Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Weight of Our Words | The Writings | Psalm 64

Episode Date: May 27, 2024

Words are powerful. They can harm or heal, create or destroy, build up or tear down. So how do you use your words? In today's episode, Keith shares how Psalm 64 reveals the darkness in our hearts and the weight of our words. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! 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 64

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 Keith Simon. Light has a way of revealing things that would otherwise go and detected. My senior year in college, I lived with a bunch of guys at an old house near campus. It was old, and we knew it had problems, maybe even some bugs, but we didn't think it was that big of a deal. And we were college guys, so who cares?

And then one night, the first week we lived there, we walked into the kitchen and we turned in the light and 10,000 cars. cockroaches covered the wall in the ceiling, and they all scattered when the light came on. Now, those cockroaches had been there the whole time. It's just that the light exposed them. The scripture, the Bible, is like a light. It shines into our hearts, and it exposes the cockroaches or the darkness. Every time you listen to a sermon or read your Bible or listen to a podcast and you're confronted with the truth of the Bible, it exposes things in your heart that you might rather not deal with. The light of scripture,

makes sin visible. Well, Psalm 64 is shining the light of truth on one particular area of our life. It shines the light of truth on our words, our speech, our talk. David starts the Psalm by asking for God's protection. He says, protect my life from the threat of my enemy. We quickly learned that David's enemy is attacking him through their words. Their weapons are their tongue. You know, the old saying sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Has it exactly? exactly backwards. It's true that sticks and stone break bones, but broken bones heal. Words can do far greater damage. Proverbs 1821 says the tongue has the power of life and death. Our words are more powerful than we think. We say, it's only words, but it's words that have the power to crush. It's

words that have the power to separate close friends. If you go all the way back to the very beginning of the Bible, what you find is that the first thing God does is he speaks. He says, let there be light. Our words are important because God created words. Our words are powerful because God's words are powerful. We are made in the image of God, and so we talk because he does. And words mark some of the most important moments in our life. You might remember your baby's first words. I remember kids in my preschool class having their mouth washed out with soap because they said something they shouldn't have. I also remember the last conversation that I ever had with my grandmother, who I was unusually close to. Words are powerful. Conversations are powerful. Think of world leaders

like Hitler who used words in an evil way. Or think about people like Dr. King who used words to rally a nation to enact civil rights. So let's take a few moments to think about our words. First let me offer you this challenge. Can you go 24 hours without complaining, without criticizing, without gossiping, without condemning, without saying anything unkind, without lying, without deceiving, without saying any words that are born in impatience or anger? My guess is, if you're honest and self-aware at all, you say, no, I can't go 24 hours without saying anything that is sinful. There's a rabbi who says, look, if you can't answer yes to that question, then you have a serious problem. If you can't go 24 hours without drinking liquor, you're addicted to alcohol. He says, if you can't go 24 hours

without smoking, you're addicted to nicotine. Similarly, if you can't go 24 hours without saying unkind words about others, then you've lost control over your tongue. Well, that's us. We've lost control over our tongue. Every word matters to God, and we will be held accountable for it. Jesus says, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. What are some of the ways that our words can hurt others? There are many. Let's just focus on a couple.

First, let's think about gossip. Gossip is talking about others in a negative way when they aren't present. Proverbs 18 says the words of a gossip are like choice morsels. They go down to the inmost parts. Why do we gossip? I mean, we have to admit that it's kind of fun to share gossip. it's kind of fun to hear gossip? I think gossip is treating other people's misfortune in a way that is entertaining to us or makes us feel better about ourselves or sometimes we gossip about other people

to make them pay a price for hurting us. We are good at justifying gossip and giving ourselves reasons why we think it's okay and it's not really that bad. But the reality is that gossip destroys people. The person being talked about isn't there to defend themselves. They're not there to offer their perspective. And when people hear gossip, they can't help but have their opinion about that person changed. It's hard to gain back your reputation or friendships or leadership if there has been gossip about you that has spread around. Now, there are two parts to gossip, right? There's the speaker and then there's the listener.

