Day 6: Grace Pours From His Lips

Dear friend,

When we come to God with an estimate of our own spiritual condition, I think God is prone to respond the same way that the doctor did with his dysentery patients in the desert. You might say, "God, I’m a very good Christian. I really love You and I go to church." But God says, "Show me your tongue. When I’ve seen your tongue, I’ll know the real condition of your heart."

I want to illustrate this by taking two prophetic pictures from the Old Testament: the first is of Christ Himself, the Messiah; and the second is of the bride of Christ, the church. Notice, in each case, the feature which is emphasised first and foremost is the condition of the lips and the mouth. Psalm 45:1-2 gives us a beautiful, prophetic picture of the Messiah:

"My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
[And then these are the words that the writer addresses to the King, to the Messiah:]
Thou art fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Thy lips;
Therefore God has blessed Thee forever." (NAS)

Here is a picture of the Messiah in His grace, His beauty, and His moral purity. What is the first aspect of that beauty which is manifested? His lips. "Grace," it says, "is poured upon Thy lips." Then it says, "therefore God has blessed Thee forever."

Two very important principles are given here. First, the grace of the Messiah is manifested primarily in His lips. Second, God has blessed Him forever because of the grace of His lips. When Jesus appeared in human form and men were sent to arrest Him, they came back without Him and were asked, "Why didn’t you bring Him in?" Their answer was, "No one ever spoke the way this man does" (John 7:45-46 NIV). The grace that poured from His lips marked Him out as the Messiah.