“Tongues and angels?” Surely today’s Lesson will highlight Paul’s classic observation in 1 Corinthians 13:1 … “Though I speak with the TONGUES of men and of ANGELS, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
But no, we are going to Psalm 141:3.
It’s just a short prayer, where David wisely asks God to … “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”
The “watch,” the “guard,” is surely an angel! Or if not an angel, the Holy Spirit Himself! The human conscience might even be suggested, but it’s not as reliable, I fear.
Actually Psalm 141:3 beseeches the Lord to do two things, both dealing with our spoken words!
Something about our “mouths”and our “lips!”
Meaning … our speech, our conversation, our vocabulary!
“To set a watch” literally means “to appoint a guard” to keep track of our mouths! As I said, likely an angel, a supervisor over our words! Or another idea … maybe it just means the Bible, the Book of God. Which has so very much to say about our talk!
Like … “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Quoting our Lord Jesus in Matthew 12:36.
And (Psalm 141:3) “to keep the door” of our lips means (again literally) “to lay siege” to our words, implying our “language” (7 times it’s translated exactly this way in the Old Testament). Begging … “Lord, police my speech day by day!”
(This sounds like Paul’s desire to bring his every thought into captivity to our Lord! See 2 Corinthians 10:5, questionable thoughts are eventually expressed in words, if not curtailed.
Wow!
Maybe if we Christians imagined that “guardian angel” at the front of our mouths, lips, tongues … we would learn to better “tame” that unruly thing!
Anybody reading here today BOLD enough to ask this of God?
Then, this little (but powerful) prayer answered could be life changing!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
For those of you who are making a list of the “tongue tamer” verses of Scripture … might want to add this one to the total!
Add this one as well … “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
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