Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Have You Tamed Your Tongue? | The Writings | Psalm 141

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

Have you tamed your tongue? Do you know the power your words have? How do we guard our mouths? In today's episode, Patrick shares how Psalm 141 encourages us to pray before we speak, asking God to set a guard over our mouths. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 141

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Have you tamed your tongue, mastered the art of self-controlled speech? If your answer to that question is yes, God bless you. But I'm not sure you're being honest. After all, Jesus' brother, James, said this in James 3.8. But no human being can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. If I'm being honest, the answer to that question, have I tamed my tongue? Well, the answer is no. And I know I'm not alone because of what James said. Now, to be clear, my tongue is much more tame today than it was three years ago or even 13 years ago. But try my best. I still say things that I regret. And that's for a very simple reason. And that means I've learned a very simple lesson. You know that old adage, and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Well, it's actually quite upside down. You can break bones and heal bones. You can get scrapes and heal. But for the most part, the wounds that don't heal or take a long time to heal are the wounds that were opened by words. Or even sometimes by a lack of words. I've seen it in my own life in the way I've hurt others and in the way I've been hurt myself. Again, James wrote this in James 3.5. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest

is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue of a mother can make her daughter believe that she's shameful, worthless, weak, and small. The unspoken words of a father can do the same thing. In such a case, someone may not speak a lie about their child, but nonetheless, because they never speak the truth, they end up lying, and the child comes to believe. that he's shameful, worthless, weak, and small. And of course, the same thing is true in our friendships and our workplaces. The tongue has the power to light fires that can cause burns that are far harder to cure than flesh wounds. Because they're soul wounds.

I think of an infamous CEO named Mike Davis, aka Tiger Mike. In his early years, he was a chauffeur who worked his way up to being the CEO of a major oil company. How did he do it? By using words to demean and dominate his rivals. By the time he was a CEO, he became famous for cussing people out and for his scathing memos, critiquing how other people spoke and acted in the office. His friend said that he was, quote, a pugnacious and profane high school dropout. Let's read a few of his memos.

In 1978, he wrote to all of his employees, quote, idle conversation and gossip in this office among employees will result in your immediate termination. Then in all caps, do your jobs and keep your mouth shut. Or how about this memo? I cuss, but since I am the owner of this company, that is my privilege. And this privilege is not to be interpreted as the same for any employee. That differentiates me and you. And I want to keep it that way. There will be absolutely no cussing by any employee male or female in this office ever. Can you imagine working in a place like that? Can you imagine seeing him in the office? Being afraid that he'd cuss you out and fire you on the spot, that he'd call you names? Can you imagine being told that you're worthless, that you're unimportant, that you're below him

in every way? How many lives were ruined by this one man's tongue? How many people were told lies about themselves that they believed. How many people were treated like filth and trash until they came to believe that's what was true of themselves? Or how about this memo? Do not speak to me when you see me. If I want to speak to you, I will do so.

I want to save my throat. I don't want to ruin it by saying hello to all of you. After Tiger Mike died, he was remembered for how he spoke. A former colleague said after his death, quote, I remember the first time I was cussed out by him. He was truly one of a kind. Of course, I can't help but hear the tragedy. Tiger Mike was remembered not for doing anything great. His oil company went bankrupt in 1980. Instead, he was known for having an outrageous, unkind, destructive mouth. Yes, that mouth cleared

the way for him to get to the top for a time, but he didn't end his life on the top. His last business deal ended with a lawsuit because while he misused his words, he defrauded an investor and he died alone in Las Vegas in 2016. You see, it's true. Our words have the power to hurt other people, to speak lies about them, to make them feel worthless, small, or shameful, to make people who are made in the image of God feel like they're nothing but trash. But it's also true that our words have the power to hurt ourselves. Tiger Mike's words hurt himself. An untamed tongue will burn people in your life, but you will not emerge unscathed. Marriages fall apart because of untamed tongues. Siblings stop speaking to siblings because of untamed tongues. Mothers to daughter, sons to fathers,

friends to friends. And in the process, you don't just burn others. You always burn your own soul. You always scorch your own conscience. You become totally insensitive. to the harm you're causing, and when people confront you, think, oh, they're just being too sensitive. Far from it, you're the one who has scorched your own conscience so deeply that you can't feel things anymore. And if you're not at this point yet, and I'm sure most of us aren't, or I hope not, don't praise yourself because if you don't work on your tongue, any one of us can become Tiger

Mike. Again, James says this in chapter 3, verse 6. the tongue also is a fire a world of evil among the parts of the body it corrupts the whole body sets the whole course of one's life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell you see tiger mike ended where he ended because the tongue is like a rudder it guides the ship of your life into some port whether it's heaven or hell and that's why we need the good news jesus died for your every missp spoken and sinful word. He died to forgive you. But that's not all. He also died so that he could give healing, not only to those that we've hurt, but healing to us as well. So don't wallow and shame over your words. Confess them, own them, repent of them, and receive Christ's forgiveness as a total gift. But know that Jesus doesn't just stop with forgiveness. He goes one step further. He actually empowers you to change how you speak by his grace and by his spirit. This is why I love today's

Psalm because today's Psalm is a prayer inspired by the Spirit and it's a prayer for our words. So I want to end this by asking you to join me in praying this ancient prayer for your heart, for your words. Psalm 141 verses 1 to 5. I call to you Lord, come quickly to me. Hear me when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense. May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Set a guard over my mouth, Lord. Keep watch over the doors of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in evil deeds along with those who are evildoers. Do not let me eat their delicacies? Let a righteous man strike me. That is a kindness. Let them rebuke me. That is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayers will still be against

the deeds of evildoers. Amen. Today, I want to encourage you to remember that God can guard your mouth and that God can keep watch over the doors of your lips. If he sends you a righteous friend to rebuke you for your sinful words, then rejoice. It's a kindness. That's a friend who loves you enough to stop you before you become Tiger Mike. And at the end of the day, Jesus is that friend. Ask him to convict you, to forgive you, and to transform you.