Talkin' Like Them

I said, “I will guard my ways,
​​Lest I sin with my tongue;
​​I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
​​While the wicked are before me.” Psalm 39:1

Only while the wicked are in front of him? No, not quite. What David noticed and I'm sure you have by now as well, is how easy it is to slip into sinful speech while in the company of the wicked. It is far more difficult to set a good example for the wicked by restraining the tongue and mouth. Converse for any time with the wicked and the wicked words spill forth in our speech almost as quickly as the wild animal returns to its predatory ways when released from the cage. So, did David just say nothing?

Yes, for a time as we read in the 39th psalm, that is just what he did. But as king he did have to speak at some point to render his decisions and judgment. A few verses down the king would ask the Lord to show him humility. Show me the frailty of my life, Lord, David asked in lovely and poetic language. For to know the frailty of this life is to be reminded of the author of that life and to seek Him in order to maintain our gentle speech in the face of the wicked world. We do not want to be talkin' like them; we want to show the gentle speech of our Lord to the world that they may know a Savior lives in us.

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for,
​​My hope is in You.
​Deliver me from all my transgressions;
​​Do not make me the reproach of the foolish. Psalm 39:7-8

Bucky