Bridling the Tongue

Ephesians 5.15-21 (5)

Pray Psalm 139.1-5.
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.

Sing Psalm 139.1-5.
(Ripley: Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul )
You have searched me, LORD, and known me, when I sit and when I rise;
from afar, my thoughts discerning, all my path before You lies.
Every word, before it’s spoken, You behold and know it well.
Both behind me and before me, Your sweet Presence I can tell!

Read Ephesians 5.15-21; meditate on verse 19.
How does your speech measure up to this standard?

Preparation
1. How does the filling of the Spirit affect our speech?

2. Where does such speaking begin?

Meditation
In my high school Spanish class, if you asked or answered any question in English, Mr. Sellmeyer would smile and say, “Por favor, en español.” It did not matter to Mr. Sellmeyer that our speaking in Spanish was halting and largely incorrect. He was training us to use the language we were studying, so he would correct us gently, always smiling; we would repeat the correction, and he would say “Pues bien”, and move on. Mr. Sellmeyer believed that the only way to learn a language was to use it. And use it we did. 

James reminds us how difficult it is to train our tongues for godliness: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It isan unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (Jms. 3.6-8). No man can tame his own tongue. But the Holy Spirit can. 

We must submit to the Spirit’s bridle—psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs—until these shape the content and tone of all our speaking more and more. Begin by singing to the Lord more consistently, using the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs He has provided in His Word. The more you do, the more your speaking with others will take the shape of God’s own Word. 

All our speaking can be edifying (Eph. 4.29) if we allow the Spirit to fill, teach, and guide us in this most important area of our walk with and work for the Lord.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
There is an intentionality in Paul’s words: 
Don’t be dissipated or debauched in any way. Don’t dull your senses.
Do be filled with the Holy Spirit. Do enlighten your mind with Him.
Do speak to one another. Do this by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Do make melody in your own heart to the Lord (Eph. 5.18, 19).

“Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Parise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath 
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!” (Ps. 150.1-6)

The song, Praise the Lord sung by Selah, has a beautiful chorus:
Praise the Lord,
He can work through those who praise Him,
Praise the Lord,
for our God inhabits praise.
Praise the Lord, 
for the chains that seem to bind you
serve only to remind you 
that they drop powerless behind you
when you praise Him.
(Michael Vincent Hudson, Brown Bannister, 2023, Greatest Hymns, Vol.3)

Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs will praise Him; 
so when we speak to others via praise, God will work through us. 

As He truly does inhabit the praises of His people (Ps. 22.3).
“You shall fear the LORD your God; 
you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and 
take oaths in His Name. He is your praise, and He is your God, 
Who has done for you these great and awesome things 
which your eyes have seen” (Deut. 10.20, 21).

“…He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…” (Eph. 1.4-7).

All those awesome works, which we have known and seen, 
will keep us speaking until Jesus Christ returns to take us home. 
“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts. 4.20). Unbridled Praise!

Reflection
1. What would a “tamed tongue” sound like? How would you know someone had a “tamed tongue”?

2. Why is it so hard for us to tame our tongues? How can praising God help us?

3. How can we as believers help one another to use all our words for praise and edification?

All God’s people have reason to sing for joy. Though we are not always singing, we should be always giving thanks; we should never want disposition for this duty, as we never want matter for it, through the whole course of our lives. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ephesians 5.18
  
Pray Psalm 139.23, 24.
Ask the Lord to give you the “disposition” to sing to Him with a joyful heart, beginning with today’s stanzas from Psalm 139.

Sing Psalm 139.23, 24.
(Ripley: Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul )
Search my heart, O LORD, and know me, as You only, LORD, can do.
Test my thoughts and contemplations, whether they be vain or true.
Let there be no sin in me, LORD, nothing that Your Spirit grieves.
Lead me in the righteous way, LORD, unto everlasting peace!

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we conclude our study of the place of God’s Law in His Kingdom. Our Read Moore podcast continues working through The Gospel of the Kingdom, working to understand the true Gospel of the Lord. The Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.