Proverbs 1817 says the one who states his case first seems right until the other comes along and examines him. In other words, if Joe's not in the room and I tell you some scoop on Joe, he's not there to explain why he did what he did, or he's not there to give context for the decisions that he made. So, of course, he sounds like an idiot, but if he were there and explained it, it probably wouldn't sound so stupid. Proverbs 174 talks about the person who hears and listens to the gossip. He says a wicked person listens to deceitful lips. So in other words, it's not just wrong to share gossip, it's wrong to listen and consume gossip. If someone is beginning to gossip in your presence, here's what you should probably do. You should say, look, I don't want to talk about Joe since he's not here.

Proverbs 10, 12 says love covers all wrongs. Love cares about Joe and won't let his reputation be run down. Love covers up sins so that they're not circulating and doing damage. Another sin of the tongue is slander. When we slander someone, we share something about them that isn't true. Proverbs 10 says, the one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. Proverbs 2518 says, a man who bears false witness or shares half truths against his neighbor is like a war club or a sword or a sharp arrow. Jesus insisted that Christians who are in conflict talk with one another.

Wise people don't listen and entertain gossip. They know there's always another side of the story. Instead, what you do is help people sit down together and work through conflict face-to-face. In Revelation, we're told that Satan is the slanderer, the one-year-old. one who lies. So if you want to be destructive in your family or in your friend group or inside your church, then just become a slanderer. You're doing what Satan does. Become one who lies. Become one who shares gossip about other people instead of sitting down with them and working through whatever conflict you have with them. Jim Simbola is the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. And about 20 years

ago, he said that he was talking to new members in front of the whole church. And as he received them into membership of the church, he just started kind of freelancing. He says he was guided by the Holy Spirit. But he said to the new members, he said, I charge you that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone, against me, against an usher, against a choir member, or anyone else, that you stop that person in mid-sentence and say, excuse me, but, but, you're who hurt you? Who ignored you? Who slided you? Was it Pastor Simbola? Let's go to his office right now. I'm sure he will want to apologize to you, and then you can pray together and restore peace in your relationship. But here's the deal. You can't talk critically about people who aren't present to

defend themselves. The pastor went on saying to all the new members, and in fact, the entire church, he said, I'm serious about this. I want you to help resolve this kind of thing immediately, and I know this, if you are ever the one doing the loose talking, we're going to confront you. He said, now, every time they have new members join the church, he says the same thing. That's because he knows what most easily destroys churches. It's not crack cocaine, he says. It's not government oppression. It's not even a lack of money.

It's gossip and slander that grieves the Holy Spirit. That's why the sins of the tongue are on every sin list in the New Testament. They're right there next to sins that you might think are greater. Sins like evil, greed, murder. The sins of the tongue do a lot of damage. Sometimes it's not just what we say, but it's how we say it. Some social scientists say that as much of 90% of conflict is caused by the tone of our words.

It's one reason it's never smart to talk about anything important or emotional over email or texting because it's hard to know how the words were said. Proverbs 151 says, A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Do you hear what it's saying? You can say the truth,

but if you say it harshly, you're going to stir up anger. You need to say it gently. Again, it's not just what you say, but it's how you say it. If you're a parent of a teenager and your teenager is wound up and emotional, it's your responsibility to de-escalate the situation, to bring the temperature down, to offer a gentle answer,

not to get amped up yourself. Jesus says that our mouth, our talk, our speech, our words are vitally connected to our heart. He says in Luke 6th, the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. for out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks. Our words reveal our heart. Instead of saying, I didn't mean to say that, it might be more appropriate and more honest to say, please forgive me for saying what I meant.

But ultimately, the Bible doesn't offer a communication technique to help us with our words. Instead, it offers us a Savior. Jesus is the word who became flesh and dwelt among us. He bore the penalty for our words on the cross. Let the light of the scripture shine in your heart. Expose the sin that you've committed with your words and take that sin to the cross. Take it to Jesus and ask him to change you.