.  For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him."  Here we read how the tongue of the Wisest of all was used to bring healing - even though it cut as the words were heard.  May we be those who speak the truth - who speak righteousness - who speak so as to bring healing to others.  

The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.   Proverbs 10:32

Our culture is coarsening.  I see it every day in the way that we talk.  The use of perverted language has grown a hundred fold in the last 20 years - and unfortunately - it looks like things are getting worse.  It would be one thing to see this among the lost because - well let's just admit it - they are lost.  But what I am seeing is that there is also a coarsening in how Christians speak.  Things that would have horrified us just 25 years ago - are now becoming more common in everyday conversation.  Before you think that I am taking the place of the ultra-righteous who is shocked at all the wicked sinners - I have noticed a coarsening of my own language - and have begun a concerted effort to speak in an acceptable manner before a holy God.

The righteous bring forth what is acceptable with their lips.  That means the things they say are acceptable.  At this point is would be good to define the word, acceptable.  Acceptable to Whom?   That is the question we need to answer.  Our society seems to think that acceptable to the current standards of society is the rule of the day.  By saying this I am not saying that their language equals that of the world, but rather that we set our idea of what is acceptable by a comparison with the world. Let me give you an example of what I am saying.  I want to put a disclaimer here - because I will have to use a word that is not acceptable to many to help illustrate my point.

The world's language is completely out of control.  The amount of foul language allowed on prime time television and movies is astounding.  When you consider that Rhett Butler's, "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a "expletive," was met with shock and horror in the theaters of the day, you can see that we are out of control.  Frank Butler's remarks might not even merit a drop to a PG rating in our day.  Certainly his remarks would be shrugged off, even by Christians, in our day.  Yet, the sensibilities of that day were horrified by the outrageous language used.  Fast forward to today and we learn that men who are considered conservative Christian preachers are using worse language than Frank Butler from our pulpits.  Words I would have been reprimanded for saying out loud - are now widely accepted by Christian circles.  That is why we need to realize that having our lips bring forth what is acceptable means bringing forth what is acceptable to God. 

We should note that in just two verses God says that He is greatly offended by things which are perverse.  Here we read that while the godly man speaks what is acceptable - the wicked man says things that are perverse.  The idea of being perverted is not just a reference to those who speak sexually perverted things.  It goes further to include any way that God's ways are perverted - which means to twist or make them something that they are not.  To say that we can come to God based on our own works is to pervert the gospel.  To say that God is too loving to judge the wicked is perverting His holiness.  So we see that there are ways to pervert the truth God has reveled to us.  The wicked speak these things - and thus perversity comes out of their mouths.  That is why we not only need to address the foul language that comes from Christians with this verse, but we also need to address the ways people pervert the truth to make the gospel more palatable to the wicked. 

May God help us each day to have our language pleasing and acceptable to Him.  I will admit that the only reason I began to adopt some words and ways of expressing myself that were unacceptable was to look cool to younger people.  This is a horrible reason to let how you speak be coarsened.  We should seek to be holy as God is holy.  We should have a heart that desires to honor God in every conversation that we have with others.  As the Psalmist said, "May the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable to the Lord."  Then and only then can we know that what our mouths bring forth is godly and acceptable to God Himself.