The Righteous Tongue

Psalm 35:17-28 Many years ago I did a study on the tongue of the righteous and the tongue of the wicked. This study revealed to me the power of the tongue and led me to write a book called The Tongue—a Mighty Weapon. Whenever I give talks to others, I like to speak about the power of our words and what God created our tongues to do. There is a psalm that says, “He that orders his conversation aright glorifies the Lord.” (See Psalm 50:23.) Our tongues were made to glorify the Lord, to praise Him, to worship Him, to encourage and edify others, and to share the gospel with them.

Satan, however, wants to use our tongues to wound and hurt others and ourselves. In Mexico when I was teaching young children, I asked them this question, “How many of you would like to totally disarm the devil today?” They all eagerly raised their hands. Then I instructed them to stick out their tongues. “Now pull your tongue out,” I shared, and of course they laughed because no one could pull their tongue out. Then I said, “If we could pull our tongues out we would disarm the devil.” Another proverb says, “He that keeps his lips is wise and he keeps his soul from trouble.” (See Proverbs 21:23.)

In this psalm David says, “And my tongue shall speak of Your righteous­ness and of Your praise all the day long” (v. 28).

If we made our goal daily to speak of His righteousness and to give the Lord praise, our tongues would not be available to the devil to do his dirty work for him. Today let your tongue glorify and extol the Lord in praise as you share with others all of His wonders and works.

Lord, help me to order my conversation aright today so that I glorify You always with my tongue.

READ: Esther 1:1-3:15; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 21:19-20