Day 1: Death Or Life?

The title for these devotions is a question: Does Your Tongue Need Healing? As we follow this theme, you may be in for some surprises!

Let me begin by pointing out something very significant about the way in which the Creator designed the human head. Every one of us has seven openings in our head, the number in Scripture which often denotes completeness. We have three pairs of openings: two eyes, two ears, and two nostrils. But the Creator restricted the seventh opening to one, the mouth. I have often asked people: "How many of you wish you had more than one mouth?" But I have never met anyone who did. Most of us have all we can do to use one mouth properly. This one opening causes us more problems than all the other six together!

If you take a Bible concordance and look up all the words related to that one opening, such as 'mouth', 'tongue', 'lips', 'speech', 'words', and so on, you will be amazed how much the Bible has to say about this subject, and it is with good reason. There is no area in our personality more directly related to our total well-being than our mouth and tongue.

We'll begin by studying a number of passages of Scripture that all emphasise the vital importance of the mouth and the tongue. Then, in subsequent days, we will deal with principles that arise out of these Scriptures. First, we will consider Psalm 34:11-13:

“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.” (NIV)

The inspired Word of God offers to teach us, as God’s children, the fear of the Lord. I have a series of messages which point out that there is nothing in all Scripture to which there is attached greater blessing, fruitfulness and assurance than the fear of the Lord. So when the Scripture offers to teach us the fear of the Lord, it is offering something of infinite value and worth. By implication, the psalmist says here that "life" and "many good days" go with the fear of the Lord. In Scripture, life in its fullness and the fear of the Lord are always associated together. The measure in which we have the fear of the Lord is the measure in which we enjoy true life.