Whoso keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.
The source of most of the world’s problems comes from the tongue. How many disastrous circumstances could have been avoided had it not been for somebody’s flapping jaws? Broken relationships, wars, failed missionary efforts, divorces, and fragmented church ministries are almost always a consequence of the improper use of the tongue. How much devastation could be avoided if people would just learn the lesson of bridling the tongue! Indeed, the unbridled tongue is a world of iniquity, a fire from hell that burns and burns, destroying everything in it path (Jas. 3:6). Relationships that took twenty years to build can be burned to the ground in one day!
In this business of guarding the lips, four sentinels are commissioned, and each must ask a different question. “Is what I am about to say really true? Is it loving? Is it necessary? And is it wise?” If all four of these sentinels are not satisfied, then it would be wise not to say anything at all. If you are responding out of anger or fear instead of love, then hold your peace. Just stop talking. Do not say a word until you know that you speak out of love. If you do not know the right thing to say, do not say anything at all. The sentinel in charge of the question, “Is it necessary?” needs to hold that tongue! Although the silence may seem a little awkward at first, you should not feel compelled to say something to fill the “dead air.” Learn to be comfortable with a moment of silence or a moment to reflect. Speak only when you have something helpful or something edifying to say. These are all hard lessons to learn, probably harder than learning your multiplication tables in school. But these lessons are far more important than anything you ever learned in a mathematics class.
Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who deals in proud wrath.
Typically, pride combined with wrath produces a fairly dangerous individual. Pride seeks power, but wrath uses that power to destructive ends. Perhaps the best example of this in biblical history is the tyrant Haman, found in the book of Esther. His pride is legendary. But his anger against Mordecai and the Jews was unquenchable. Once he had the king’s favor and a position of power, he would stop at nothing less than annihilation of the Jews. Once a man is overwhelmed by pride and impelled by wrath, he will stop at no warning, no rebuke, no prophetic pronouncement, or legal restraints, as he pursues his destructive agenda. Whether it be a mad dictator in Zimbabwe or an enraged postal clerk firing off an AK-47 rifle at his coworkers in Peoria, Illinois, there comes a point at which the only thing that will stop these scorners is a bullet through the head (or the gallows). Wrath is one thing. But proud wrath is impossible to curb or correct, and it is dangerous.
As parents, it is essential that we correct the first signs of anger in our children. But we should also look for a willingness to be corrected! Should wrath be combined with an unwillingness to receive correction, we have a dangerous scorner on our hands. In such cases, parents may be pressed to turn their son over to the civil magistrate (Deut. 21:18–21).
1. How much time do we spend working on bridling the tongue? What are the four sentinels? Have you trained these guardsmen to put a guard on your tongue?
2. Give several examples of proud, wrathful men in biblical history. Why is the proud, wrathful man so dangerous?