“Who have said, With our tongue will
we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? (Psl. 12:4)
At least these people were honest.
They didn’t claim to be godly (v. 1), while they were using their lips at their
own will and for their own purposes. I once heard a godly preacher say,
“Discipline is best seen at the dinner table.” But I would suggest that
discipline is just as keenly seen at the conversation table. The Bible has far
more to say about our speech than our appetite. In just Psalms and Proverbs,
you’ll find flattering lips, proud lips, lying lips, righteous lips,
knowledgeable lips, sweet lips, burning lips, perverse lips, and joyful lips.
And I’ve probably left out a couple.
I’ve always been struck by the fact
that when Isaiah saw the Lord, “sitting on a throne, high and lifted up,” his
first reaction was to say, “Woe is me!
For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips…” (Isa. 6:5). Not
unclean thoughts or even unclean hands, as the Psalmist often says. And
evidently he hit the nail on the head, because when one of the seraphims flew
down with a hot coal from the altar to purge away his sin and iniquity, he laid
it on Isaiah’s lips (v. 7).
When our pastor baptizes someone,
after asking the individual whether he or she is trusting Jesus Christ to be
his or her Savior, he asks, “And are you willing to make Him the Lord of your
life?” Perhaps if that person is anything like me, he should add, “…and Lord of
your lips?” Because, as it turns out, I’m the one who needs to pray with the
Psalmist, David:
“Set a watch, O LORD,
before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” (Psl. 141:3)
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