September 12, 2011
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Hearts and Mouths

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Opening Prayer

Gracious Lord, You are all wisdom. Teach me the ways of holiness, compassion, and love. Teach me the way of Christ.

Read PROVERBS 21:1-31

[1] The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. [2] All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. [3] To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. [4] Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin! [5] The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. [6] A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. [7] The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right. [8] The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright. [9] Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. [10] The wicked man craves evil; his neighbor gets no mercy from him. [11] When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; when a wise man is instructed, he gets knowledge. [12] The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin. [13] If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. [14] A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath. [15] When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. [16] A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead. [17] He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich. [18] The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright. [19] Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. [20] In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. [21] He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. [22] A wise man attacks the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust. [23] He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity. [24] The proud and arrogant man-“Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride. [25] The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. [26] All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing. [27] The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable- how much more so when brought with evil intent! [28] A false witness will perish, and whoever listens to him will be destroyed forever. [29] A wicked man puts up a bold front, but an upright man gives thought to his ways. [30] There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. [31] The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Reflect

A wise person once observed: “It has been said it takes two years to learn to talk and seventy years to learn to keep your mouth shut” (Unknown).

There’s no escaping the wisdom of God. Hearts, homes, law courts and banks are spheres of his concern. No one can live as if they could not benefit from what he thinks.

Who’s in charge? Kings and ordinary mortals rightly plan ahead. Our capacity to prepare for what we can see coming is part of our reflection of the Father’s providing care. But just because my electronic organizer has an entry for a meeting or a holiday, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. It’s not just circumstances that are beyond my control; my very intentions are themselves under God’s power, to shape and direct. He can irrigate the lives of others by his work in my heart; for it is God who works in us “to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Our chapter today is topped and tailed with this fact (1,2; 30,31). Your heart is under God’s power; and so is the outflow. Some of that outflow is verbal.

Your mouth matters. The lack of mention of husbands’ defects in vs. 9 and 19 doesn’t invalidate their message. It would indeed be better to live in a corner of your flat roof (no, don’t picture a Western pitched roof!), cramped, outside and cold at night, than have the whole house and a quarrelsome wife. The potential for the heart to spill destructive speech out of the mouth pollutes commerce as well as marriages (6). As ill-gotten gains evaporate they leave the fraudster trapped by, say, the law or the IRS. Lies even corrupt the law courts (28). The perjurer perishes and the lives he has touched are ruined. What a liability the mouth is! Better for everyone’s sake to guard it (23). James issues similarly strong and wise warnings (1:19-21, 3:1-12).

Apply

God will accomplish his purposes, but maybe not through us if we can’t do our part by being well prepared. Is there some call from God being negated because you are not doing your part?

Closing prayer

Lord, whose every word is good and true, let my mouth be the overflow from a good and true heart, a heart surrendered to Your will.

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