"He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles" One of the quickest and surest ways to get in trouble is to say things you shouldn't say. We live in a culture that seems to believe that if you think or feel something, it has to be said. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to wrestle our tongue until it is under control and it only moves at the impulse of wisdom. What is amazing is that our tongue helps manipulate air as it passes out of ou

Solomon is giving us a huge clue in this proverb on how to avoid a lot of pain and get a read on a person’s soul. What do they talk about wh

When you find a person who is speaking actually lives for God, then what they have to say is very valuable. It is as choice silver. However,

The idea here is that the normal – almost unconscious – comments of a person should be evaluated for their truth content. If they are true,

This is the contrasting truth to what will be shared in Proverbs 25:23 about a backbiting tongue. When we really think through how to bring

Proverbs 18:4 "The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook" There are three pictures of the words that a person uses. They are deep waters; they are a fountain of wisdom; and they are a bubbling brook. The way the second half of this proverb is translated is that it is a separate sentence, but it is not. It is just two more pictures of a man's words: a fountain of wisdom, a bubbling brook. In the NASB, the marginal reading shows this

Proverbs 17:4 "An evildoer listens to wicked lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue" What a person pays attention to tells a lot about what that person has going on inside. an evildoer This is the Hebrew word ra which means evil, badness, distress. Remember that in the book of Proverbs this is a person who does actions that clearly go beyond the Ten Commandments: other gods, cursing, rebellion, violence and murder, adultery, stealing, lying, plotting and scheming

Proverbs 15:4 "A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit" a soothing tongue The word in Hebrew is actually a healing tongue. This could be one that you develop and use on other people or one that is used on you. Both are a source of life into people's lives. This type of tongue does not arise by happenstance but instead by choices about what to say and how to say it; about when to say something and whether to say something. We can all develo

Proverbs 15:2 "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable. But the mouth of fools spouts folly." Notice that the mouth of the fool gushes forth with selfishness, anger, hatred, criticalness, and impulsiveness. This is very normal for each person to let their sin nature show. When sin grabs you, this is what comes out of your mouth. You become a fountain for selfishness. A great question is: Would you want to deal with you the way you are acting? Answer: No!!! When you

Proverbs 13:2 "From the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good, but the desire of the treacherous is violence" Solomon noticed that it is not essentially a man's talent or ability that causes him to prosper but his people skills. That is what this nugget on wisdom tells us. You can have tremendous abilities, talents, and gifts; but if you are a jerk, you will not succeed. We must all learn how to talk to other people in a positive and constructive way. It is what you say that

PROVERBS 19:1 "Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool" This is one of those value proverbs where God, through Solomon's observations, is trying to teach us the importance of something by comparing it with something else we would not expect. This particular proverb is a very interesting and strange sounding comparison to our ears. We are essentially asked which do you think is better – this kind of person or that kind of